The price of too much social media exposure

The risk of exposing your personal life on social media is a topic that has been discussed tirelessly since the popularization of social network platforms.

However, a recent robbery involving Kim Kardashian in Paris has raised the concern of too much social media exposure once again.

After coming back from one of the Paris Fashion Week events, the celebrity was held at gunpoint and robbed of about $10 million worth of jewelry she was endorsing, two iPhones and other personal items on Monday morning.

The Kardashian sister was documenting every step of her days in Paris through social media up until the moment she got back to her two-story hotel room.

This constant exposure of her ostentatious lifestyle and routine on Snapchat and Instagram may have helped her robbers to pick her as a target. According to multiple reports, the Kardashian alleged that one of the robbers demanded her to surrender her engagement ring specifically. The celebrity has worn and exhibited her $4.5 million ring along with other jewelry both in events and on social media.

With the popularization of social media, more and more people are constantly using multiple networking tools to share information and news, create events and get connected with friends and family. It is evident that social media’s role in networking is essential to our generation. Yet, it is very common to see that people disclose personal information online carelessly which can lead to privacy and safety concerns.

As college students, we have to be aware that our social media behavior can put us in harmful positions as well. Hackers, spammers, identity thieves, kidnappers and robbers commonly use information available on social media to target their next victim. People do not even have to be famous to be targeted.

For safety reasons, over-exposing your life on social media is not a good idea. Isolating yourself completely and deleting all records of your life online is not the answer either. After all, everyone is on social media nowadays: friends, neighbors, relatives and colleagues.

Having a “virtual” social life is almost inevitable and probably desirable. Not to mention that the appropriate use of social media can help further your professional life, since companies are increasingly using social media resources for networking purposes.

The ideal plan is to use social media responsibly. It is not advisable to post personal conversations, social plans, pictures and any form of information that can be used against you in the future.
Remember that any information easily found online can serve as a connection point for a hacker or criminal who is looking for easy prey on the web.

Always use good sense and caution when sharing information on social media. It is preferable to keep a professional conduct online and try to avoid posting intimate photos and videos of yourself or your friends.

If you are not a public person, do not add or accept friend invitations from strangers to avoid sharing too much information about your private life with someone you don’t know.
Also, be careful with ostentation. Posting where you are, your routine and path every second can be risky once it attracts criminals.