Why You Shouldn’t Share Your Location on Social Media 

Cyber stalking is becoming more prevalent, as social media has become the largest platform for people to communicate. We are constantly sharing with the world our adventures and life changes. Knowing when and what you shouldn’t post certain details is vital for your safety, and for your home’s safety. 

The world we live in today is powered by technology. It’s all around us. It’s how businesses are run, it’s in our homes, and we carry it every day in our hands. Social media has become the largest growing platform for marketing, and connecting with others. Social media has many positive attributes such as, connecting with family, sharing accomplishments, trips, inspiring others, funny memes, news stories and other things that are important to us. Yet, there are some negative aspects of it as well. 

One of these negative aspects is posting your location while you are away. This can be problematic if people with bad intent find your location or find your home empty. 

Why shouldn’t you share your location on social media?

Cyber stalking is something that happens everyday. According to a study published in the Journal for Interpersonal Violence by R. Tokunaga and K. Aune, it is estimated between 20% and 40% of online users are victims of cyber stalking. When you share your location this gives your stalker an opportunity to find you. Most people don’t know they are being stalked and this many times gets overlooked. Please remember when posting your location, that if your cyber stalker decides to take it to the next level, you have just told them exactly where you are. 

Girl using phone to take picture of food. Disable location settings on phones to prevent cyber stalking. Photo by Tess Rousey, Copywright, SLG2, Inc 2021
It is nice to share the great adventures we are on, but don’t share the location or clues to the location.

Cyber Stalker’s want more than your location.

Another reason to not share your location is because it tells people that you are not home. This leaves your house vulnerable to break-ins. For example; if you posted 1 hour ago that you are having a great family trip in Mexico, this lets thieves know that you won’t be back for many hours and that your house is most likely vacant. This gives them the opportunity to break in and take what they like. 

When photos are shared real time on social media people may know your home is empty and where you are at

Stop Sharing Your Location

With that being said, be mindful of what you share on the internet. If you believe you have a cyber stalker, physical stalker, or are in a toxic relationship, we suggest blocking them from being able to see your page. When it comes to sharing your location, it may be best to wait to post when you are back home. You should also disable your phone’s location services from any people or applications that shouldn’t know your location.  This article from CNET.com shows these simple steps to turn off location settings in IPhone: Open settings, click locations services, select camera, click “never”.  For Android phones, Google’s directions are:  Swipe down, select location, edit location, tap advanced, tap improve location accuracy, then turn off.

We can’t stop bad people from doing bad things; however we can take steps to try and prevent an incident of cyber stalking and/or home robbery in the first place.  Two steps to take are to disable location sharing settings on your phone, and to not share your location on social media posts. 

Disable location services on your phone to prevent cyber stalking
Follow a few simple steps to disable location services on your phone.

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