Most writers are spending more time than ever online. And we’re putting a lot of ourselves out there—on social media, through blogging—or even by sharing our work online.
Although that’s the best way to access the support of the online writing community (and publishers love it, from a marketing standpoint), it pays to keep an eye on our online presence.
Recently, the Writer Warriors blog ran a good post on basic online safety tips. I might have violated a couple of them from time to time. :) It’s a good reminder that we’re not just communicating with our friends when we’re putting our information online—we’re also communicating it to any bad guys out there in cyberspace.
Some writers I’ve come across worry a lot about online security and cyberstalkers, etc. I think it’s a good thing to think about and to be careful with, but I can honestly say that so far I can count on one hand the number of creepy people I’ve met online and I have a pretty extensive network. It’s easy enough to unfollow or unfriend or block these folks. But I do have a writing friend who has had a more serious problem—so there are really scary people out there.
You need to make sure to change your passwords on Twitter (especially Twitter….which has hackers breaking in pretty frequently) and Facebook fairly often. If someone hijacks our online identity, it’s going to be a problem.
I also do Google searches on my name occasionally (probably not as often as I should.) I have Google alerts for my books and blog. Sometimes I’ll check my name on Google images and it’s mind boggling the amount of stuff that comes up. There are definitely pictures of me on there, but some of the pictures I don’t understand at all. It’s a good way to make sure your name isn’t being misused in any way or that your identity hasn’t been stolen.
We also have to watch out for online pirates, unfortunately. There are blogs that are set up as fronts for spammers. They’ll steal your content in a second. Sometimes you can contact these places and mention copyright and successfully get them to take the stuff down—sometimes it just doesn’t work.
A couple of my friends have had their published books put up on pirate sites for download. They contacted their publisher and got them to tackle it…which they did. It’s better to go through your publisher for that kind of thing—they’ve got the Big Gun lawyers, after all.
And we can’t forget the stuff that we put up online before we really think about what we’re saying. Since our online remarks stay accessible for years after we make them, we really need to pass everything we write through a filter—would we want our publisher/employer/readers/mother/children to read this comment? Can it possibly be taken the wrong way?
Unfortunately, the more time we spend online, the easier it is to relax and forget about these things. When I read articles like the one that came out the other day, it reminds me that I should pay more attention.
How vigilant are you to protect your identity online?
Elizabeth – Thank you for those good reminders about online safety. My blog hasn’t yet been hacked, but my Twitter account was once, and I had to deal with that. And I agree, we do need to be vigilant about what we put up online, how we protect it, and so on. The obvious reason is identity safety. However, there’s also the matter of the online persona we show. If we want to attract readers, agents and publishers, we need to be very mindful of the “us” they meet.
This is a great reminder for all of us. It’s a sad fact, you can’t be too careful nowdays.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Thank you once again, Elizabeth, for bringing something to my attention that I hadn’t really thought a lot about, although obviously I should have.
karen
Thanks, Elizabeth. These are really important issues. I’ve had a couple friends who have had to deal with hackers.
Good reminders! I’ve had very few bad experiences with the Internet myself. So long as we’re careful and don’t take our safety for granted, it’s a wonderful world to explore and interact with.
This is really important and I don’t do it enough. I’m going to change some of my passwords today.
Thanks for this.
CD
Great reminder. No one wants to think about this stuff until it happens and then we wish we had paid better attention. Going to change my twitter password now!
Fine advice.
I do criticize books, but otherwise I try not to be too controversial online because I know my words will stay there.
I don´t worry too much about my flash stories or other short texts, but I am very cautious about publishing more than very short quotes of my novel manuscripts anywhere.
Great reminders! How vigilante am I? Enough to have deleted a previous blog that tended to be more personal than not. Once I took the plunge to take my writing serious, I left the more informative post behind. A little mystery never hurt anyone, on the other hand – too much information in the wrong hands can. (Hugs)Indigo
A nice reminder to people, it is easy to get comfortable online. I was glad to see birthday mentioned on the Writer Warriors blog. With my various profiles I’ve hidden my birth year on my Facebook profile, and hidden age/birthday all together on Goodreads.
With Twitter (and other sites) I try and check which other site/application I’ve given access to.
I’ve also set some privacy options on my domain. In the registry it has my name as the owner, but care of my host. When I had my first website my name and mailing address were visible to anyone looking up my domain name.
Thanks for sharing that article, Elizabeth! I know about it all, but it’s good to remind myself of online safety. :)
I have daily Google Alerts set up for my name and book. Some sites use a name in their post just to rope you into reading – or giving you a virus.
And I really watch what I say online. I’m a private person and I want my private life to remain that way.
Important reminders. I think I’d better go change my passwords, too.
You’re right that frequent self-Googles are a must. Sometimes you find nice things. I’ve found my blog quoted and promoted by people I wasn’t aware were reading me.
I don’t have a lot to protect but do the basics. On Facebook I catagorize my Frieends by People I know, Authors, Yahoo! Groups, etc. Only those I know personally have access to family photos.
Stephen Tremp
I encountered some weirdos both online and in the real world. I keep my location and personal stuff vague on purpose.
Excellent advice – must say I haven’t thought of most of that yet!
Margot–Good point! We really don’t want someone in the industry, etc, to get the wrong idea about us from what they read online.
Mason–Sad, but true.
Clarissa–Good luck with it!
KarenG–Good! I’m changing my Twitter password again, too. :) I see Twitter hacked all the time.
Karen–It’s easy to forget about, considering the amount of time we spend online!
Indigo–That was smart thinking! We can’t be too careful, unfortunately.
Claire–Birthdays are good to protect, aren’t they?
Wow, I bet you took that stuff off it as soon as you found it on there! Bizarrely enough, I found my *cell phone number* on my Facebook info page–my public page–one time. I had NOT put it up there, nor authorized FB to do so. I keep an eye on Facebook now.
Paul–Me too. And a family member had her identity stolen, which wasn’t fun.
Laura–It’s good to be savvy!
K.M. Weiland–It’s really a fantastic community, isn’t it?
Alex–Good point! We have to be careful when we’re surfing, too.
Anne–Those are the good finds, aren’t they? That’s usually the kind of stuff I see, too. But sometimes I see my posts ripped off on spam sites…ugh.
Stephen–That’s a good idea. Or a person can have more than 1 Facebook account. I have 3. :)
Diane–It’s a good idea. Otherwise, we’re sort of advertising we’re not at home.
Dorte–It’s amazing how long they stay out there! Something to really think about. And I think you’re smart not to put too much of your novel online.
Not vigilant enough, I suppose. Thanks for the tips. I’ll be more careful in the future.
Jemi–It’s easy to forget about it, isn’t it?
JEFritz–I’m going to try to be, too.
Timely reminder that.
And # 1 on the list- don’t share the same personal information online as you have for your credit cards, etc. If someone can get your birthday and your mother’s maiden name, they can steal you blind literally.