Can We Live With Social Media?

No matter how much we may love or hate the effect that social media has made on the world, it has made inroads into every office, store, home, and even the local ‘Tea Katte’.

While a good chunk of Gen Z seems to have dived headfirst into social media and its wiles, we are still quite worried about how our information is being used, and these worries are not unfound, but is there a way for us to use the platform and not put ourselves at “risk”?

It is very interesting to hear people talk about how they refrain from or are not on the platforms, while they are using the same platforms to attract customers to their company, brand, store, etc. – Is there a middle path?

Yes!!! Absolutely, totally, and completely … We just need to take a little time to read up and learn how the data that is collected from us is used and what each app, link, etc. do. This will enable everyone to share information that can make life easier.

Here are a few points that can help you stay safe on your favorite platform:

Don’t just click any link that is shared with you

Any links with a surprising statement telling you that you must click are the ones you should not click. Period.

There is no free lunch

No one is giving you money for free. No matter how lucky you might be, no one person, company or prince will give you money without getting something from you. Trust me, it’s cheaper to ignore this type of mail or message.

Yes! You can block them

No one will think you are a bad person if you block that person or people who are troubling you. It is not worth the pain of having to deal with them (this is especially for our Indian Aunty types)

Are you afraid of your browser history becoming public?

Let us be frank here.  – No, my name is not frank … sorry could not resist … but if you are worried about your browser history, then you have been browsing sites that are actually more dangerous to your private information on your system than the ones we are worried about …

Don’t just add random people

With the number of fake profiles, phishing scams, etc., randomly adding people to build your followers list (unless you are trying to be an influencer … please don’t complain) focus on people you actually know well and limit it to the people you would like to be in touch with.

Keep your private information… to yourself

If you are putting up private information on the web, this is available to all. Privacy settings are there on all platforms and you can set them so that unwanted visitors can be kept out, but it is still a risk to be putting up a lot of your personal information online. Also, anything you put online remains online.

And finally, never ever share your passwords, OTP, or transaction data like UPI pins, credit card pins/debit card pins… This is just common sense

These are just some of the basics… should be a basic school curriculum. So let us all enjoy the benefits of the world at large (online and offline) while remaining safe, secure, and comfortable with what we post.