10 Twitter E-Safety Tips

May 29, 2009 in General, Tricks & Tips by Angelina Roberts

I was asked where Twitter fell with general e-safety guidelines and unlike most social networking services twitter can offer a mass of very public information and although the content can be limited to text and images. Twitter like any other web activity should follow the same basic e-safety rules but there are a few Twitter specific safety tips to follow :

1. Never give out personal information. This includes (but is not exclusive to) your full name, address, school, email address and phone numbers.
2. Never give your Twitter password to anyone outside your family even friends!
3. Always tell a parent about any threatening or negative tweets you receive!
4. Never send an on-line person any photographs or anything else without first checking with a parent.
5. Never arrange to meet someone in real life through Twitter.
6. Keep your profile information brief.
7. Only follow people you know in real life.
8. Never respond to users who you don’t know.
9. Keep your Twitter feed private and only give people you know permission to view it.
10. Consider every tweet. Imagine your parents can read each tweet !

Locking your Twitter Account

Login to Twitter and click on the ‘Settings’ option. At the bottom of the account details page you should see the following tick box. Tick to activate the privacy protection.

Now when people view your Twitter page they won’t see your tweets or @replies instead they will be greeted with a message directing them to request permission to see the page.

This puts you totally in control as to who can see your twitter comments and tweets. Are there are any other tips you would add to this list for younger Twitter users ?