Play safe the Internet - Upd FaceBook issue Pg 7

Dear Friends!

Social Networking is a common thing these days.Having virtual friends is not really a big issue these days!!

The issue of browsing social networking sites and having virtual friends is an issue of concern for family members!!! Especially those family members who read the news and see the news about the frauds done through net and who donot browse the genuine social networking sites!!

Unfortunatley those family members see the news of the more types of frauds and more type of crimes done in the form of social networking!!!

In the mean process people who get into genuine sites and have genuine virtual friends face problems in convincing the family members!!

But at the same time the cyber crimes these days are increasing and the cyber crimes are very sophisticated and innocent people get stuck in that crimes un knowingly in those acts!!

MMS and messages are encrypted and the outer message might be some joke or funny stuff ,so if we don't know those things and if we read them or forward them and we may be unwitting party in that crime !!!

Mean while its tough to convince the family members about the genuine virtual friends!!

So my questions are:

Is the internet safe place these days?

If, it depends on the level of security measures you take,can you share your best practices with us?

Do you like your family members seeing your social networking messages and friends ?

Do you like having family members and friends on the same platform(not the operating system) but same site ,say India Forums or Orkut or any other social networking site?

Wishes,

Mythili

PS - Using this post (well written) to raise related issue of facebook, which is in news. See pg 7. Updated the title. Myth PM me if there is concern... thanks!

Great topic Myth. Waiting to read everyone's views here.

I started out as a very smart surfer. did not get in to any emotional lafdas or long lasting friendships etc to keep things simple for me. somewhere down the line I dropped my guard. ended up being blessed with 3-4 absolutely wonderful VL friends and had one bitter experience as well.

That's when i realized that it is virtually impossible to know who is on the other side. sometimes, we end up sharing a lot of info among us gal-pals as we feel like soul sisters here. one shd always keep in mind that if something goes wrong, then the other person has your personal info. so, going forward, i have vowed not to share anything personal with anyone new on forums.

Overall, it has been a pleasant experience for me but I would be really worried if my teenager is spending the same amount of time on net as I do because she lacks the acumen required to make out who's who in VL.

No, I don't like my family memebers to be on the same forum which I visit. In RL, we do everything together...I mean we go everywhere together, hang out together as a family etc. we don't have our separate friend circles. at times, it feels claustrophobic. Forums I visit are my breathing space and i refuse to share it with my family. You'll see me on net mostly during office hours or after 11 at night. i try not devote my family time to forums. therefore, i think, that i have this right to keep my forum life to me only. Same goes for my PMs.

Originally posted by: souro

Souro, I am with you on bolded part above...and totally with you on the bolded and underlined😆

Originally posted by: mythili_Kiran

So my questions are:

Is the internet safe place these days?

Is the real world a safer place???....... no every place has its own level of safety...... but with the IT laws on cyber crimes, atleast you can take action against the cyber frauds..... so yes its very close to real world..... as it cant be as good as real world it cant be as dangerous as real world too😉

If, it depends on the level of security measures you take,can you share your best practices with us?

Security measure depends on the level of confidence you have on oneanother..... definitely you cant share very important information about u..... but u can definitely share ur hobbies etc.... to make friendships..... just as we do in real life i guess,.... even in RL we dont reveal all personal info to all we do it only after we reach that level of confort..... so i think same rules and security measures apply to both using different technologies😃

Do you like your family members seeing your social networking messages and friends ?

I dont mind them seeing social networking messages and friends.... they can know what is our company and how is it..... but they shd nt poke their nose in every affair..... there shd be some privacy allowed.....

Do you like having family members and friends on the same platform(not the operating system) but same site ,say India Forums or Orkut or any other social networking site?

I dont mind them being on same website.... infact i told my family about IF and orkut... its even better if they are informed than discussing with them about site, if they are uninformed.... its different story that my immediate family has nt joined lols.... Being informed about our company its easy for us to take family in confidence 😃

Wishes,

Mythili

Originally posted by: kabhi_21

Is the internet safe place these days?

If we are careul I think net is safer. But if someone really wants harm then he can go to any extend to get your personal info.

If, it depends on the level of security measures you take,can you share your best practices with us?

I think group forums like this, Orkut etc. are for adults so I would block all such websites from my kid's computer. In my opinion she just needs to access net for her assignments. She is just a toddler so long way to go😃. I don't like teens discussing topics like sex etc. on net with strangers. I would like every parent be responsible and check what their children are doing on net and with whom they are chatting. IMO Parents MUST be aware of child's real as well as virtual friends. As for me I never give my personal info to anyone.

Do you like your family members seeing your social networking messages and friends ?

My family members know that I am on IF and they even know my id but they think it is my space so leave it at that. I do the same. My direct family member is my husband and when I made him read few posts of mine he asked me how I find time to write all this😆. He is judgemental because he thinks those who have all the free time in the world comes to IF.😆😆

Do you like having family members and friends on the same platform(not the operating system) but same site ,say India Forums or Orkut or any other social networking site?

Don't laugh but I am not comfortable with Orkut. I got invitations few times to join Orkut community but somehwere in my mind I think it is not safe. I am fine at IF and such group forums. I don't like the idea of entire family being on one site. People need space.

Is the internet safe place these days?

As everyone said, is any place safe today? So, my answer is no.

If, it depends on the level of security measures you take,can you share your best practices with us?

Giving out personal info is a big no-no. It is often possible to meet genuine people through virtual means, but caution should always be exercised.

Do you like your family members seeing your social networking messages and friends ?

No. Not that it is a problem, but I come on the internet to relax myself away from RL deals and I def would not want to involve family OR RL friends in this as well.

Do you like having family members and friends on the same platform(not the operating system) but same site ,say India Forums or Orkut or any other social networking site?

I use Orkut to connect with friends and family, and not to make VL friends. I have been able to get back in touch with a lot of elementary school friends and old neighbours and long-distance relatives through Orkut and I have kept that medium strictly to communicate with known people. Very often, there are weirdos asking to be friends and all that shiznit, but it is totally in your hands to block or ignore them.

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I joined a Gujju Yahoo group about two years back. It was a group with like 100 people and people forwarded messages and discussed various topics... And, it was a fabulous way to remain in touch with my roots. There were some virtual toddlers, aged like 12 and 13 who were there. Not that it mattered, but they gave out any info that was asked of them. Thankfully, none of us was a stalker or anything, but it is def wrong for kids to be allowed to access all parts of internet. But overall, that Y! group gave me so many friends for that period that I had no time for RL friends for a while. This started during summer and later, people started getting busy and the group became bigger and bigger and we chose to communicate through messengers with close ones. Kuch log bichad gaye but I am still in touch with a few and I am very pleased to say that I have became really good friends with a few and they will last for my whole life-time.

So yes, you can never be safe while on net, but genuine people are around us as well. So, don't just start talking to people. Take time and observe them well before befriending anyone. And if someone wants to find anything, they can go to any extent to do so! So, all we can do is talk with caution...

Originally posted by: mythili_Kiran

So my questions are:

Is the internet safe place these days?

safe is a relative term, when you hookup your PC to a network, you are compromising your security

If, it depends on the level of security measures you take,can you share your best practices with us?

never share personal info, never share personal email, never share your full name, it is very easy to track a person on the net

best practises: connect to the net using a proxy, try to keep your IP anonymous, set up a firewall on your PC

always start off thinking the person you are conversing with has less than 20% of truth factor to them😉

converse on the views of a person, not with the person

if you intend to branch out to someone always assume

Do you like your family members seeing your social networking messages and friends ?

why not

Do you like having family members and friends on the same platform(not the operating system) but same site ,say India Forums or Orkut or any other social networking site?

if you are trying to branch out in life😉 then no, if not no harm

Wishes,

cheers