Safety and Social Media - Before You Post That Read This

Before You Post To Social Media Read This Post

I'm a big fan of Social Media. I use it to engage with my fans, clients, potential clients and keep up with friends. What you never really see me doing is posting pictures of my family, sure there are a few but I limit how much I post. If I had kids, I would never post publicly viewable photos of them.

Another thing I do not do on Social Media is post photos with my home in them. I also never discuss where I am. At least not at the time I am away or anything like that. Some of you may call me crazy, paranoid and some may even laugh. That's fine. Most of you also don't have thousands of strangers reading what you put online and trying to connect with you either. Don't get me wrong, I'm not famous by a long shot. But let me explain a few things.

First, there are people out there who look for these things. They will track you down, they will find you, and when they do, they will likely break into your home. I'm not kidding. There are many reports of this occurring. Also, when we purchased a new home a few years ago we had a break in and were robbed. The good news. There wasn't much to take, just a few things that we had just purchased and placed in the garage for safe keeping. 

I've since turned the house into a fortress, got an alarm system (we were getting anyway, but waiting till the move took place), and a nice beautiful living alarm/deterrent we call Luna. Anyway, that is not what this post is really about.

You see, my wife knows someone that was recently robbed. This person posts frequent pictures of the inside of their home. Also, those of you with kids, taking those innocent photos of them playing sports, or in front of their school, or wearing the team jersey. It seems to me the internet has made it easier for the nefarious would be stalker who is looking to do something evil.

Sure, I may be paranoid. But, paranoid and being safe never really hurt anyone. So next time. Before you post something. Think. Am I exposing myself to harm in a way I would never do if I knew someone was watching me?