What Is Social Networking? 243
Mistakes in Social Media and Social Networking
Social media can be made safer if you take simple steps to strengthen your accounts. In
fact, it has been found in many cases that with a little care and effort, you can lessen or
avoid many common security issues and risks. You can reuse some of the guidance from
earlier chapters and apply it to these new platforms:
Password Using the same password across multiple sites means anyone who gets controls
of the password can access whatever data or personal information you store on any of those
sites. In a worst-case scenario, for example, a Twitter password hack can give the hacker
the key to an online banking account. Keep in mind that if you use a password on a site
that doesn’t protect information carefully, someone can steal it. Many social-networking
sites have grown so large so fast that they do not take appropriate security measures to
secure the information they are entrusted with until it is too late. Additionally, many users
never or rarely ever change their passwords, making their accounts even more vulnerable.
Too Much Information With the proliferation of social networking, the tendency to
share too much has become more common. Users of these networks share more and more
information without giving much thought to who may be reading it. The attitude nowadays
tends to skew toward sharing information. People increasingly see sharing as no big deal.
However, an individual’s or company’s brand and reputation can easily be tarnished if
the wrong information is shared. In some cases, companies have taken the brunt of the
public’s ire because an employee posted something that was off-color or offensive. It may
not initially seem like a security problem, but rather a public relations issue; but one of the
items you must protect as a security-minded individual is the public’s perception of your
compa ny.
Unsafe at Home
One example of a brand being tarnished through social media is that of Home Depot. In
late 2013, the marketing firm contracted by the company posted a picture through the
social media network Twitter that was viewed as being extremely racist. Even though
Home Depot did not itself post the tweet, it was posted on the company’s official
account. In response to the incident, Home Depot quickly terminated the agency and the
employee responsible for the posting.
The fallout from the incident met with derision and praise. Although most viewed Home
Depot’s response as being swift, decisive, and thoughtful, other members of the public
were offended and vowed not to ever frequent the retailer again.
Overall, the reaction wasn’t overwhelmingly bad due to Home Depot’s quick response. It
could have been much worse.