Let’s Hang Out on the Web:The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Online Social Networks

Our Agenda

• What is Social Networking?• Find Your Site• Dos and Don’ts of Social Networking• 10 Ways to Stay Safe in an Online Social

Network• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly• Questions

Social Networking

• What is it?• Benefits to Business, Professional and

Personal areas– Creating new business opportunities– Finding job opportunities– Reconnecting and connecting with friends and

colleagues– Connecting with others with similar interests

Sites to Consider• Linked In (www.linkedin.com) – General best for Professional Networking.• Facebook (www.facebook.com) – Very popular (…and being taken over by

boomers): General. • My Space (www.myspace.com): General.• Hi5 (http://hi5.com/): General. Popular in Angola, Portugal, Cyprus, Romania,

Thailand, Central Africa and Latin America.• Tagged (http://www.tagged.com/): General• Academia.edu (http://www.academia.edu/) – Academic Networking• Classmates (www.classmates.com): School, college, work and the military• Reunion (www.reunion.com): School, college, work and the military• Twitter (www.twitter.com): Micro-blogging, RSS, updates• Tribe.net (www.tribe.net): General*• ….and more.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites)

10 Ways to Stay Safe

1. Monitor suspicious activity/links2. Remove friends as appropriate3. Keep your wall clean (those like facebook and

myspace)4. If the site has a chat feature, turn it off5. Change your password often

10 Ways to Stay Safe

6. Never share your password7. Hide your year of birth8. Keep your information private9. Adjust your privacy settings10.Protect your mobile devices

Keeping Our Kids Safe

• Ask the following questions:– Who Can See Your Child’s Profile Information?– Who Can See Your Child’s Photos?– Who Can See Your Child’s Personal Information?– Who Can Find Your Child’s Profile?– How Can People Contact Your Child?

A few added layers…• Secure Passwords:

– Make it difficult to figure out– Don’t place it on a note on the back of your keyboard or in your desk drawer– A good password is:

• 8 characters long• Has no personal information• Does not use real words• Mixes upper and lower case characters and numbers• Something you change regularly (every 30 to 60 days)

• Firewalls• Virus Protection• Browser Updates• Operating System Updates• Application Software UpdatesRun your anti-virus scan and other security software regularly (weekly or more) to catch the bad

things before they make your computer “sick” or lose your identity.

Question anything odd…

• Scams:– Phishing is where the perpetrator sends out legitimate-

looking emails appearing to come from a your bank, government, paypal, BestBuy, IRS, etc. in an effort to get you to give them your personal and financial information.

– Pharming is another scam where they get you to go to a website that looks like the real deal but isn’t, they then trick you into entering your information with the goal of stealing your identity and financial information.

• Social engineering…the bad stuff.

Dos and Don’ts – In General

• Do update your profile regularly• Do join groups...selectively• Do go on the offensive• Don't badmouth your current or previous employer• Don't mention your job search if you're still employed• Don't forget others can see your friends• Don’t post pictures of your partying • Don’t post pictures of you in you birthday suit

…Most of all, have fun!

• Social Networking is for everyone.• According to Time Magazine, Facebook is

quickly becoming the place for middle-aged old fogies (yep, I R 1, 2) – Baby Boomers and Millenials – to connect.

Questions.

Contact Information

Richard G. Bush, Ph. D.Lawrence Technological University

bush@ltu.edu248-204-3078