Recently, I was watching the news when I saw a story break about a man who was being charged with several counts of child abuse. As the story progressed, a picture of the man’s granddaughter with her children were put on public display for all of the viewers in the world to see, and do you know where the photo came from?

Her Facebook profile picture.

It wasn’t that long ago that I had actually gone through and deleted all of the pictures that I had uploaded to my Facebook account over the years. Granted, none of the images that I had on my profile were anything that I would be ashamed of if it made its way to the general public, but as more and more news stories keep breaking over social sites like Facebook, I cannot help but wonder whether our narcissism is giving way to an unforeseen backlash in the usage of social networking. Some things worth considering with many Facebook users include:

• Befriending people you barely know.
• Others can monitor pictures that you post of yourself and others.
• Status updates are really updates about your latest plans, relationship statuses, achievements and travels.
• Selecting “Like” for a page, group, link or status serves to inform others about your personal opinions, etc.

All of it seems to make it incredibly easy for criminals, stalkers and predators to track your every move. Not only this, but if you think that you’re safe from it all simply because you made your profile “private,” think again. There are numerous Facebook complaints, debates and ongoing discussions surrounding privacy problems, issues surrounding the fact that you can never really “delete” your account and rumors swelling around the fact that once you put information on your profile, it stays in the system.

So, what can you do? The following are 5 tips towards being a safer Facebook user:

1. Control your image. Sure, you might have had a good time with your friends at that party in high school, but that’s no excuse for making it your profile picture. Remember what happened to the woman above? You never know who has access to websites as well as who might be able to hack into a site. Therefore, keep it modest.
2. Keep private information private. If something is going on in your life or if you have personal information, DON’T SHARE IT. You’re just making it that much easier for thieves and scammers to nab you.
3. Don’t post personal information. If you’re planning on meeting up with someone, don’t make your plans on Facebook (or any other social networking site for that matter). Instead, send a private email or place a phone call.
4. Take things at face value. Don’t believe everything that people say on social networking sites/the Internet. The online world is different than actual face-to-face interaction, and the virtual world makes it easier for folks to say or write things that they probably wouldn’t say to your face.
5. Restrict access to your profiles. On Facebook, I’ve restricted access so that I am not searchable. Additionally, I only use it for personal reasons. I’ve purposely chosen to keep my friends list small, and only befriend those people who I actually know or who are my family members.