Many of us here are bloggers or writers. With the availability of the internet, we can easily write our heart out for the whole world to read.
There are many bloggers out there who use their blogging skills to earn a living, the digital nomads, the fashionistas and much more. However, to increase your readership and followers, you’ll need to put a face to your words. The truth is that people love to read about personal experiences and even more when accompanied by personal photos (the growth of Instagram).
The more you write, the more followers you get, the more pressure you are into better your content and your photos. A lot of your photos contains your personal life, little details like locations, the places you frequented, the things you like to buy.
The more you posted on your website and social media, the more exposed you are to the world. While it might not necessarily a bad thing, beware of overexposing yourself to the dangers of the internet.
Exposing Yourself To Identity Theft
Identify theft is not an uncommon crime and it is pretty easy to take over one’s identity. With massive information about yourself online, one can easily pretend to be you. I can find someone with a similar look that is a famous blogger and start throwing my fake identity around to obtain free products and services from companies that are hungry to get free marketing exposure. The problem is that it will ruin your reputation once the companies realize that the freebies that they handed out are not reciprocating with a written review.
Exposing Yourself To Stalkers
While I haven’t read stalkers that commit any serious crimes to bloggers, I don’t think it will be too far off in the future. If stalkers can be obsessed with anyone famous like actresses and actors, enough for them to go to court to obtain a warrant against these stalking fans, a famous blogger might face the same trouble. With your location and your favourite hangouts made known to everyone, it is easy just to wait for you to appear at your favourite cafe to start following you home or your workplace. Scary, isn’t it?
Exposing Your Loved Ones To Danger
There are many sick people out there. You might not be their target of choice or you might have accidentally offended them during an innocent exchange of comments, these sick folks can and will focus on attacking your loved ones. I often see mommies posting their children’s photos online. As cute and innocent as it is, you might be luring unwanted attention from paedophiles. Imagine your baby’s photo being photoshopped in lewd positions?! Or knowing your child’s school might lead to these criminals stalking him.
Exposing Yourself To Unwarranted Attention
When you posted a photo of yourself or personal information, the internet captures it and it retains the information on the web long after you deleted your website. You might not be the next president or the next superstar but your kid or your nephew might one day be. As trivial as your information might be, it can be used against them one day when they become famous. We all know how paparazzi love to dig into someone’s past. You might not have anything ashamed to hide, it just causes unnecessary nuisance and uncalled for headaches.
Keep Yourself Safe Online
If you google it, I’m pretty sure you’ll achieve the same safety advice but I’m going to list some of the common sense ones here (as they say common sense aren’t really that common):
1. Don’t give out too many personal details on yourself until they are able to build a mental picture of who you are.
2. Try not to share photos of your loved ones online especially children. Putting a smiley sticker on their faces doesn’t help because there is software out there that are able to reverse your photoshopped skills.
3. Don’t geotag your photos anywhere.
4. If you are a digital nomad, don’t give instant location whereabouts. Play safe by only posting location photos after you leave the place or the country. I have seen travel bloggers who share their locations freely live on the spot.
5. Of course, never tell the public where you live and work exactly. They can guess pretty much in the general area but never the street itself. I’ve seen Instagram where people posted themselves standing in front of their houses.
6. If you get weird emails, phone calls or felt someone is following you, lay low on the internet and social media for awhile. Tell someone about it and change your online profile to private. Never ignore your instincts, they might save you!
You might think I’m being overly cautious but if I can easily find information about you online and build a mental picture of you, your address, your likes and dislikes, your family members even your pet, so can predators. Better play safe than sorry!
Share your thoughts below and if you have better online safety advice, please do share with us.
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MiddleMe 
All good ideas! I know I’m guilty of these. I do just say Houston and hopefully with 4 million people here it is not do easy to find me but you never know!
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Haha. I’m being very cautious with what goes on in our blogs.
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And it’s a good idea!
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Big hugs.
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Good tips, thanks Kally!
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Thank you for your comment! And welcome to MiddleMe!
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Great thanks！！
I should be careful more and more！！
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Thank you so much! Please go ahead and share with those you love so they are aware too.
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I agree, don’t share too much private stuff, same goes for facebook and all other platforms. Great article.
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That’s very true. Social media has their dangers too.
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This is a good reminder to stay safe while online. You never know who might be out there!
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Creepy isn’t it? So much danger out there but many of us aren’t aware. Please do share this out with those you love so everyone can stay safe.
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These are some wonderful reminders, much needed in the world of today…
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Thank so much for your comment. And welcome to MiddleMe!
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Better safe than sorry. All good common sense advice.
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Thank you, Miriam! Please feel free to share this out with other bloggers so that they are aware too.
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Great post! We must always be aware 🙂
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Thank you so much. Please do share with other bloggers so they are aware too!
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Excellent post and great suggestions.
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Thank you, Benn!
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Some very good tips and something I think a lot of us overlook. Safety online is definitely something we should all keep in mind. Great post Kally!
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Thank you, Paolo. Please do share this out to your loved ones that blogs so everyone is aware of the dangers. Always good to play it safe.
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Great post. Thanks for reminding us to keep vigilant about information. Guilty on some of your points.
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Thank you, Brother Jonas. It helps to keep the community safe so please share it around.
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Thanks so much for this advice. This is something I worry about a lot, and I’ll absolutely take your advice.
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Thank you! And welcome to MiddleMe! Please do share this out so that all bloggers you know are aware of the dangers and keep themselves safe.
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Great tips ✌✌
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Thank you so much
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Good tips. I also tend to get carried away in terms of writing. The one about putting up photos of loved ones is good.
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Thank you! I get carried away as well and sometimes I asked myself ‘do I want to reveal that much? Is it safe?’
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Reblogged this on A Better Man and commented:
Good tips to keep yourself safe. From Kally, my pal and fellow blogger in Singapore. Stay safe y’all.
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Thank you for sharing this out, my friend!
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I found these tips helpful. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you, Aggie. And welcome to MiddleMe!!
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A great post! I completely agree that it’s important to protect ourselves the more we share online. It’s getting that balance right of how much you share when trying to build and increase your audience so that new people are interested and our existing followers want to remain with us xx
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Thank you, Nicci! It’s true that we have to strike a fine balance. Please do share this post out so that we can keep our blogosphere safe.
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You are totally right, thank you.
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Thank you!
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Such a great informative post. We all need to take a moment and read this. Its very true, identify theft is on the rise and the more we share about our lives the more in danger we come to predators and hackers. I especially, thought the portion you touched on keeping our children safe is most important. I often see so many individuals posting too much about there personal life and pictures of their children. Of course, I’ve been gulity of posting a picture here and there of my daughter. Although, I only friend people I know and keep my profiles private. Even though, it doesn’t completely make me safe. Since experienced software hackers can possibly over ride my settings and steal my photos and information. Also, I didn’t realize even after we delete our profiles our photos are still on the internet somewhere. That is very disturbing to know. It very much makes me rethink posting personal pictures. Of course, on WordPress when I first started I wrote a great bio. of myself but later after some thought I came to the realization I was sharing too much personal information. So I deleted it and wrote a short about me section. Furthermore, I refuse to post photos of myself, daughter and family on WordPress. Since there are many people I am not familiar with on this platform. I truly believe the internet can be helpful in quite a bit of ways but also very dangerous. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and advice on this matter.
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Thank you so much for your comment. I think a lot of people doesn’t realize the danger we are exposing ourselves and our loved ones by posting information that may seem to be innocent. Many predators obtain bits and pieces of info this way and pretend to be a friend of the family to trick us into giving away more info or to harm us. Now that Instagram New live feature is even crazier because it reveals actual live location where you are at. Imagine posting that you and your family are away on a holiday, that makes your home vulnerable to target burglary. Or that innocent post of your child starting his first day at school, allows predator to hang around the new school and watch your child. It’s creepy I know. I hate it as well. But the thing I can do is not to disclose so much to the public.
You’re right about hackers. Sure, we are normal people that we think no one wants to hack us but I do know for very little money, someone can purchase a hacker over the dark web and hack into your social media account. Sometimes, it just take a disgruntled colleague, client or even a neighbor who just overstep the line.
My last words are it plays to be safe. Especially when we have no control over the web.
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I couldn’t agree more. Safety is very important to keeping us away from harm. Indeed it’s very scary to know all of the horrors that come from personal things posted online. Thank you for sharing more in-depth about the dangers that come with sharing personal information on social media. It has truly opened my eyes wider to what I post and how to protect myself and family.
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This is a must read. Indentity theft is on the rise and much of us are exposed to predators and hackers. I especially, love the portion you covered on children’s photos. Its true, so many of us post too much of our personal lives along with our children pictures. I see it daily and I think about the dangers of posting pictures of children. Of course, i can’t say I haven’t posted a picture of my daughter from time to time. Though, I do keep my profiles private and only friend people I know. Although, it may not neccessarily keep me private from hackers that can possibly change my settings and steal my personal information and photos. I also, did not know that even after a profile is deleted our pictures are still stored in the internet database. Its very disturbing to know and certainly makes me reconsider posting my personal photos. However, on WordPress I refuse to post too much personal information and photos since there are some many people I am unfamiliar with. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and advice on this matter.
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Truly helpful!!
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sage advice, Kally 🙂
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Thank you my dear!
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Very useful information, thanks for sharing 👏👏
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Thank you!! Please share this out so we can keep all the bloggers safe from harm.
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Sure kally
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Kally I have shared your post on my twitter account 😊💕
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Awww.. you’re the sweetest. Thank you!
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This is such an important article! I do tag my location on Instagram if I’m not close to my home, and I always post the following morning so I’m not at that location anymore.
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Good for you!!! It’s important to play safe. And try not to tag your regular hangouts to prevent pervs from stalking you.
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Excellent advice. Thank you!
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Thank you!! Please do share this out to all the bloggers to keep them safe.
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Frightening. But it is a serious danger that lurks in our shadows.
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Yes, it’s frightening what we are exposed to and how our info can be exploited.
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Scary idea! I really like to think about people as being ‘good’, but alas: you are right, unfortunately there are also people who are just looking for oppurtunities to do bad… thank you for making me aware!
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Thank you for your comment! Please do share this out so that our bloggers can be aware of the dangers too.
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You’re so right, Kally, but what’s a Confessional Poet to do? We just gotta confess…Great post, though!
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Haha. Thank you so much.
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I agree, you have to be careful. However, if someone wants to do you harm they will despite the information one shares on the internet. I have pictures from our house on my blog and everybody knows I emigrated from The Netherlands to Germany. If someone wants to located me, probably possible. I also post photos of myself in action online every now and then. If I google my name, which is also available only, I find many people with exactly the same name. Fake, maybe…
And what do you advice persons who work from home and thus need to have their address available for clients, which is also their business address?
What I mean to say…yes, be cautious and keep an I on weird emails and request from people you don’t know, but I think we can’t control everything…as much as we would like to…
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Just make it difficult for the bad people who wants to do bad things to you like stealing your credentials and pretending to be you. It can be so harmful to the reputation you build. I’ll say keep your personal information to a limit. And like you, I always google myself to make sure that I only share info and photos to a minimum. As for your address, unless it is absolutely needed for your clients to visit you, my own preference is to provide only an email address and a phone number that way, you can always block out those weirdos and jerks out there. If a physical address is necessary, I would purchase a virtual business address. I’m not sure if it is available in Europe but in Singapore and Malaysia, for a small fee, we can purchase virtual business addresses where our mails get forwarded to our actual home address.
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I think it is forbidden over here to use addresses for your business like that. But that is a great tip…only provide the address after a person has proven to be truly interested in the services you offer.
Thanks Kally!
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Love this post and the advice. As a blogger who wants to grow, I am often concerned about how much information I post about myself. While it is important to be personable, such as letting others know who you are, maybe even sharing some photos, it is extremely important to consider the risks of what is shared, short term and long term.
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Wise and necessary advice.
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Thank you so much.
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This is one of those topics that I always need a refresher for! I know these are great ideas, but need to see them (in writing) every once in awhile in order to remain vigilante. Thanks for the reminder! 🙂
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Thank you for your comment and welcome to MiddleMe!!
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Great post. It’s easy to forget the wide world of the internet when you’re sitting at your laptop in an office. Thank you for this informative, thoughtful post.
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Thank you for your comment and welcome to MiddleMe!
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Useful tips these are, Kally, specially to an unsuspecting user of the network with all its pitfalls. As for me, the frequency of my posting, which used to be every six weeks or so, is presently taking a setback due to other engagements claiming heavily on my time. As in all things, moderation may be desirable here too.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I agree there should be a balance in how you expose yourself to the world.
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Thank you for sharing this!
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Excellent advice!
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Thank you so much
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Great post
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Thank you! Glad you like it
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Good points. As in many cases… it remains a matter of balance. 🙂
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Thank you. Yes, it is a fine thin balance. But many people tend to overdo it and expose themselves without meaning to.
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And there are very mean people somewhere waiting for an opening. tsss.
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This is an excellent post. I try to be careful in what I post. You raised many good points people should follow especially about posting photos of children. I have seen on FB people complain about stalkers looking at their children, when all they posted were photos of them in bikinis, what else can you expect.
Location I am loathed to show this and all social media push for this information. They really do not help to keep privacy.
Even photos of pets should be limited too there are so many weird people in this world with strange lives.
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Thank you so much for your comment. And yes, there are plenty of weird people with weird fetishes that we should stay clear of and protect ourselves by not overexposing ourselves.
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