We've all heard the horror stories about people being abducted or taken advantage of online.

I mean, catfishing is a term for a reason.

People can go on and explore different aspects of who they are or their personality, which means that some people can go on and pretend to be somebody that they're not.

So how do you know who you can trust and how can you protect yourself online?

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While social media can be hugely beneficial to staying in touch and connected with our loved ones and friends, it can be difficult to know how to protect yourself.

Paying attention to these 4 areas can help you Protect Yourself on Social Media: 

1. Your Location

While it can be really fun and cool to geotag yourself in different locations (that's when you put the actual location of where you're at currently on either your photos or your videos or whatever social media status update you're providing) it can put you in really risky & unsafe situations.

Keeping your location private is hugely beneficial in protecting yourself on social media. The one exception to this is being able to share your location with a trusted, safe, responsible adult, somebody like a parent. That way, should anything happen to you, they'll be able to ping where you have been, which can make it really beneficial in getting help to you in a speedy fashion.

2. Your Name

Keeping your full name private is another way that you can protect yourself on social media. While a lot of social media apps encourage you to use your full name, it's really easy for people to track down other information about you, especially if they know like your date of birth or what town you live in. They can use that information to gather even more information about you, which they can actually use against you.

3. Your Gut

Your gut or your intuition is your biggest guide to protecting yourself, whether that's online or not. So if you start talking to somebody or connecting with somebody on social media, and something just doesn't feel right in your body, listen to that.

That's probably a sign telling you that something about this is too good to be true.

Now that doesn't automatically mean that the person is lying or trying to hurt you in some sort of way. It's just information for you to pause, stay curious, and do a little investigating of your own. Ultimately, your body won't lie to you about what it knows is right or wrong for you. 

4. Your Friends

One of the most effective ways of protecting yourself on social media is being sure to only allow people to be your friends on these apps that you actually know and trust in real life.

Just because they're a friend of a friend doesn't mean that it makes sense to give them full access to all of your social media information.

As you already know, nothing is private on social media. Anybody can screen shot or pull up old information.

So giving somebody who's a stranger full access to that, you never know how they could potentially use that in the future.

Now that you know the areas to pay attention to, it’s important to know what to do if you happen to see anybody writing, commenting or sharing inappropriate information about you or someone else.

Do These Three Things:

• Screenshot it.

• Report it.

• Block them.

Don't just report it to the social media app. Also report it to a safe, trusted adult. There may be certain situations where it's necessary and vital that you report that information to the police or to the individual themselves, especially if it involves underage individuals. You never know who you could be helping or protecting when you share this information. And please don't share this information with other teenagers! That can actually get you in trouble too.

Tell me….

What other ways are you staying safe on social media? What did you find most helpful and valuable? Let me know in the comments.

Want even more positive influences in your teen's life? Teen Girls Therapy Group is a weekly space where your teen girl can connect with others dealing with anxiety, depression, or low self-esteem. By talking and learning together, they learn to feel better about the relationships they have with themselves and others.

If you want to secure your teen's spot- complete your complimentary 15-min parent phone screening at 203-228-8971 or completing the contact form here.

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