Not everyone who watches
your every move is your friend!
We live in a world where a lot of people strive for attention. They want to get attention and have many followers who watch their every move. Social media, cell phones, and videos have many people scrambling for attention, in some vain attempt to become an influencer or to become famous. But they never seem to comprehend the dangerous side of their actions.
As they work hard to gain attention from thousands of people they don’t know, they forget that not everyone who watches their every move is their friend. Many are doing nothing more than carelessly feeding information to predators, criminals, and even their haters.
Almost daily, I see people posting that they are on vacation in Hawaii or Florida, with a plethora of photos to prove it to their readers. There is even an app where you can pinpoint where you are at this very moment. Many also love to expose information about their personal life or relationships on social media. And what about the suggestive photos that so many young women post almost daily?
Some of you may be asking, “What is wrong with any of this?” Well, I am glad you asked. There is an old Japanese proverb which states, “If the bird hadn’t sung, it wouldn’t have been shot.” Think about that.
When you post about your specific location or that you are going out of town next week, you are informing thousands of people you don’t know when your home will be vacant. Some people post things such as, “My husband is away on business for two weeks. I am so lonely.” I shouldn’t even have to explain why this is unwise!
When you post that you are on vacation, at a rock concert for the night, or home alone, you are not only sharing this information with your friends, but with possible criminals, thieves, rapists, etc.
If you aren’t aware of how dangerous things are becoming, checkout the crime statistics! Crime, especially in the U.S., is booming. Home invasions are increasing. We are seeing illegal aliens committing horrendous crimes weekly. And what thief wouldn’t love a way to be determine when a home will be unoccupied?
You should be careful who you friend and what you post on social media! And even if you are careful about who you friend, once people start to share your post, you have no control over how many people will see it. Your post, and the information you share, will take on a life of its own! That can be very dangerous depending on what kind of information you share.
For example, I share wisdom posts and excerpts from my books. My posts get anywhere from 100–96,000 likes. You never know which post will take off or who will see it. You must be selective about what you post on social media!
“Unless you are forced by necessity, be careful in your conversations
never to say anything which, if repeated, might displease others. For often,
at times and in a way you could never foresee, those words may do you great harm.”
Francesco Guicciardini
Also, employers, schools, and companies are now, not only running background checks on people, but they are also running social media checks. Those social media checks expose not only the things you post, but the pages and groups you follow. If you are following some semi-porn pages or extreme radical pages on social media, your potential employer will be able to see this information.
Moreover, you should be careful about the photos you post of yourself as well. If you post photos of a drunken party you attended, with photos of you totally wasted, and smoking a joint, it is easy for a potential employer to see. This goes for those nude, barely dressed, or sexually suggestive photos also.
You may be thinking, “It’s my life. I have the right to post whatever I want.” And that is true. But the fact that you have the right to post those kinds of photos, doesn’t mean that they won’t be used against you. Even the thoughts you post can be used against you.
Law enforcement and lawyers now go through peoples’ social media accounts to see if they can find quotes, photos, or posts which backs up their case against that person. And whatever you post on social media can be used against you by law enforcement officers and the courts as evidence against your character or to help build a case against you.
“The intelligent cover up what they have committed,
and the fools expose even what they may commit.”
Baltasar Gracian
Be smart and be selective when it comes to what you post or comment on in your social media accounts. Don’t feel the need to tell people everything about yourself. Stop posting where you are and what you are doing all the time. Never post that you are out of town on vacation. And be wise about the thoughts and photos you share of yourself. You never know when this stuff will be used against you!
There are many people on social media who are nothing more than haters, and trolls who love to find people to maliciously harass. Most of the time, you won’t even have a clue who these pathetic losers are, but that won’t stop them from going out of their way to cause you problems.
“The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming,
but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking,
but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable.”
Sun Tzu
Remember, not everyone who watches your every move is your friend! Predators, criminals, trolls, and haters will also watch your every your every move, looking for any opening to victimize you. Never allow carelessness or your emotions to cause you to post something that you will later regret! Be smart about what you post on the internet.
