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ISSUE 32OFFGRIDWEB.COMI’ve realized in the evolution of social
realms that there are things I have to con-
form to in order to reach my full potential.
Social media is one of those things. My
profile is set to public, as my account is
used for marketing. Aware of the risks when
opening my profile, I still chose to keep it as
a public platform. The only personal infor-
mation I provide on my profile is my name,
job title, and email address. I acknowledge
the risks associated with not having privacy
controls attached to the profile, but in order
to have the marketing reach, it was a deci-
sion I went into prepared.
When posting content, I always follow a
few simple rules: I don’t post personal con-
tent, only content relating to outreach as
an influencer; I always keep the location tab
turned off; and I’m mindful to the content
that’s posted — no sexually explicit photosor inciting verbiage. I’m constantly remind-
ing my family that what you post on the
internet is there forever. There are some risk
factors that we have to accept in exchange
for the benefits of the internet and being
searchable is one of them. When I post, I do
so about fairly generic things, never giving
my opinion or diving into political topics. I
do this for two reasons: my opinion is mine
and I choose not to entice negative interac-
tions, and I’ve also learned that if negative
interactions occur, it’s very easy to block
and report those with keyboard courage.
If you experience hostile interactions that
persist after blocking said profiles, you can
contact the social media outlet to file a for-
mal report. If the online harassment is more
aggressive and contains actual threats or
concerning behavior, a report should also be
filed with the local authorities of the city/townyou were in when you received the threat.
Be sure to take a screen shot or save the
content and profile from which the message
was sent. If possible, gather the IP address
of the user. If the situation rises to the level
where you need to track someone down and
take legal action against their online activity,
it may be helpful to provide authorities with
their IP address. The IP address can help
identify the offender’s general location.
There are limitations to what is made
public — you’ll not be able to locate or
identify this person, their home, or office.
Most devices use dynamic IPs that change
frequently, so it’s also difficult to tie an IP to a
specific computer or mobile device. Howev-
er, there is an exception — if an individual has
participated in illegal activities, then a law en-
forcement agency can get a court order for
the IP address and submit it to the internet
service provider to request
the customer’s information.
You can also potentially grab
an IP address through mes-
saging applications as well:
“For Facebook users: It is
possible to find an IP Address
using the Facebook messen-
ger/chat application. Using
the command prompt tool
(for Windows users) or the
utility tool (for Mac users)
and the netstat function, you
can easily trace someone’s IP
address on this social media
platform. You must first
establish a connection with
the user — this should be an
open connection; therefore,
the built-in Facebook chat
system is the best option to
use. Open a new chat window
with the user and ensure that
they’re online. Once you’ve
opened a chat window, keep
it open, and then proceed to
open the Command Prompt
tool or Utility tool depending
on your OS.Former Federal Officer Hana Bilodeau’s Approach