Staying safe while blogging...

I wanted to post this information so that everyone will take a minute & think about the safety of their families, children, location, what they do, etc. as they use the internet & as we blog. I notice a lot of people saw the special on KSL: Staying Safe: Dangers in blogging & are turning to private/by invitation only status.

I hope that everyone will take a moment to read the information & also the comments posted w/the story as there are a lot of good suggestions: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4699330

A tip that will open your eyes if you haven't done this before is to Google or do a "search" of your full name ex: first & last, then your husbands full name, & then each of your children's full names & see what is already listed out there (or if it is relevant to your family.)

To take that a step further - Google your name & then your Husband's name & adding the State you live in w/ a ? mark behind it... now do either of you pop up? EX: Sarah Johnson in AK? What about trying your first name & your maiden name (for the ladies).

Is your street address, phone number, work location listed on the internet when you Google your name or your name & state you live in? Is your facebook or myspace profile coming up? (Need to set the privacy at these sites to Friends only & then Go to Privacy, search discovery, & select how you want to be found .)

Just take a minute to think of how safe are you or your children are if someone can snag your name from your blog & Google you to find you? (I mention this as many of us use our last names in their blog address... so as you name your children, selves, etc. on your blog... you can be found by unknown persons if you haven't taken the action online to have your info removed.)Even if you don't consider turning your blog private after viewing the info... I would encourage everyone to think of ways to make your blog more safe for your family... Some ideas to think about are: not listing which town/state you live in - nor mentioning it in posts, not mentioning family member's locations either, not mentioning your child's "School name" nor showing your children's school mascot/school name on uniform's in pictures, Not listing the date of birth of your family members (Identity theft), not mentioning the names of places you visit (unless they are out of state), not blogging about a upcoming vacation... to make your home a target to predators... blog about it after your return home, not posting pictures of the front of your home if your house number is visible in the picture, not listing your husband's profession or where he works.... (just to name a few)

JFYI: there are several safety features on blogspot that you can set so people can't Google your blog, or find you through your posts EX: if someone were to Google "Obama" or something happening in the country & you had a post about it .... you won't come up in their search. (Tonight I googled myself w/maiden name & it showed a comment I had posted to a cousin's blog... wa - la - I found myself & was able to link to my blog!)

Another note: as I went through the listings after I googled myself tonight.... I was linked to anywhere & everywhere I had left a comment using my name (full name &/or my maiden name) so that people would know who I was... so be aware - might not want to sign your comments - especially since blogger lists that it came from your blog off to the side.)

So in summary... JUST BE CAREFUL at what information you put out there!!!

Good luck & Best wishes to all for a great week!!