Social media is a huge part of our lives. Whether it’s sharing your latest holiday pictures, keeping in touch with family and friends or staying informed about the news. Social media helps you stay connected, but every time you post something you’re creating a digital footprint.
The good news? You’re in control of what’s shared. By adjusting your privacy settings you can decide who sees your content and keep your personal information safe.
Ever Heard of a Digital Footprint?
Every post, like, comment or share you make online adds to your digital footprint. This footprint can be seen by anyone who is a friend, follower or even strangers. The more you share, post, comment or event interact the bigger your footprint grows so it’s important to manage it carefully. You don’t want to overshare or leave private information out there for everyone to see.
Each social media platform offers different ways to control who can see what you share:
Snapchat
Take a look and choose who can contact you, see your Story and view your activity status. Most importantly you might want to review who can check your location on Snap Maps, if strangers that you’ve only met once know where you are you can risk putting yourself in danger. You can also control who can find you in the ‘Find Friends’ feature.
Read more about Snapchat Privacy Settings here.
TikTok
Consider if you want a private account (only people you approve can follow and see your content) or a public account (anyone can view, share, and interact with your posts). With a public account, your videos might appear in search engines or news sites and other accounts can Duet, Stitch and even download your videos.
Remember that you can see who is viewing your profile and vice versa depending on the settings you have turned on!
Read more about TikTok Privacy Settings here.
Consider setting your account to private (only followers you accept can see your posts) or public (anyone can view and comment on your content). You can also control who can send you messages and comment on your posts.
Read more about Instagram Privacy Settings here.
Things to Keep in Mind!
Check Your Friends and Followers: If someone you don’t know follows you or sends you a friend request, think before you accept. On private accounts only approved friends can see your content.
Regularly Review Your Settings: Social media apps update their features and privacy settings regularly. Make sure to check your settings every once in a while to ensure you’re still comfortable with what’s being shared.
Be Cautious About Location Sharing: Avoid posting about your exact location in real-time, especially if you’re sharing it publicly. Wait until after you’ve left a place to post about it, to keep your movements private.