How Can I Stay Secure Whilst Using Twitter?

If you are reading this article then you know how to use a computer.

You also know how to use the internet.

Therefore, it follows that you are probably one of the many millions of people who use social media.

The most popular such site right now is Facebook but my personal favourite is Twitter.

You have a Twitter account too, right?

That may be a question that isn’t even worth asking these days.

After all, having a Twitter account has become almost as common as having an email account.

Twitter is one of the best social networking services available on Internet.

Tweeting tweets has become as necessary as breathing for some people (and, yeah, you know who you are!)

Twitterers are able to use the service from just about any location in the world and via a huge number of different devices.

I, for example, use my mobile phone for reading tweets at work, though I much prefer my desktop computer when it comes to writing anything.

Twitter has, in many ways, changed the way in which people socialise on the internet.

I know many friends, bloggers and otherwise, who now prefer to share their thoughts and their daily activities on Twitter with their friends.

They often share information that they would have been scared to record in their private diaries just a few years ago.

One of the issues I have with Twitter though is the fact that it is very different from other Social Networking services.

One of the main fifferences is that on other social networks people cannot read your status messages and bio details unless they are in your friends list.

Not so with Twitter - you can follow absolutely anyone.

Following someone means that you can read their tweets regardless of whether or not they reciprocate your follow.

The implication of this is that Twitter exposes you to a far greater part of the social internet than other services.

For this reason Twitter users need to be more cautious and careful when they are Tweeting.

Since each tweet needs to be kept to a maximum of 140 characters people use URL shorteners to shorten them.

With shortened URLs you are, under normal circumstances, completely unaware of the web site that they will take you to until you click on them.

For that reason it is highly advised to either click on only those links which are posted by known members or to use a service which will reveal the real URL behind a shortened one.

You also need to guard your password on Twitter too.

There are number of Twitter applications which can make your tweeting easier and more interesting.

Most of these applications request access to your account for information.

Before you actually allow any application to crawl into your account, do some basic research about that application in order to ensure your security level.

Ensure that you are following a real person or a firm instead of a spammer because you do not want to end up reading junk or following people who link out to malicious web sites.

Never reveal too much about yourself on a social network.

That applies to Twitter as well as all the alternatives.

Identity thieves are now using social networking sites and the more info you give them the easier their job becomes.

There have been cases where identity thieves have hacked into accounts on some social networks and then attempted to use the information available through them to trick friends of the account holder into sending money.

If you are a parent, you need to educate your kid about all the risky elements involved in Twitter.

Convince your kids to come to you whenever they see or read a subject which they are not supposed to.

I have seen children giving away their personal information and photographs on Twitter.

As I parent I wouldn’t want to see my kids doing that!

Ensure that your kids set their profile as a private one.

Also make sure your kids allow you to view their tweets from time to time so that you can be sure they are following any rules you have set down.

This will surely help your kids to experience the good part of Twitter.

Be cautious and be secured.

Happy Tweeting.