Social Media

Many of you may have noticed that I no longer have a blog roll with all of your blogs on my sidebar. It is something that I miss - it is so easy to keep up when you update your blog with a new post, and I have fallen behind by not having this convenience. However, this was an intentional move to protect my readers. When writers Trish and Rob MacGregor were hacked several months back, a few of their blogging friends were also hacked. It was nasty - they hacked their email accounts, ruined a computer, literally made their lives miserable.

I closed my blog - totally eliminated it, and started a new one which I kept personal until it was clear I was not a target. But I began to worry about my readers. If for some reason I attracted a bad element - I didn't want my readers to also be pulled into the mess. Lucky for me, that has not happened. But for many, social media is becoming intrusive and worrisome.

This article about a mother who found her children were being used in an unauthorized manner makes the case for being very careful about what information you give to social media sites, and especially if you link them. In this case a mother found her children being used on one site, without them ever signing on to that site, just from them being a friend on her Facebook, and leaving a message on her Wall.

This is scary. The idea that information can be swiped and used throughout the internet is of major concern.

So be aware that when you sign on to your blog, twitter, Facebook, etc., that everything you write is public domain - even your children.