Social networking websites are the latest and greatest way to interact with people over the internet. According to Cate Riegner, vice president of Netpop Research, a San Francisco firm that studies online behavior, social networking grew 93% from 2006 to 2008. That is a HUGE 93% increase in 2 years! [Source: USA Today]

There are more than 100 websites which connect people online. Some of the popular social networking websites includes Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, hi5, Orkut. Check the list of social networking websites at WikiPedia. With so many places with hundreds of millions of people sharing their personal information online, the web becomes a very dangerous place.

Yes, I agree, your social networking profile is where you share your information to friends and new friends who are strangers at first. But how much of information can you share online? These are the Top 10 things that you should not share:

10: Personal Conversations
In Facebook, you can send personal messages or post messages to someones Facebook wall. Messages are personal between the sender and receiver just like email, while anything posted to a wall can be seen by other users as well. Imagine if you have accidentally posted personal information to your boyfriend/girlfriend’s wall, causing embarassment when others can read them as well!

9: Social Plans
Planning a party at home? Or a holiday somewhere? Instead of posting your plan details publicly where all users can see them, you should send personal message or invites directly to the individuals. Imagine having your ex-boyfriend turning up in your party and wrecking havoc. Or how about having stalkers following you for holiday? Scary?

8: Linking Sites
I bet you have more than 1 social networking account on different networks. You might have a Facebook account for personal and a LinkedIn account for work, with both showing links to the other. The more you link, the world becomes smaller in the internet world. Well, for your long lost friends, it gives them more chance of finding you and details about your current life. The same goes for strangers and stalkers, they have the same level of access to your information.

7: Company Information
Planning to tell the world about your proposed job promotion? Or the new project proposal your company is working on? If these information can be advantageous to the competitors, these are the kind of information you would not want to announce in social networking sites. Imagine losing a new project to a competitor just because you told the world what your company is proposing!

6: Photos of Your Kids
Social networking websites are a common place to share pictures of families and personal information. If you are one of the 40% of users who don’t restrict your profile, those photos and information are for everyone to see. Don’t post messages like “My husband is out of town” or “My kids are brave enough to be home alone” and put your family at risk! Make sure you share your family photos to your select group of friends only.

5: Your Address and Phone Number
Never ever post your home address in your profile. If you go for a holiday and you annouce it online, everyone knows your home is empty and that opens an easy door for burglars! I’m sure that you would have received unwanted calls from strangers, banks, or insurance agents. Do you still want to share your phone number in public?

4: Personal Finance Information
You might think, who would ever share finance stuffs on social networking sites? But it happens. You might post to your friends wall advising to invest in a certain bank with a certain investment as you have put all your money there. An identity thief would immediately know where are the bulk of your investments!

3: Your Password
Facebook lists this as a top priority of what not to share. Some people share their password with their loved ones or friends, maybe helping to upload some photos. After some time, the relationship turns bad and they have someone out there who has their account password jeopardising their online identity and information. Always keep your password to yourself!

2: Password Hints
Most websites using passwords to login have password hint just in case you forget. Examples like, What’s the name of your first pet? What’s your mother’s maiden name? What was your high school mascot? What’s the name of the first street you lived on? If you share any of these information on your profile, it gives an identity thief the last piece of the puzzle to hack your account!

1: Anything You Don’t Want Shared
Even if you set all the privacy settings on social networking sites, the fact remains, if you post it, it has chances of being seen by people whom are not supposed to. You know all those fun Facebook applications, quizzes and polls you fill out? A study performed by the University of Virginia found that of the top 150 applications on Facebook, 90 percent were given access to information they didn’t need in order for the app to function. The makers of those polls or quizzes have access to your personal information, and only God knows where those information goes. You can’t protect online information 100%, so the best option is, do not share those information.

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