Protecting Your Identity and Mental Health in the Age of Social Media

Social media has changed many aspects of life. Many of those changes are positive. It’s now easier than ever to connect with friends and family across the globe. However, these platforms also come with some significant risks.

Risks of Social Media

Roughly seven in 10 Americans use social media today, including 84% of people between 18 and 29. In light of that popularity, these sites aren’t going anywhere, but users should be aware of their potential dangers.

Account Hacking

Social media has made cybersecurity a concern for everyone, not just large companies. One of the most common of these cyber risks is the danger of someone hacking into an account. Most of these accounts’ only defense is a password, making it easy for someone to take it over to steal sensitive information or harm users’ reputations by impersonating them.

These attacks have also grown by 1,000% between 2021 and 2022. Almost three-fourths of account takeover victims have permanently lost access to their accounts as a result, and 51% have lost money from it.

Phishing

Phishing attacks have been around since the 90s but have become far more common in the age of social media. Attackers often clone people’s accounts to mask themselves as users’ real-life friends, gaining their trust. They then send users malicious links over direct messages or posts, which people may be more likely to click on because they appear to be coming from their friends.

Social media can also provide ammunition for phishing attacks elsewhere. Cybercriminals can scan people’s pages to learn more about them, helping them create custom phishing attempts that target their specific interests or situations. This information can also make it easier for phishers to impersonate a trusted party.

Mental Health Issues

Social media has also made many mental health issues more prevalent. These sites can be addicting, leading to a host of health-related problems. They can also promote unrealistic body image expectations or normalize dangerous behaviors, especially in younger users or people identifying with sexual or gender minorities.

These platforms also make it easy for harmful language and ideas to spread, as the algorithms that run them often reward controversy. As a result, bullying, stereotyping, and similar social issues are common issues on social media.

Trends like this have real-world impacts outside the internet, too, like how just 19% of STEM degrees go to women, despite 74% of female teens being interested in STEM. Bullying and harmful stereotypes can blow out of proportion on social media, driving people out of the fields or hobbies they want to pursue.

Steps to Protect Yourself Online

In light of these issues, it’s important to learn how to protect your security and mental health online. Here are a few key steps in using social media in a safe, healthy way.

Limit Time on Social Media

One of the best ways to use social media with self-awareness is to take a step back every now and then. Spending too much time on sites like Instagram and Twitter makes things like internet addiction, a poor self-image, fear of missing out (FOMO), and loneliness more likely. The positive flip side is that users can minimize these risks by taking breaks from social media.

Many phones have features to help limit screen time or alert users when they’ve spent too long in some apps. Taking periodic extended breaks from social media for a week or month at a time can be beneficial, too. These limits will also improve security, as users will encounter fewer phishing scams and be less likely to over-share information.

Think Before Posting

Similarly, while it can be tempting to share everything that comes to mind on social media, it’s best to keep some things private. The more information users share, the more vulnerable they become to phishing and similar attacks. Posting less frequently can also help separate users’ online and offline lives, enabling a healthier balance.

A good rule of thumb is that if something is online, it’s not private, regardless of privacy or security settings. The only way to be sure information won’t fall into hackers’ hands is to keep it offline.

Use Strong Password Management

Another crucial security step is to use good password management. That begins with creating passwords that are at least eight characters long, which makes them harder for hackers to brute-force their way through. Passcodes should also be unique, so if cybercriminals steal one account’s password, it won’t work with another one of the user’s accounts.

Remembering long, complex passwords for every site can be hard, but many browsers and operating systems have built-in password managers, so users don’t have to remember them. If available, it’s also best to turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) to provide an extra layer of security.

Review Privacy Settings

Users should also rethink their social media privacy settings. Many sites make posts open to all users or friends of friends by default, but this makes it easy for potentially sensitive information to fall into the wrong hands. More online exposure may also make some negative interactions more likely, so it’s best to err on the side of privacy.

Consider setting post visibility to only friends and making accounts private. Remember that social media sites update their privacy settings regularly, so check on them periodically to ensure nothing has changed.

Be on the Lookout for Threats

Social media users should also stay alert. Noticing negative trends on social media can help people recognize when it’s time to step away for a while or change their behavior. Users can also try to take an opposite approach when they see negativity and spread positive content and comments instead to make these sites a healthier place.

This awareness applies to cybersecurity, too. There are several common warning signs of phishing users can watch for to avoid falling for these attacks. Recognizing these threats to prevent them before they can succeed is the best way to respond to the threat.

Stay Safe on Social Media

Social media undoubtedly has a dark side. However, that doesn’t mean people have to avoid it altogether. It’s mostly a matter of recognizing these risks so users can account for them and experience the good of social media without the bad.

If more users practice these steps, social media can become a safer, healthier place. These platforms aren’t inherently bad, but they do require caution for both security and mental health purposes.