The one piece of information you should never share on social media

It’s time for Web Watch to get a little serious for a moment.  We just want to help you be a better social media user.

You can share photos of food, rant away about customers sitting next to you at a restaurant, or poke fun at the latest celebrity’s post-rehab hijinks.

But there is one item that you should avoid posting in social media at all costs.

The Parent’s Guide to Texting, Facebook, and Social Media:
Understanding the Benefits and Dangers of Parenting in a Digital World

What is that item?

Let’s start with YOUR PHONE NUMBER.

Too often people think that they’re sending a private message or a DM to someone they know on some social service, and they end up posting their phone number publically.

Whoops

First, there’s absolutely no reason to be sharing your phone number with people you interact with in social media.  If they were meant to have your phone number, you could probably text them directly.  One would hope that you already have their number in the first place.

Secondly, as Google and other companies begin to institute 2-level security where they will text passcodes to your phone to ensure that you are who you say you are, you don’t want to give hackers and those with criminal intent any additional information that they could use to break into your accounts.

There are other things you shouldn’t be sharing with strangers around the world at your own volition – your current “away from home” status, your personal email address that you use for banking purposes rather than for junk mail, or NSFW naked selfie portraits – but we’ll stick with NOT POSTING YOUR PHONE NUMBER as our number one item of things not to share in social media.

What are some other suggestions you have of things one should never share online? Post your thoughts in the comments below…