As part of the ever-growing generation of technology, social media is an important aspect of many people’s lives. The online world has a place in everyone’s lives, no matter the age, no matter the factor. However, we have to remember tips on how to stay safe online, otherwise, it’s not going to turn out well for us. Welcome to the Student Voices: A High-Schooler’s Perspective, where I’m going to help you, reader, remember how to stay safe while surfing the Internet.
Let’s first focus on the publc perspective. Millions of thousands of people use the Internet every day, do you ever wonder what they see when coming across your Instagram profile, or your Twitter feed? While it’s okay to introduce yourself with basic information when you first create your social media profiles, it’s important to remember to not overdo it. You cannot go around sharing your personal information with people you don’t know, simply because you don’t know the people coming across your account. Social media is a way of showing that you are within the online world, so if you do release information, release scarcely.
Also, when chatting with other people, you have to remember that you are not, in any way, obliged to reveal anything about yourself. This part is important: especially when you don’t know or do not feel safe with the people you’re chatting with, do not further engage in interaction. There are many creeps and dangerous people lurking behind some accounts, and the worst part is, we don’t know which accounts. So be careful, be wise on who you talk to, and stay safe.
For a more private point of view, there are many things you can try to prevent being bombed by hackers, viruses, or just plain old weirdos. I’m sure you know about IP addresses and what they are, and I know that you have heard of changing those addresses regularly. While I don’t know the exact process of it, I do know that this is a very helpful way in securing whatever trackers or dangerous cookies from shady websites and people are shaken off. I may explore this topic on a further blog, but until then, the basic things you’d probably want to do would be to resetting your router or moving to another place with a different connection. I, for one, haven’t tried these out yet, but I know that they are very good ways in staying safe in regards to changing your IP.
Honestly, I don’t know what else to tell you. If you don’t know how to stay safe online, it’s better for you to just go offline. Not revealing personal information is a thing a lot of us should know already, and so is being careful with chatting up other people. Changing your IP address should be common knowledge by now. I would just like to encourage everyone reading this to stay safe. Thank you
Jon Zaccary C. Regala, Grade 10
