psa regarding internet safety in our digital age

Lately I've seen an influx of rather young users on here (age 12-15). which, is fine ig I'm not gonna get into why I'm not a fan of kids being on social media (hypocrite as I am). the point of this blog post is internet safety because with all these new users I've seen an increase of people posting far too personal things about themselves online. this and spaceheys rampant problem with creeps (nazis, pedos, bigots, etc) is fucking scary and dangerous. so let's get on with it on why internet safety is so important, especially in our modern digital world

in summary: The less you reveal about yourself online the better 

1) what you post online stays online.

this is the most common thing everyone hears. because it's true! sure it might be deleted so that others can't see or access it, but the info stays in the sites database and other users memory. if you post something dumb or dangerous, you better hope people don't care and don't dwell on it.

most websites and social media are also hawks designed to pick up all these small pieces of information you post about yourself, which they sell to advertisers. is that creepy? yes. what do you do? Adblocks, refusing cookies, turning off these track settings, and not posting very revealing info about yourself 

2) mental/physical health and triggers 

many people, myself included, use the internet as an escape and vent place for our mental health and/or general health issues. this has created open spaces full of love and support for whatever you or someone might struggle with. this is great! however there is still a lot of dangers that come with talking about such sensitive topics with complete strangers, and sharing it with sites that store and sell all of this information. there are also many people who don't believe or specifically target vulnerable people.

because of this it's not a good idea to put a handy dandy list of mental health and general health issues in your easy to access "about me" box or blog post. it leaves you far more vulnerable to being targeted by trolls or other creeps looking for someone to exploit or harass 

the even bigger danger is publicly posting your triggers. I understand that it's there so that people will be considerate when talking with you, but it's also a list of how to hurt you for those with malicious intent. there is nothing stopping a troll from finding this list, friending you, and then filling your dms and bulletins with said triggers. god forbid this is shared to other trolls and you become the subject of a semi-organised attack. in conclusion don't post an easy to find list of everything that can hurt or danger you. keep that with trusted friends or offline.

3) location, and nationality/heritage

this is a common no brainer; don't post where you live. it's an easy rule. what a lot of people don't think about its that just posting about landmarks or stores near you can be used to identify where you live. this doesn't happen to most people, but stalkers are prevalent and the internet is always looking for their next laughing stock or Chris-chan. keep all identifiable landmarks and locations to a minimum. saying which country your from probably won't hurt, but getting into specific states or cities is scary and dangerous if you ask me

another one I've seen is people posting and going deep into their nationality and heritage. while this won't necessarily make you easier to identify, it makes you a bigger target for racism. it's not uncommon for poc or other marginalized people to be specifically harassed for their marginalization.  

4) age

if you're like me you've probably be told to not post your age online. it's a precaution to make you less identifiable and less easy target for pedophiles. personally I don't think it's a huge deal wether or not you post your age. as long as you're careful about who you interact with, and know the tactics used by groomers you should be golden.

5) the block button

contrary to popular belief, the block buttons isn't just for the worst of the worst, and if someone blocks you it's probably not personal and definitely not the end of the world. you can use the block button anytime, anywhere, against anyone. the block button is especially useful on a non-algorithm site like spacehey. the content you see is controlled and curated by yourself. it's up to you to know what and who you wanna interact with and who you don't. 

so; someone fits your dni? block them. you find someone slightly annoying and don't wanna see their posts? block them. you found a creep or a bigot? block and report them! 

again, the block button isn't personal unless you make it personal. it's simply there to help you avoid seeing something/someone you don't like. use it, and please stop complaining someone randomly blocked you. I promise it's not a secret declaration of hate towards you specifically.

6) face reveals and name

I've actually not seen a lot of people share their full legal name, and that's great! keep up using aliases or nicknames. and especially don't post your last name no matter how common it is. this includes with online friends. stick with the nicknames with them too. 

face reveals is...maybe a bit controversial. this falls more into your own hands as to wether or not you want to. ofc it can also be used to identify you, so if you've posted a lot about where you live it's probably not the brightest idea to post your face aswell. it falls under the "do online strangers need to know this" and "it'll stay in some database until the inevitable electric death hits computer services"

7) conclusion

this is a long post sorry. but internet safety is so important in this day and age.

as sanitized as the surface web is, there will always exist malicious people looking for their next target. it's why it's so important as a child (and adult) that you watch out for these creeps. the normalization of posting everything about yourself online is also scary, because you don't know what another user or the website will do with that data. this is why revealing less is better. keep personal details with friends you trust, not a easily accessible public display.

I've mentioned organised attacks a bit. this can range from trolls flooding a site and posting all sorts of vile shit (think pridefall), to hackers harvesting personal data for their own reasons. privacy breaches happen uncomfortably often, which is further reason to restrict a sites access of information about you. planned and targeted attacks don't happen as often, but we have seen multiple people on spacehey be targeted in a way that has driven them off the site. 

in conclusion: be careful and use common sense when posting about yourself online. it's fun and comforting to connect with others, but even in our modern age you can never trust the internet 100%. My personal rules for posting online are:

the less you reveal about yourself the better.

could I show my grandparents this and not be embarrassed? 

does a stranger need to know this about me?