STAYING SAFE ONLINE
Media Monitoring Africa initiative
Learn to critically engage with social media
Top 14 tips for staying safe online
Make your online experience a fun and safe one. Download these Social Media Guidelines here and share them with friends. You can also stick them on your refrigerator. Follow these tips to safely enjoy social networking:
Empower yourself!
Your privacy is your choice and responsibility!
Think before you click, post, share, retweet or like.
Be careful who you trust online.
Treat people the way you want to be treated.
Do what you would do offline, online.
Carefully choose your friends online.
Don’t be confrontational for the sake of confrontation.
Your naked pictures are not as cool as you think they are.
Learn to respect others.
Watch out for spam & scams!
Your selfie might not be your bestie!
Your parents are your friends.
Always log out!
Empower yourself!
Before you use a particular social media networking site, you need to learn about it as much as you can, learn about how it works, the security features and all that will make your experience fun and exciting.
Did you Know? Empowering yourself involves making positive choices and being confident in your ability to make decisions.
Your privacy is your choice and responsibility!
Learn to keep your phone number and other private information such as your full name, address, mobile number or school off the social media networks.
Think before you click, post, share, retweet or like.
Watch what you do and say online. Express yourself freely and boldly but do it responsibly.
Be careful who you trust online.
You need to be cautious when online. A person can pretend to be someone they are not.
Treat people the way you want to be treated.
Don’t forget that on the other side of your computer or mobile phone is a person with feelings just like you.
Do what you would do offline, online.
Remain true to yourself and don’t allow your standards to be altered by other’s rude behaviour online.
Carefully choose your friends online.
Manage your friends list so you always know who has access to your private information.
Did you know? Before accepting a friend request check the account’s profile picture and their ‘About’ information
Don’t be confrontational for the sake of confrontation.
Keep your, cool, learn to walk away.
Your naked pictures are not as cool as you think they are.
Photos of children in sexually suggestive or explicit poses are ILLEGAL.
Learn to respect others.
Come to terms with the fact that people hold different opinions to yours.
Watch out for spam & scams!
If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If you have not entered any competition, then you haven’t won anything.
Your selfie might not be your bestie!
Posting evidence of your illegal behaviour online is like shooting yourself in the foot.
Your parents are your friends.
Be open with your parents, it makes their job of protecting you easier.
Always log out!
Someone can use the same computer as you used, see that your account is still open and post malicious messages using your account.
Make your online experience a fun and safe one. Print out these social media tips and share them with friends. Stick them on your refrigerator or in the classroom. Follow these tips to safely enjoy social networking!
