Protecting Your Privacy When Using Facebook and Twitter

A couple of my friends have had their Facebook or Twitter account hacked.  As noted in an earlier post, cyber criminals have a variety of motives and some are malicious.  For example, the criminals may fraudulently assume your identity or use your account to send spam.  The best way to protect your account is to proactively change the account settings to require two-factor authentication for any account changes.

Two-factor authentication requires the user to identify secondary factor for account changes.  Sending a code to your cell phone and requiring that code be entered before making account changes is an excellent way to protect your account.  Computing World has a very good article, Protect your Facebook account from hackers with two-factor authentication online at http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243428/Protect_your_Facebook_account_from_hackers_with_two_factor_authentication?source=rss_latest_content&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+computerworld%2Fnews%2Ffeed+%28Latest+from+Computerworld%29

A similar process can be used for other social media accounts, such as Twitter.  If you are using other social media sites, be sure to search for the ability to create two-factor authentication. 

Considering Social Media Policies for Nursing Education Programs

Diane Skiba wrote a wonderful article in Nursing Education Perspective earlier this year.  The article is available at http://www.faqs.org/periodicals/201103/2343728661.html

Nursing education programs and other organizations should consider adopting a social media policy.  When  a group of college students were polled about the Facebook posting a a nursing student in uniform holding up a placenta - half of the students saw no problem with the posting.  That sentiment did change after some discussion. 

Of course, the story about Representive Weiner's Tweets sheds light on the implications of inappropriate postings. The difference between Rep. Weiner and nursing students is striking.  He is much older and knew what he was doing was not a societal norm.  The students are just gaining real world experience.

Education about the use and inappropriate use of social media is crucial to the successful implimentation of a policy to guide users.