5 details you shouldn't give Facebook

Here is some information that I came across a few days ago...

The whole point of Facebook is to share your life with other people. You probably have more than a few friends who fall into the over-sharing category. But don’t snicker. You may be one, too, and not even know it.

Here are five personal tidbits Facebook asks you to share that you’re much better off keeping to yourself.

1. Your phone number

It's a really bad idea to add your home or cellphone number to your Facebook page. Prank callers, stalkers, scammers and identity thieves would love to use this information against you.

Not only that, but there’s a Facebook trick that works pretty much most of the time. Anyone can use your phone number to search and find your Facebook page.

One security researcher, Reza Moaiandin, took it a step further and found he didn't even need to know a specific phone number. He wrote a program to generate every possible number in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, submitted the numbers to Facebook and got back information from millions of profiles that had poor privacy settings. If he had wanted to, he could have turned around and sold the information on the black market to hackers who build and sell "fullz," or packages of identity information.

If you do give your phone number to Facebook, be sure to hide it in your profile.

Go to Facebook and click on your name at the top of the page. When your profile page loads, click the "Update Info" button in the lower-right corner of your cover image. Go to "Contact and Basic Info" in the left column and next to your phone number click the "Edit" link.

Click the "audience selector" icon, which will either be a globe or a silhouette of two people or a lock. If you see the lock, you don’t have to do anything. But if you see the globe or silhouette, change it to "Only me." Now no one can see your phone number, and it won't show up in searches.

2. Your home address

Post a picture of your recent vacation or major new purchase and this puts you at risk. Think for a moment of all the terrible things that might happen if some nefarious person knew your home address. Remove it from your Facebook profile.

Follow the directions in the last section to get into the "Contact and Basic Info" section of your profile information. Look for "Neighborhood," and if there's an address there, click the "Edit" link next to it and wipe out the information. Then click "Save Changes."

One other place you might find your address is under events. If you create an event, it will likely have your address, so people know where to go. If that accidentally gets set to Public, then anyone can see it.

Either delete the event right after it happens, or tell people who are coming to message you for the address. Be sure to check back through your history to get rid of any old events or posts that have your address in them. 

3. Anything work-related

Try not to leave any information on Facebook that reveals where you work. If someone from your workplace tries to search for employees on Facebook, she might find a post or photo she doesn’t like.

Similarly, if a hacker wanted to figure out whom to target if he wanted to break into your workplace's computers, social media would be his first stop. Of course, hackers are more likely to hit LinkedIn first.

Bonus tip: If you're worried about coworkers or employers creeping on your Facebook profile, then change these three basic features.

Again, you can use Facebook's timeline tools to do a scan of your past posts. Remove any information about your current job, especially if it's of a complaining nature. If you have posts about previous jobs, you might want to remove those as well. A current coworker or supervisor you decide to friend might see them and it could color her opinion of you.

4. Your relationship status

Including your relationship status on your Facebook page just invites awkwardness. The number of "likes" that you might get from people after you change your status from "married" to "it's complicated" will creep you out.

Certain relationship statuses are also a draw for cyberstalkers. At one point, there even was a Facebook app that would notify you if friends you flagged changed their relationship status to "single."

Don't forget the scammers out there who specialize in sweetheart scams. They use social media, email and dating sites to create a romantic connection with you and then swindle you out of money. You don't want them to see that you're single on Facebook and get ideas. It's easier just to remove your relationship status entirely.

5. Your payment information
Facebook is free, but it still wants your credit card number. Adding your financial information lets you buy gift cards and other products straight through the website. How convenient!

Of course, one of the best ways to accidentally get your credit card charged for something is to leave your Facebook profile open on your home computer. A small family member or a "joking" friend at your home could use it to spend money on something straight through Facebook. You don't want that to happen, do you?

Open your Facebook, click the upside-down triangle in the top right corner and choose "Settings." In the left column select "Payments," and then on the right go the "Account Settings" tab. You can see if you have any saved payment information and remove it.

This also keeps it out of the hands of any hackers who break into your Facebook profile. 

addicted to facebook, instagram, & twitter...

Do you spend a lot of time surfing on Facebook?

Do you spend hours tweeting away on twitter?

What about Instagram? Do you spend countless hours thumbing through pictures on Instagram?

Could it be possible that you're addicted? Check out this article that I found on Business Insider...

Tech Addicts Confess How Facebook, Instagram, And Twitter Are Taking Over Their Lives

Are you addicted to Facebook and Instagram? How about Twitter?

Four women told the Herald Sun that they are absolutely addicted to the social media platforms...and what it's meant for their lives, careers, and relationships with loved ones.

One woman, 40-year-old Natalie Trice, says she's on Facebook and Twitter for five hours a day, but feels absolutely no guilt.

"It's my vice," she tells the Herald Sun. "It's something I can do at home. It's my hobby."

But Trice said sometimes it causes tension between her and her husband, who constantly is begging her to not post their arguments or at-home anecdotes on Facebook for the world to see.

"But I usually do," Trice confesses.

"I have 550 Facebook friends, and only about six good friends in real life," she adds.

Then there's Emily Bryce-Perkins, who, at 29, says that without social media, she wouldn't have been a successful publicist. She cites Twitter and Facebook as ways she connects with people in her industry, and says her phone is always in her hand.

"Whenever a news story breaks it is just so exciting to watch it unfold in real time. Plus, it’s completely meritocratic: if you’re sharp on Twitter and good with puns it’s a really useful platform both socially and professionally," she tells the Herald Sun.

But Bryce-Perkins also admits that Facebook was something she cited in her divorce from her husband.

"Facebook was a flashpoint between us — I didn’t think he was intelligent or erudite enough for it and I found his crass posts absolutely mortifying," she says of her ex-husband.

15-year-old Izzy Mackay says the first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is check her phone, and at lunchtime, she and her friends sit in the cafeteria staring at their screens.

"My group of friends is really good at speaking to each other, but lots of other groups will just hang around in silence posting on Instagram," Mackay says.

She often considers taking a break from the social networks but never goes through with it — "it would be social suicide."

whaaaaaaat????

EDITOR'S NOTE...

THE FOLLOWING POST IS A RE-POST FROM 2008. THE POST IS FICTIONAL. IT WAS WRITTEN TO DISPLAY MY SKILLZ WITH A PEN. AND IT WAS ALSO WRITTEN TO SHOW HOW WE CAN EASILY BE OVEREXPOSED BECAUSE OF SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS...

You better watch what you say and what you do
Cause you never really know who got they eyes on you
They be plotting, scheming, eyeing, scoping
Waiting for the day they get you out in the open
You better watch what you say and what you do
Cause sometimes it's hard to tell what's fake and what's true
They plotting, harassing, scheming when they spot you
One wrong move homeboy and then they got you

Little Brother (What They Do)


It started with an email.

The email read... "Hello Kyle. I've been reading your blog for a few months now but I've never commented. Just wanted to let you know that I enjoy your work and the vibe on your blog. Candi "

I responded...just as a do to almost everybody..."Thanks for reading. Thanks for coming thru. It's ok to comment...we don't bite."

I was glad that she reached out to me. I didn't think much about it until she commented on my blog 3 days later. I greeted her as I do everybody when they first make a comment on my page. "Welcome to the 12th Planet. Make sure that you come back. We have a good time over here. We're here every day..." (you know the rest...LOL). Later that day, she sent me another email to thank me for responding to her comment. In the email, she also let me know that she also lived in Atlanta. I thought that was cool b/c I like to know where all the local bloggers are so that we can co-ordinate the upcoming ATL blogger event. Nevertheless, I would get emails from Candi for next month. I'd usually get a few a week. Nothing big. Just chit chat. I found her to be very cool. She was a hip hop head and a sports fan like me. That's mostly what we'd talk about. I made nothing of it. I viewed her as a friend.

One day I received a friend request on Facebook from Candi. I accepted without hesitation. The next day, I received an email letting me know that she was following me on twitter. No problem for me. It was innocent in my eyes. A few days later, I received an email from Candi that said..."Hey, I know that you're in marketing. I need some help with a business plan that I have developed for my company. Can we meet for lunch. My treat. And yes...I'll pay you for your services. Here's my number (404) xxx-xxxx. Send me yours and we can meet at Nan in midtown for lunch."

I accepted without hesitation. Who wouldn't want some additional cash? I'm all about that paper. LOL. Anyway, we agreed to meet at Nan on a Friday afternoon. As soon as I walked in the restaurant, she was there to greet me with a hug. Candi was cuter than her profile picture. As we waited for our table, she told me how nice my suit looked. After we grabbed a table, I reviewed her plan and made some suggestions. We talked about the Falcons and the Hawks. Then, she asked if we could hang out again. "Yeah. You bring a date and I'll bring Mrs12 and we can kick it." She laughed and said that she wanted to hang with just me. That was the sign to me that something might be wrong but I brushed it off. We left the restaurant and agreed that we'd keep in touch. I told my boy Clark about her b/c I had planned to introduce him to her since they are both single. Well, I got an email from her at 3:12 am that said that she enjoyed lunch and she wanted to see me again.

I read the email on my blackberry the next morning. I ignored it. Then later on that day, I got a phone call from her while I was at Kameron's football practice.

"Hey. Did you get my email?"

"Yeah. I did. Candi, you know that I am married. You've read my blog. I'm all about my wife and my sons. I think you're cool. I dunno what's going on in your head...but I don't get down like that. You feel me?

"Yeah. I understand." Click. She hung up.

Three days later, I get an email from Candi that caught my eye. Well...the subject line said it all...YOU AINT SHIT!!!!!! I read the email where she accused me of leading her on. She called me a dog. She said that I was a womanizer. She said that she was gonna get on my blog and tell the world what kinda person I was. I read it and laughed my head off!!!! Everybody who knows me know that I'm drama free. I deleted the email. The next day I see her BMW in the parking lot next to my office. How did she know where I worked? Then, she kept calling my cell phone and hanging up. I'm thinking..."what the hell is wrong with her?"

I called her the next day. She didn't answer so I left her a voicemail. "Candi, I dunno what kind of games you're playing but I don't play games. You need to fall back. Or else!"

No response from her. In fact, I didn't hear anything for a week. Then, I get an email from her at 8:30 pm. I was leaving practice with Kameron. The email read...

"How would you like it if I told your wife about us? BTW...you have nice house. I like the black shutters on the white house. Maybe I should go and ring the doorbell? I know that your wife is home b/c I saw her with your sons in the yard earlier today."

How the fuck did I get here??????

just twitterin'

Myspace...


Blogger/Blogs...


Facebook...


Twitter...


And the winner is...

To say that Twitter trumps the aforementioned things is an understatement. Twitter is the leader of the pack and it's not going anywhere. I've mentioned on this blog about my love for twitter. I guess you could call me a twitter veteran. I signed up for twitter in July 2008. I'll be honest...I had no clue what it was. It was foreign to me but cool. At the time, I only knew one person on twitter (@rawdawgbuffalo). No athletes were here. No celebs. No news sites. Just common people. Twitter was so random that we all would get each other's tweets via text messages. There was no SocialScope or Ubertwitter. Those were the some funny times.

What is twitter?

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read other user messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by default, however senders can restrict message delivery to their friends list. Users may subscribe to other author tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers.

One of the reasons why I love twitter is because if you follow someone's tweets, you'll get SOME insight into who they are. Also, you can say something random and your followers will engage in a conversation that could last any where from a few minutes to a few hours. Two weeks ago, I sent the following tweet..."I hate watermelon." That one tweet spawned a 2 hr conversation between me and some of my followers.

Here are some of my other thoughts (and past tweets about twitter and it's dominance in the social networking game)...

1. Twitter is 10 times better than Facebook because it's not as personal.

2. If you've ever noticed one of your Facebook friends with 15 status updates during an event (awards show, game, tv program), tell em to get on Twitter

3. I don't follow celebs/athletes. Very few of them are interactive and they usually don't have much to say. In fact, the more that they say, the less you'll probably like em.

4. I follow people who I'm interested in. Thus, I keep the number of people whom I follow at a low number (currently at 177/being followed by 164). If I was following 2000 people, there's no way that I'd be able to keep up. I can honestly say that I know at least ONE thing about each follower that I have. Sometimes I wonder why some people follow me. Maybe one day I'll ask em.

I remember once when a woman said good morning on twitter to her followers. Before I could say good morning to her. She sent the following tweet..."I'm followed by 5,628 people. I say good morning and only 2 people responded?"

That's b/c they really AREN'T following you, clown. I immediately unfollowed her.

5. You can unfollow people. I've unfollowed a ton of people. I've never followed more than 190 people and I won't follow more than that. I wanna stay connected to my followers on twitter. It's ok to unfollow people on twitter. I've been unfollowed. You can't take it personal. If you deleted a friend from your Facebook page they'd be pissed! You can't take it personal if I unfollow you on twitter. Hell, I unfollowed my brother once. So, if I unfollowed him, I'll unfollow anybody! LOL. (i'm following him again...LOL)

6. Tweets can be protected. You gotta love that. That means you control who reads your tweets.

7. News can be found on twitter minutes...and sometimes hours before it appears on CNN, ESPN, or your local news station's website. For example, I learned of Michael Jackson's death 2 hrs before it appeared on CNN.com

8. Twitter never goes to bed. I can always tweet with people at any hour of the night.

9. Almost every blogger than I know is on twitter. And subsequently, we all blog less than we used to! LOL

10. Even President Obama used twitter during his campaign.

11. Most people who say they don't like Twitter...have not tried it. #fact

12. Twitter aint going nowhere. Get on board.

@12kyle

t-w-i...

"Just sat down on the plane next to a fat dude who's sweaty and leaning on me. This is gonna be a looooong flight."


That was the text msg that I sent. I sat in between the fat man and my friend/co-worker Sherry. She saw the text msg just before I sent it. She started laughing.

"Who did you send that to?"

"It's a tweet. I'm on twitter."

"What's twitter?"


I've been asked this question several times. What is twitter? Well, here's the definition...

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters, displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to other users - known as followers - who have subscribed to them. Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. The service is free over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.

However, when people ask me...I can't define it so I usually tell them to join and they'll figure it out. LOL. Twitter has become my latest addiction. It's sharing my thoughts, actions, and whereabouts with a network of friends (called followers). It has become something that I've gravitated towards. For example, the tweet above could generate a conversation between me and 4 other people at once. That's the best way that I can describe it. I'm addicted and damn proud of it! LOL

I'm interested in my followers and vice versa. My twitter name is @12kyle. Some of my followers are some of my peeps who blog on a daily basis. For a blogger, twitter is a natural fit. It's a condensed version of blogging. I don't think it'll ever replace blogging for me because 140 characters ain't enough for me to convey my points. However, it is more than a fad. Twitter is a way of life. Some people enjoy the fact that they can follow celebs and atheletes. Some will actually send tweets back to you...so there's a connection. I'm not big on celebs and athletes b/c I would much rather interact with my peeps. Unlike Facebook, Twitter helps me process my train of thought.

I could go on and on about Twitter but I won't. The influence of twitter made the cover of Time mag this week. You don't need me to pitch it ot you. I'm hooked. And if you try it...you will be too. Beware!