This is indeed the era of social networking. More and more people are
now going online, engaging in social interactions in ways that you
didn't even imagine once upon a time. Being online 24x7 has become more
like a part and parcel of our daily life.
Facebook as a social
network has also come a long way, and has contributed significantly to
this new-found love for all things internet-savvy. It is undoubtedly the
most widely used social media platforms and goes a long way in ensuring
you stay connected with your friends and peers all the time.
But
just like every other social network, Facebook is not one hundred per
cent safe platform just like any other social media and Internet
platform. The social media website has its fair share of stalkers.
There's of course a way out if you want to avoid being stalked: stay ahead of their game. Here's how...
Set your profile to private
This
is the most basic security feature that everyone should follow
hands-down. After all, why would anybody want someone they don't know
just peep into your profile as they like? Ideally, Facebook gives you
enough privacy options to help you stay 'invisible' to those you want to
be invisible. You can update your profile's privacy settings precisely
to share/hide everything that there is to your profile.
You can
chose who you want to share your profile details, your posts, your
pictures, your shared content as also your entire friend list: with
friends, friends of friends to everyone. Ideally, you should restrict
this to your 'friends'.
Of course, you will still be visible to
those who search for you but they won't get anything out of your
profile. Also, it is advisable that you limit people who can send you
friends requests via the same privacy settings.
Experiment with your profile name
Anyone
who has your name/other details can simply type it into search and get
to your profile in the blink of an eye. So, first and foremost you
should hide your 'other' profile details; like phone number, address,
email address, work information etc from 'everyone'.
Once you have
this area covered, you should go on and experiment with your profile
name: add symbols to it, change font and language: basically add stuff
to it that makes it hard for someone to find you.
This is not a
full proof plan, but it would make it all the more difficult for
stalkers to find you, and chances are they'll stop trying after a while.
Make your online photo albums private and upload smaller profile pics
Well,
this should ideally be covered in point number one; but most of us
forget to do it. All the photos you share on your timeline should have
limited visibility, meaning share them only with those who you want to:
your friends that is.
It is also advisable to upload smaller sized
images as your profile picture/cover picture since there's no option to
hide those. There are cases when someone would randomly click on your
profile picture and then download it. Putting up smaller sized pictures
ensures that even though someone downloads it, they can't zoom into
them.
Avoid tagging photos
Tagging
photos opens up a truck load of privacy loopholes since you have no clue
if someone who you have tagged or someone who has tagged you has put
his/her profile to private. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you
avoid unnecessary tagging of photos on both ends.
Every time you
tag someone, the other person gets a notification asking if you want to
be tagged and if yes, do you want to share it on your timeline. The call
is of course all yours, but it's better if you're sure the person who
has tagged you has set his/her profile to private.
Avoid linking of profiles
Many
a times, websites may ask you to log in via Facebook in the initial
stages. It is advisable that you avoid doing that, instead you can use
your email for such purposes.
Also, you should avoid using
multiple social media accounts with the same name. In case you're using
the same user name in multiple accounts and he/she gets to know of one,
your stalker can simply type in that name in any search engine and get
through your other profiles as well.