Dangers of Online Social Networking (OSN)

While Online Social Networking (OSN) has gained substantial traction in recent months in India (and of course, worldwide), large aspects of it remain virtually unexplored and less-understood. In their hurry to join the bandwagon, lots of people are hopping onto the OSN train, but they are blissfully ignorant of many pitfalls and dangers of this fantastic media.This blogpost will deal with the several dangers of doing OSN. Before I start listing and explaining the same, let me make one thing clear - I am a die-hard fan and votary of the pluses of OSN, and will use it personally forever (at least, as of now)!This is a really brief and first compilation of points I wish to make. In coming weeks, I will keep elaborating more on this topic. I am also in the process of writing books on this topic, and developing full-fledged academic training programs on the same, which will be run through my institutions. Partnerships are invited from individuals (Professors / Experts / Practitioners / Institutions) interested in this big opportunity.

Before starting, here are the 3 cardinal rules always to be remebered while doing OSN

• Rule 1 - The internet is a public domain and everything you do is visible to others, always.
• Rule 2 - An image once created online is difficult to change. Multiple images are a bad idea.
• Rule 3 - Just like the civilised world has its dark underworld, the clean OSN sites have their own imposters and marauders, continuously indulging in faking, duping and socialising!

Dangers of doing OSN (Online Social Networking)

1. Improper understanding of controls Many users join OSN sites out of enthusiasm, peer-pressure or to kill boredom. But no one ever tells them that while creating their "profile" on these sites, they must carefully check and understand the various controls that the sites provide for "privacy issues". Topmost of these controls is the "share with whom" angle. As a user, you must be very clear that your data (scraps, text, photos, videos etc.) are all in public domain once you are online. Hence, if you wish other users to have limited access to these, then you have to set controls on Privacy Dashboard accordingly. Sadly, nobody seems to take this seriously. And then, later on, when they discover their personal things from absolutely unrelated sources, they are shocked! They forget that once you are online, it is all there, forever. Not only can your "friends" see it, "friends of friends" (which means practically everyone except the Martians and Amoeba) can see it too. Learning : Develop control of your postings. Think carefully as to who all should have access to what you want the world to see. Take time to learn proper controls on these OSN sites. It may feel boring, but it is crucial for your own safety.
2. Poor visualisation of potential impact  Your social sites are visible to everyone - your friends and "friends of friends". Please remember that all that is needed is to click on the friend's name, and their entire pages will open up right in front of you. This means that your Boss, your potential future Boss, your competitor, and anyone else in the Police or Administration can easily scan through your updates and draw conclusion about your character and your intent. Most users of OSN sites do not understand that you are globally visible and your entire personality profile is visible to your BOSS ALSO. Imagine, you are due for appraisal, and your latest profile on LinkedIn carries critical remarks of your existing employer, and a desire to jump ships. All your boss needs to do is google your name, and chances are the first link that pops up on that wonderful page is your LinkedIn profile. You will not even come to know what hit you, and you will be down several notches. Learning : Take OSN sites as carefully as you take your own career. If you think your career is a joke, and you are a joker, behave like one. Else, your choice should be clear. If you are a salaried employee, and have a clean image, you better maintain it well.
3. Fooled by "He likes my status" frequency One of the best ways to fool innocent people in OSN is to continuously keep "liking" their status, "liking" their photos, "liking" their links and "liking" their dog's tail and excrement. Conversely, if you are being fooled by someone, the best test for that is to check how many times has that person "liked" your status and pics etc. If that frequency is more than 30 - 40%, the red flag should be on. That person is playing some dirty, sick game, and desperately needs your support. Then you should go back to that person's page (or "Wall") and check his entire activity details. You should not be surprised to see that he has been liking everything everybody has been doing. Why? He is desperate. Why is he desperate? Something must be seriously wrong with his personal life, or his Career. Then, the natural question is : should you be friends with him anymore? It will be a matter of time before he starts chasing you everywhere, maybe even in the real world. Scary, isn't it? Recently, one of my friends who is the Boss in a company got an anonymous email with a picture attached, showing two of his employees swaying with liquor and cigarettes in hand(s). The email was nastily worded, and this Boss realised that some fairly sick personal party photos have been carelessly posted online (or carefully?!) and naturally, someone paid a big price for it later. Learning : People can get really dirty in OSN, and you should know that just by clicking a mouse and "liking you", someone does not become your well-wisher. In fact, your personal photos can be intelligently posted online by your so-called friends, to malign you, or harm your chances. Both the employees in the unfortunate incident above were males, and the dangers for female users are higher. Your husband may discover some picture that was inane when posted several years ago but is a bad idea today. So..

In the OSN world, the difference between a smart user and a dumb user is fairly huge. And it is very easy for smart people to totally take others for a ride. So be cautious. Use the following simple tips and stay safe.

Simple safety tips for OSN enthusiasts

• Do not hesitate in "removing" people from your Friends List if you find they are violating your privacy
• Be very careful in designing your profile, especially on sites like LinkedIn, as smart employers see it regularly (and will DEFINITELY see when you are up for an interview) - so if your profile carries typos/spelling errors/grammatical mistakes, may the Lord be with you
• Do not allow anyone to post your personal photos and videos, without explicit approval. Girls and Ladies - pay special attention
• Do not publicly display your images or videos that show you in a careless state (drinking, smoking, obscenities, driving rash, etc.)
• Run away, as fast as you can, from "friends" who always "like" each of your status, photos, videos and your dog's tail and excrement. They are the online equivalents of the offline world bootlickers who sicken you so easily
• Beware of individuals who suddenly have developed an affection for you - For ex. your colleague(s) from an ex-employer's place where you too worked earlier. Most likely, there's some big selfish motive at work :-(
• It is very easy for your competitor to sneak into your friends list. So remain awake to the possibility of your stuff getting instantly shared with everyone else, always. And that's why I say that OSN is all about public stuff, not private (at least not what you do not wish the world to know)
• Anything you do not want a citizen of Slovakia to know, do not post on any of the OSN sites. NOT ONE OF THEM
• Unemployed, under-employed and carelessly-employed people leave a classic trail on OSN sites - high frequency positive usage with inane postings, and ultra-happy photos
• So, what seems to be, may not be. People can forge their profiles and postings to convey a sense of amazing success and well-being, whereas they may be bankrupt, jobless or plain-simple unsuccessful. Be careful in committing your name and credibility to anyone you suspect of anything stupid
• A single nasty comment during chatting, or a single obscene post on your wall - and press the REMOVE button. Don't think twice
• Do not hesitate in deleting stuff you think was a mistake to post. And pray to God no one has already copied it onto their disks
• Maintain one common image across various OSN sites. Multiple identities (totally unrelated) are a clear signal that you cannot be trusted

I don't intend to sound paranoid. This is the unfortunate reality. Remember, just like our real world has real forgers and scamsters who happily pass as respectable samaritans, so does the online world have its own fair share of such geniuses!

Enjoy the OSN experience, with all precautions. All the best!
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