Internet Safety & How To Prevent People From Creeping On You

Recently there's been tons of stories about how so-and-so got stalked by an old guy on the internet and was tricked into meeting him and....well you can imagine what happened after that. So to help all of you that lost your common sense, here's a guide on internet safety and how to prevent a scary old guy from doing some inappropriate stuff to you...(bleh that almost made me sick ><)

Creepy picture much? Thank Google xD

1. Don't add anyone you don't know on any social networking sites

Yes, we all want to show off how popular we are on facebook to our friends and brag about it, but if you "friend" someone that you don't know you're basically showing them a heck lot of info that you probably wouldn't share with some random stranger off the streets.

2. Don't answer messages, posts, or anything sent to you if that person is a stranger

Give one good reason why a stranger would want to talk to you, besides trying to "get to know you". Umm. Probably so that he can eventually stalk you, rape you...and yeah. If you're out in public and you talk to a stranger that's a bit different, but when you're online you have literally NO idea who is talking to you...until its too late.

3. Keep your privacy settings as high as you can muster

Okay lets face it, you've seen someone attractive on facebook and clicked on their profile just to take a quick look...but you have absolutely no idea who they are. Imagine how many times this could have happened to YOU. If you think about it...the numbers can be a bit scary. If you're weird for some reason and you like having people stare at your pictures then you can keep your settings as they are, but keeping a low profile will help prevent potential stalkers.

4. Don't announce any personal information to the world

On facebook and myspace you're able to post information about yourself like your email, phone number, and even your home address. Obviously this wouldn't be a great idea to have on your profile...AT ALL. Even if you turn your privacy on the highest possible setting, one way or another someone is going to see it. Though turning your privacy settings higher helps to prevent stalkers, it wont completely prevent them.

5. Never ever ever post about anything that you wouldn't want your parents or a college admissions officer to see

The funny thing about this is that one time, I actually posted something online about my parents (It was something like me calling them dumb donkeys) and they eventually saw it completely by chance...and I got my butt kicked for it. :( So the moral of the story is, keep all your posts relatively clean, and if you need to vent about something then DON'T do it on facebook.

And that's the basic tips of internet safety and rape prevention. For example, all of you readers out there could potentially be 60 year old men hiding in their mom's house, just looking for kids to prey on. (CREEPPPYY) Hehe I'm kidding...and hopefully that isn't true o.o anyway, get going and change your settings on your facebook and myspace profiles! :)

~Chichi