Jody Raines

  • Web MarCom
  • About
  • Blog

April 29, 2015 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

How To Identify A Social Media Friend or Stalker?

Jody RainesThere seems to be a strange phenomena that is taking place and it’s a “new” way of connecting that is difficult to classify. The line between a new friend and a overly curious acquaintance has created a curious change in the way we protect or fail to protect our privacy.

The Facebook post that becomes a chat, for example, is an introduction of sorts. It’s a way that various people who may otherwise never connect, wind up discussion a topic with each other.

A few weeks ago, I was chatting about the season finale of The Walking Dead with several of my friends. As you can imagine, it was a lively post because as things happened, someone would make a comment and then others would chime in.  All was cool, until a male friend made a comment about one of my female friend’s pets.  They did not know each other, they live in different states, and their only connection to each other was through my association with both of them.   The reason this was odd – was because the woman did not have a picture of her pet on her profile photo, so my conjecture is that my male friend went to her profile page to “check her out”.

I’ve noticed several connections made this way, and most of them are harmless.   For example, a male friend of mine who is married is now connected to a female friend who has a life partner.  Although they are dichotomous extremes in a political sense, ironically their sense of humor is shared, and therefore, they connected.   I think that is kind of cool because under any other circumstance, these two people would never have ‘met’.

Another association is with a friend of mine who recently got a Siberian Husky puppy.  Just so happens another friend of mine breeds and shows Huskies.  By bringing the first person’s attention to the adorable videos of irresistable baby Huskies, he wound up connecting with my friend the breeder.  Of course this ‘friendship’ now has a life of it’s own.

Every now and then, I have a friend request from someone I don’t know.   I typically check to see how we are connected – what mutual friends we have.  In most instances, I will send off a quick note to the mutual connection to ask how they know the person and whether the individual is legitimate.   Periodically, I find that my friends have not been diligent in evaluating whether the profile is genuine.  I’ve seen several situation s where I’ve been asked to connect with someone I thought I was already connected to, only to learn that their profile picture had been used to make a ‘fake’ account that was now harvesting their friends.  A quick call to the original person may tip them off to potential fraud.

My advice is as follows:

1. Don’t post anything that is too personal or that you don’t want the world to know. Regardless of privacy settings the first rule is that NOTHING is private.

2. Periodically check your friends to determine if there are duplicates.  If you find the dupe, a little bit of research may help a friend who may be unaware that their profile was duplicated or compromised.

3. Don’t open attachments that you are not sure of.  I get these emails almost every day – an email that appears to come from a Facebook friend’s name, but it only has a link to a masked url.   These can contain trojans or viruses, so you should be absolutely cautious before clicking on them.   In fact, if you look at the name and then click on the name to see the email address it actually came from, you may be surprised it is also masked.  In other words, it’s an email from an unknown person that appears to be coming from someone you know.

4. If someone you recently connected with starts commenting on old pictures, it can be disconcerting.  Even more upsetting is they start posting pictures of you!  I had a situation recently where an individual started posting pictures of people who had deceased during the year and tagging the family indicating that they hadn’t forgotten.  In this instance, I think it was supposed to be a caring gesture, but it came across as very unsettling.

5. Be suspicious.  I know, it sounds awful, but in this day and age where profiles can be created and deleted in the blink of an eye, there are too many charlatans intent on obtaining personal information.  A healthy skepticism can save a lot of future grief.

What strange connections have you encountered?  Have you been friend requested by a clone of a friend and you caught it?  I’m curious what you are seeing, and if you have additional thoughts with regard to staying safe on social media sites.

Filed Under: Internet Privacy, Social Media, Social Media Connections Tagged With: social media awareness, social media connections, social media safety

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

eighteen − 6 =

Internet Marketing Insights

Face Block Arrested Development

Arrested Development’s “Face Block”: Should You Block Your LinkedIn Profile?

May 30, 2013 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

As an Arrested Development Fan, I got a huge chuckle from several of the episodes of the newly released season on Netflix, but what I found intriguing beyond Tobias’s new license plate was George Michael’s new software company called Face Block.  In the fictional story, a software that can block your profile from ever showing […]

Jody Raines, K-9 SAR

Emergency communications – Search And Rescue

March 11, 2015 By Jody Raines 1 Comment

Emergency communications can be a tricky thing. For one thing, you want to be sure to protect the privacy of the victim and their family. Another consideration is that you may not know at the time you find a victim whether a crime has been committed. When the search is conducted in concert with local […]

How To Add Video For Search Engine Optimization

May 10, 2013 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

Video can be a powerful tool for website search engine optimization.  Understanding what keywords you want to optimize and how you want to be found begins with understanding your customer and what they are seeking. As part of an initiative to optimize for “Jody Raines” and “WebMarCom”, I created a series of motivational and inspirational […]

Jody Raines Blogger

Should You DIY Your Website? Tips For Better User Experience And Design

February 26, 2018 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

A friend recently posted on Facebook that her new ‘business website’ has launched. She proudly asked for all of her friends to come and visit and share what they thought. The well-meaning friends who complimented her on the site fueled her enthusiastic response that she created the site herself using a free service. She then […]

What Is The Value Of Social Media Marketing?

February 16, 2014 By Jody Raines Leave a Comment

This morning, as I am drinking my coffee and evaluating website analytics using Google Analytics website tool, I saw an interesting trend.   Traffic comes from several sources, including organic search,  direct traffic, referrals and social media.  First, one of the most fascinating statistics regarding social media is that it contributed more traffic that any […]

  • Fly Eagles? Fly Dogs! How Social Media Changed A Mascot
  • QR Codes Are Dead? Long Live The QR Code!

Recent Posts

  • Social Media And Social Networking: Best Practices And Big Mistakes For LinkedIn
  • How To Develop An Online Brand
  • 3 Key Tips For Internet Branding
856.504.6066 Voorhees, NJ 08043

Copyright © 2023 Jody Raines | WebMaster· All For The Love Of Dogs