Social media + privacy

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE INTERNET STOPS BEING POLITE AND STARTS GETTING REAL Privacy + Social Media + You Shea Sylvia | SMCKC | 9.10.10

An introduction Hi. I’m Shea. I’m part of Cerner’s online marketing team. I manage the company’s social media activity. I tweet (@sheasylvia) and blog (sheasylvia.com) and try to avoid being an SMDB as much as possible.

Before July 13, 2010, I:  Checked in on Foursquare on an almost daily basis.  Was selectively connected to IRL friends and online friends via Foursquare.  Occasionally published my location to Twitter when I was with a group or thought I had something reasonably interesting to mention.  Kept my LinkedIn profile and Flickr photostream totally public.  Used Facebook strictly for IRL friends and family with locked-down privacy settings  Always felt safe.

July 13, 2010

And then… “Are you Shea Sylvia? You have a phone call.”

“Brian” was on the other line Hi Shea. It’s Brian… Is this getting creepy? Brian who? Yeah… This is creepy.

So I did the logical thing:

And then things got interesting

And then they got REALLY interesting

And then it got ugly There are over 450 comments on the Jezebel post. Most of them go something like this:

And uglier

And as ugly as it could possibly get

What happened next  I cried. A lot.  I filed a police report.  I removed comments from my blog.  And then I blogged about the experience.  I deleted my Foursquare account.  I changed the privacy settings on my LinkedIn profile, Flickr photostream, and (temporarily) protected my tweets.  I started taking different routes home.  I stopped feeling safe.

The million dollar question Q: Am I responsible for what happened? A: Yes and No

The thing is…  We’re social media professionals who sometimes forget the rest of the internet isn’t like us.  Some of us are still checking into our homes… where our families live and our kids play.  Even if we don’t use location- sharing tools, we give away other private information ALL. THE. TIME.  (Think about your last thirty tweets. Did you ever say where you were? Could someone exploit that information?)

Questions  If I was being reasonably careful with my Foursquare behavior and “Brian” called me, what about users who can’t even figure out their Facebook privacy settings?  What do you think this means for Facebook Places?

A Facebook Places check-in

More questions  Have we become so accustomed to getting excited about the newest, coolest social media tool that we’ve stopped caring about the implications of using those tools?  Does it make you less of a social media professional if you are selective with the tools you use?  Where do you draw the line?

Where things stand now  I’m back on Foursquare.  I treat the audience of each social media tool differently.  I feel a bit safer. But I’m cautious.  I’m pretty sure Foursquare’s PR team hates me.

Safety tips  It ruins the fun a bit, but checking in on your way out of a location is a safer option.  Only accept friend requests from people you know and trust. Just because you chat with someone on Twitter doesn’t mean they aren’t secretly a creepster.  Change up your routines. Try a different Starbucks in the morning or a different Chipotle at lunch.  NEVER CHECK IN FROM HOME. OR WORK. (I know that last one is debatable.)  Check and double-check your privacy settings.  Turn off geo-tagging on your smartphone.

Questions?

Social media + privacy

by Shea Sylvia on Sep 10, 2010

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Social media + privacy — Presentation Transcript