Have you ever been approached on the street by some random stranger who knew your name along with some other personal information about you?
Stalker, right? If you geo-target your Twitter Tweets, Instagram pics, or public Facebook posts, that could very well happen to you.
Comedian Jack Vale decided to search through Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms for posts tagged near his location. He stalked the posters’ feeds, called them out in the street, and started conversations around the information that he had learned about them on social media.
Check out the video:
Cnet also reported that whenever you click a Facebook ‘like’ button, your preference is not just shared with your friends and followers, but data about your interests is sent back to Facebook’s servers – ready to be sold to third party advertisers. What’s more, personal data is exchanged when you use apps via Facebook. It has even been reported that signing up for these apps will give those companies who created the apps access to your personal data – even details you specifically told Facebook to keep a secret.
Rule of Thumb: Don’t share any private, confidential information on your social media channels. The less people know about your whereabouts and likings, the better.