On the topic of personal security online

When I was a kid, we didn’t have social media. We had Yahoo Chat. We didn’t use our real names, we used usernames that we would switch out as quickly as any 13 year old gets bored.

Back then we were told don’t tell people anything real about you, because everything you tell them will make it easier for them to figure out who you are in real life.

Back then we were on our own. We were solely in charge of our security.

That’s no longer true.

With social media, we connect ourselves to everyone we know. We use our real names, but even if we didn’t, it’s hard to be connected to your Grandmother on her birthday without saying happy birthday. It’s hard to watch your friends give birth without congratulating them.

We are, for what it’s worth both negative and positive, living online. Our personal security is as much tied to the people we know as it is to our own actions.

And we can’t even say that the only way to be secure is to not play. You don’t even have to have an account for your personal information to wind up on Facebook.

Someone takes a photo and posts it, and you’re there.

Someone mentions you and they are at a concert together, and they’re so excited.

Someone mentions anything about you, and your information is out there for all to see.

It’s no longer enough to be vigilant about personal safety online, and that’s probably the most terrifying part about the internet.

How quickly we went from one extreme to the other.

If this article was interesting to you, you’re going to love the stream of tech-consciousness that is my Twitter feed. Head over there and give me a follow. You won’t be disappointed.