“The Internet is a beautiful place but it can be unforgiving sometimes,” says the man who is always on the Internet. Me. Yes, I agree. The Internet is great fun but it does have dangers and we want to be aware about online safety measures just to be sure no one is at risk.

Social Media And Learning The Easy-To-Follow Best Practices On Online Safety

When you join a social networking site, you might find people who are very friendly. On the other hand, the person you are talking to might not always be who they say they are. People can pretend to be your age and unfortunately, there have been cases where adults have pretended to be teenagers and lured young people into meeting them in dangerous situations.

To be safe on the Internet, keep your social media profiles secured and personal information private so that strangers can’t easily find your personal information online. Also, it is very important that when you sign up for new accounts online, use a unique password that contains alphanumerics, symbols and special characters, and so it’s harder for people to steal your information.

To learn how to be safe while using the Internet, here are some easy-to-follow best practices on online safety.

1) Click Smart. Spam emails and scammers have been around online. You might be receiving an email or a private message (or even a text message) about you winning a lottery or a free trip somewhere. Always put into mind that these emails and messages are sure to contain links that would tempt you to click and probably get your information.

Before you click any link from that message, remember an instance if you have joined any contests or have an interaction with one of these entities prior to receiving the email or text message. Otherwise, disregard it or even delete it if you must. These contain links where you are tricked into providing your information.

2) Be A Selective Sharer. Don’t share information you are reading from the Internet if you think they are fake or offensive. You must know the source or since you are connected online, research further to verify the material. It can never be a fake news if that news is not shared.

On the other side of things, think carefully before posting pictures or videos of yourself, any member of the family or anyone else. Once you’ve put a picture of yourself online most people can see it and may be able to download it. Should you need to post a photo of any family member, set it to a privacy that only specific users can access if necessary.

3) Configure Your Privacy Settings. This is just a very simple online safety tip to do if you know where to locate it on your account. On Facebook, there is an option to adjust or configure your settings. It can be helpful for you to configure your Facebook privacy settings before posting.

This goes to your other social networking accounts. You better practice how to manipulate your settings before you start posting again. It’s better that you are safe and your data is secure before everything will be compromised.

4) Practice Safe Shopping. This might sound a little ironic as online shopping does not relate to social media. Online shopping, however, mandates you to provide personal information like delivery address, mobile number, and even credit card details. Therefore, you must also consider being cautious at all times when you do online shopping.

Make sure that you deal with the trusted online shops today like Lazada Philippines, Zalora and other websites that are certified secured for online payment transactions.

5) Practice Social Media Etiquette. Social media has become a huge part of my blogging and my “socializing” in general. I have even met friends from another country via Facebook and Twitter. But if you come to think of it, social media these days has become an avenue to express frustration and disagreement. There are even quarrels and fights on the Internet. Well, it is normal (or can I say that really?) because it is now one of the many ways to communicate with people.

The Internet is a good thing: it makes you closer to family and friends who are physically away from where you are now; it provides information and updates on the current news; it gives you a place to express your opinion and feelings. On the other hand, it is a bad thing in so many different ways. That is why we should be very careful when getting involved on the Internet because it is not what you think it is at first. (Read more about Social Media Etiquette from this blog.)

6) Be Considerate To Others. You may have friends online who shared their confidential information by mistake. If in the case that would happen to them, you might like to remind them about online safety. There will be no harm to be sometimes nosy on things like this. You can both benefit from doing such activities as you can be helpful to your friends and they protecting their personal information from being divulged to random users.

ALSO READ: Five Ways To Put A Spark And Save The Life Of Your Blog

You can give them heads up and tell them right away that they have posted an information very critical to their being. Educate them about configuring their privacy settings or ask if they can delete the post online for their sake.

7) Report Incidents of Online Violence. If you would like to report an incident of cyberbullying, violence, or threatening events of any kind that will sacrifice online safety on the Internet, you can talk to the authorities or to your nearest community help center. You can also share experiences and advice with other people, most especially to parents whose children are being victimized by such events. Online safety must be prioritized when going online.

People’s lives can be at risk online if not utilized properly and cautiously. With Globe’s initiative on the #makeITsafePH campaign, 67 million Filipinos can be saved by helping out in amplifying certain issues through your blog (if you have one) and social media accounts.

The #makeITsafePH Campaign Background

Hootsuite, a US-based social media management platform, has released its “Digital in 2018” report on social media and digital trends around the world. The report revealed that the Philippines now has 67 million Internet users, with all of them active on social media. This widespread use of the internet gives rise to the emergence of internet-related crimes such as rape, theft, bullying, and piracy which made the public, especially the youth, very vulnerable.

Because of this, Globe Telecom, being a purveyor of the digital lifestyle, came out with the #makeITsafePH cybersecurity and cyber-wellness campaign to educate consumers about online threats and what they can do to avoid becoming a victim. The campaign also teaches the public proper online etiquette so that they would not become a source of such deplorable behavior.

ALSO READ: What Social Media Is Today

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#makeITsafePH