How Much Is Too Much II: Everyone Is A Potential Stalker

Alternate title: A Paranoid’s Guide to the Internet.

Yesterday I wrote about the influence of each word we type. Today is a similar topic, but more along the lines of being safe online.

We all hear horror stories of the internet. Someone’s credit card numbers were hijacked. Another lost all her data to a bad virus. Yet another actually believed a Nigerian prince wanted his help. And there are new scams all the time.

There are also those who might follow you, scrounging up every piece of information you have to find where you’re vulnerable. A tweet that you’re heading out to a family reunion may seem harmless, but it’s also a big, neon sign saying, “My house is empty! Burglarize it!”

You might go, “Well, it’s not like anyone actually knows where I live.” Except, you know, if they Google you, maybe see what state you live in on your LinkedIn profile, then what town you live in by your blog post on how the governor made a speech at the local high school and you got a picture with him. Then it’s just a matter of looking you up on the online yellow pages or, if you don’t have a land line, maybe they caught your house number on your Facebook page and can look it up from there. You might think that no one will go through all that trouble…but they do. All the time.

If you click that “add your location?” button that seems to be on every social network site, just roll out the red carpet.

This all might be a little paranoid. Perhaps so. I just wish I didn’t read about these things happening to people.

Every word we type can resonate in our lives.