Use Caution When Tweeting; Too Much Information Can be Risky

[Eydie Stumpf]

In the news recently I read an article of a man who posted a Tweet on Twitter about being on vacation and while he was away, his home was burglarized. The gentleman is now blaming his post for the unfortunate event.
We really do need to be careful about what we post anywhere online. When we go on vacation we take the necessary steps to ensure our homes safety, but social networking is still so new and we’re so excited about building our lists and learning about what others are doing that we forget we are making connections with total strangers!!!

I, too, have been guilty of posting I’m away from my house. My intention is to tell people where I am and to engage in conversation! When I took a recent day trip with my husband I posted on Facebook, “On my way to the Aquarium of the Pacific. What’s your favorite exhibit?” I received posts from Facebook Friends about their aquarium experiences! Isn’t that a fun way to engage in conversation and build up relationships?

A few months ago, one of my Facebook friends took a family road trip from Southern California to Washington. She posted numerous; fun updates every day about their experiences! I actually felt I was on the trip with her. And the interaction with other Facebook friends was phenomenal.

One might say we told the world our homes were empty, making them vulnerable to burglary. However, every time you leave your home you’re at risk. But, if we think like that, we’d never go anywhere. Posting your whereabouts at any given time may not be the best idea, but we can’t live in fear either.

The gentleman who was burglarized while on vacation may not have paid attention to those precautionary details we all should follow before venturing out on vacation, therefore any good, neighbor thief would have seen the signs. It might have happened even if he didn’t post his vacation plans on Twitter, and we’ll never know. I have to tell you though; the victim certainly knew enough to leverage this unfortunate event to gain some valuable air time! A smart vacation planner he’s not, but a savvy business owner he is!

My suggestion is to use caution. Be conscious of what you post and what the consequences might be. If you’re not comfortable with posting your vacation plans, children’s photos or other personal tidbits – then don’t! Remember that anything you say on-line can, and will, come back to bite you in the butt…whether tomorrow or next year!

And as for me, I’ll continue my Facebook day trip posts with my husband, but I will be a bit more cautious. My next day trip post will be, “Fishing off the pier in Newport Beach. Scarface, my Rottweiler, will be protecting the house!”

What do you think? Are we becoming too trusting?

Happy Tweeting!

Eydie