My name is Phil and I love social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not a guilty pleasure and I am not ashamed to stand up and declare it to the World. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A guilty pleasure is secretly enjoying the Eurovision Song Contest or eating Pot Noodles in your pants \u2013 that\u2019s something that you should keep quiet about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Things that you like to do or have an opinion about is exactly what you should shout about \u2013 and that\u2019s what Social Media is for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But like most things we enjoy in life \u2013 it comes with a degree of risk (like eating Pot Noodles in your pants). Hot water and forks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social Media started in 2008 for me when I first joined Facebook to start \u2018cyber stalking\u2019 people who I vaguely knew and then to share with the World my personal wit and wisdom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I realised that the World wasn\u2019t quite ready for my personal wit and\/or wisdom \u2013 it became a platform to keep an eye on the kids \u2013 until they sussed me out and moved to other platforms or got clever with their posts just to keep Dad happy. Facebook is for old people \u2013 apparently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It then became a window for everyone else to enjoy my life \u2013 where I was, what I was eating and drinking, where I was working and how I was feeling. Emojis made this easier. Genius inventions. I loved it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Lockdown 2020\u2019 didn\u2019t start the rise of Social Media but I think that for a lot of people it became more of an essential conduit for communication, comment, information, a lifeline for sanity and also dare I say it, simply having fun. There is nothing wrong with that in any way, shape or form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But of course \u2013 increase the activity \u2013 you increase the risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social Media platforms have long been a source of having fun, showing off, checking in on what old flames\/school mates\/colleagues are getting up to, if you are now fatter than them and posting a picture of you having a beer and pizza for breakfast in Magaluf (and wondering why you are fatter than all your friends). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s why God created social media \u2013 to have fun and share stuff. (I am not suggesting that the likes of Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Hoffman or Systrom are Gods \u2013 but someone granted them the vision and creativity in the first place).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So if you are not clever enough, brave enough or motivated enough to build your own social media site \u2013 why not use someone else\u2019s invention?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anybody drive a car they invented themselves or use any form of self-built technology around the home? Very few \u2013 I expect (unless you are called Dyson or Branson!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My point is \u2013 there is no reason to hate the creators. They probably didn\u2019t know what a rich vein they had hit when their \u2018chat applications\u2019 first hit the cyber streets. As the technology grew, the popularity grew and potential to make more money grew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They have a business to run and the way that they make their money is by attracting us to their applications and sites in order to sell our contact to third party suppliers of stuff that they think we need. The thing that they use and sell \u2013 is our hidden \u2018DNA of personal data\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have you noticed that your Tesco Clubcard will send you vouchers and offers based on your previous purchase history \u2013 or tempt you to try something new along the lines of things that it reckons you already like? Isn\u2019t that magic? Well not really \u2013 we all understand that Tesco and the others can track our spending habits so why shouldn\u2019t they try to push a new product our way as long as it fits our needs? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I get a lot of vouchers for the latest flavours of Pot Noodles for some strange reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Watch any crime show (fictional or factional) and you will know that whatever you do, wherever you go \u2013 you will leave a trace. It might be a small one but it can track back to you and be used to either find you or identify you. Could be a fingerprint or DNA Sample, which will need some form of special technology to collect and analyse it. This type of \u2018metadata\u2019 can show all kinds of neat things like dates, times and location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the world of Cyber – Its lovingly called your \u2018Digital Footprint\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Away from the easy data \u2013 like a picture of you or a check-in at a location. It might be something that you do which can be interpreted and analysed, it could be something you say \u2013 which can identify your mood, political\/religious slants, educational background, social status or that you simply spout shite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The more you do and the louder you shout the more you will be recognised and known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some people (like me) love to share their creativity, chat about the weather, give their opinions or simply agree with somebody else by using a smiley face and thumbs up (genius). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But put it all together and especially over a period of time \u2013 you start to build up a profile or a picture of just who this person is and what they like and don\u2019t like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Data collected quickly becomes Personal Identifiable Information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The list is endless and very personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have a go yourself. Either use your own profile or pick a friend on Facebook and search back through the past couple of years to see what you can piece together about them. See if you can spot a trend or a specific area that they are passionate about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have all put a couple of ticks in some boxes that tells the application \u2018not to share our data with anybody who isn\u2019t our friend\u2019 and \u2018don\u2019t use my data for anything that isn\u2019t in the site agreement\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘The site agreement is 5 pages long and to be honest \u2013 I am only posting my breakfast pictures or checking into A & E with fork related injuries, so I can\u2019t be arsed to read all that’. But do we realise that the good people at Facebook etc become a ‘friend’ of ours when we agree to sign up to use their application?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a moment – take a look at the Facebook Privacy site<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/about\/privacy<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n They are not hiding anything from us \u2013 it\u2019s clear, well written, colour coded and in full sight – the terms in which our data is collected, used and shared. You can tick as many boxes to block your ex-friends but none of this changes in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I like Facebook and I use it in line with the terms they set out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we post a message to the World on Social Media. Understand that we are posting a message to The World<\/strong>. The good, the bad and the ugly. (And here I am not referring to my Friends List!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing this – is the key to happiness on Social Media. And social media is all about spreading happiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Those of you that think about using it to spout shite about other people \u2013 stop doing it now. Those of you who do it to be spiteful \u2013 pack it in. Those of you who do it to bully others \u2013 prison awaits you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those of us that post to show how lucky we are, how unlucky we are, how life can be great, how life can be shite and feel that it is something that we need to share because it helps \u2013 carry on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those of us that post to spread our version of wit and wisdom \u2013 crack on. That\u2019s what being social is all about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But post with care and play nicely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The magic of the Internet doesn\u2019t make those adverts pop up in your personal threads by accident \u2013 it\u2019s technical collection and analysis of data that does this. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning means that it is an automated process that is not necessarily accurate or thoughtful but this is the technology that rules in the background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having 1000\u2019s of virtual friends \u2013 isn\u2019t a sign of status or popularity. It just increases your footprint to a robot that is going to send you shite. So have a cull every now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only connect and respond to people that you know and\/or trust. Don\u2019t think that professional sites such as LinkedIn are any different (and in some cases they are worse). LinkedIn is full of lunatics and self appointed egomaniacs that feed off your connection \u2013 so avoid them like the plague. It won\u2019t help you get a job \u2013 but it will fill up your inbox with crap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you post something \u2013 regardless of what it is \u2013 post it in the knowledge that although only your first line friends will be able to comment directly and share an emoji with you \u2013 it is now for the World to see (the good, the bad and the ugly). The good and the ugly, may not be the issue \u2013 but the bad is what we need to defend against!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t post your routines (always going on holiday at certain times or being in certain places at certain times).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be careful not to inadvertently advertise that your home or business is not occupied<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be careful with photographs (don\u2019t have your credit card in the shot next to your beer and pizza breakfast)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoid being overly political or religious (extreme)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make sure that everyone is happy for their picture to be posted if you are in a group<\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoid compromising pictures or comments which you may remove with regret but the Internet has a history and people have memories!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look after your kids on these sites \u2013 young\/teenage children are targets. Educate but don\u2019t scare them. There are some great sites that can help such as: NSPCC Learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n