Have you joined the social networking craze? That is, do you use Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Twitter or any of the other social networking sites? Or, perhaps you’ve joined a few chat rooms or forums to discuss a variety of topics that interest you, maybe even discussing coins and your collection.
Social networking sites can be fun and can keep you in touch with family, friends and business associates who you do not see frequently. Some social networking sites target interactions with family and friends while others are more for business relationships. Some straddle the line and are used for both pleasure and business.
In addition to being a fun way to keep in touch, social networking sites enable you to contact like-minded people – people who have the same interests you do. Plus, chat rooms and forums attract experienced and knowledgeable people along with beginners and greenhorns within specific subjects or interests.
On the other hand, your social networking fun should be tempered with caution especially in discussing and sharing information about your coin collecting interests. Mainly, you want to be cautious in whom you trust and how much personal information you share.
Even on the social networking sites with a level of security where you “approve” your friends or network connections, weaknesses occur. You never know when a friend or family member will show someone – voluntarily or inadvertently – information you have shared in what you thought was a private area. Then that unknown someone could ask a few innocent sounding questions of your friend or family member and learn enough about you to target you for a crime.
On forums and in chat rooms, you encounter knowlegdeable people and build a rapport with them given your shared interests. However, just because they are knowledgeable and helpful does not mean they are trustworthy. Unfortunately, the anonymity of the internet allows criminals to build trust using their expertise and neighborliness. Hiding within the internet, you do not hear or see their speech patterns, facial expressions and body language, all of which we subconsciously use to judge trustworthiness in the people we meet.
The internet provides so much good information and allows you to interact with people and to research your coin collecting interests easily from the comfort of your home. But, that comfort may provide you a false sense of security.
Many companies work hard to provide protection for you and your information while you surf the ‘net, but the criminals seem to stay one step ahead. Or, if they fall behind, it’s just a matter of time before they leapfrog the security companies.
Remember the saying, “The chain is only as strong as its weakest link?” While surfing the internet, the security of your information depends on the strength of the “weakest link.” But, there are so many weak security “links” that are beyond your control and beyond your knowledge.
Now, the Negative Nellie steps aside…
You should enjoy the internet – enjoy researching and discussing coin collecting on the social networking sites. Just use caution in what you share even when interacting with people you know. Remember, some nefarious character could be lurking where you can’t see them, or more important, where you wouldn’t even think to look for them.
Oh, and one last comment, just because you learn something via the internet, don’t believe it until you’ve verified it using several reputable sources. The internet is a great place for information, but that information could be just as easily wrong as right.