What Are the Dangers of Listing Your Hometown on Facebook?
Although you may be tempted to provide as much information about yourself as possible on your Facebook profile, it's not necessarily a smart idea. Internet predators can scour Facebook looking for information such as home addresses and may misrepresent themselves to gain access to your list of friends. You can still enjoy using Facebook without divulging crucial personal details.
Other People Are Reading
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Hometown
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Listing your name on Facebook isn't as dangerous as listing both your name and hometown. With both these bits of information, an online predator can use other Internet sites to track down your home address. This is especially risky if you live alone or are a child. If you have an uncommon name and live in a small town, predators find it even easier to locate you.
Safety
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For safety reasons, avoid adding too much information to your profile. While using your name is typically safe, the more information you add, such as your hometown, school or job, the easier it is for someone with evil intent to find you. To take further safety precautions, use an abbreviation of your name instead of your full one. You can tell your friends your Facebook name, but others won't know your identity.
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Burglary
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While the term "online predators" is typically reserved for sexual predators, providing too much personal information on your Facebook profile may also attract burglars. If, for example, you have a rare name and live in a small community, a burglar would have no problem looking up your address after reading your profile page. He could then wait until you leave your home and break in to steal your valuables.
Privacy Settings
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If you're adamant about listing your hometown on your Facebook profile, set your account privacy settings to ensure nonfriends cannot access the information on your page. To do so, click on "Privacy Settings" under the "Account" tab. Click on "Customize settings" to restrict access to your wall and information page to those you've approved as friends.
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References
- Network World; Study: Facebook Users are Easy Targets for Identity Theft; Ellen Messmer; Aug. 14, 2007
- Computer World; 5 Tips to Protect Yourself on Facebook; Sharon Gaudin; Aug. 13, 2010
- Sync.ca; 5 Facebook Safety Tips; Marc Saltzman Dec. 19, 2007
- The Turley Law Firm: 10 Facebook Safety Tips -- How to Protect Yourself
- Facebook: Help Your Teens Play it Safe
