Lately I have not been having very good experiences with Orkut and so have some of the people I know. I have also read some horror stories relating to Orkut on the Web and the news.
Everyone has got a story of how their long forgotten friend from school/college/ last-to-last-to-last-to-last company met them on Orkut after so many years!
Is Orkut taking shape of another MySpace and other such social websites which have already turned into a ready-to-use database of information for cyber crimes and stalkers?
Here is my take on how to keep safe on Orkut? Follow these simple guidelines!
Don't make your profile a goldmine for spammers and scamsters and stalkers (I call it the SSS of Orkut)!
Guys, guys, guys! When will you understand that keeping your mobile number as part of your Name won't lead to more girls calling you? Neither will your email-id help in getting you more friend requests! The only people who will love to have your contact information are spammers and scamsters and stalkers (SSS). So give your mobile numbers and email ids in your profile or on scraps and you can expect more spam in your mail box and more useless calls on your phone. This is just the tip of iceberg. Imagine other nasty uses of email-id and phone number and you are inviting all this mess!
Don't keep a photo which is big enough to be defaced/misused!
Females pay attention! Your profile picture (if you are tempted to keep your own photo at all) should have your face small enough so that it can't be misused in any manner (I hope you know the power of Photoshop). Do NOT keep any of your intimate photos in your orkut album. I suggest that for females, ideal profile pics are those taken from a distance and side poses (called 'profile views' in photography lingo!). Also, please refrain putting pictures of your friends and relatives on Orkut without their explicit permission. Putting their picture on Orkut might seem like a trivial matter to you but it might turn out to be a big hassle for them and don't forget that you are also violating their right to privacy. Just because you have their pictures does not give you the right to show it to teh world without their permission. Also, please do not put pictures of your kids on Orkut. Get over the fact that only your friends or family or people you want can view your profile pictures. Anyone who is on Orkut can browse through any and all pictures and the last thing you want is some criminal stalking you or your kids. It is your responsibility to protect the identity of your kids, take this responsibility seriously.
Try not to share email/phone number or personal information by scraps
Ever heard of a great tool called EMAIL? If you have, use it and if not than ask your 6 year old about it. DO NOT give anyone your mail-id/phone number/address by scrap, unless you want to be a victim of SSS. Use email or messaging. Scrapping on Orkut has been widely misused by one and all. There is no award on Orkut for the one with the maximum scraps or as I like to call them CRAP. However if scrapping is a must, please do not put personal information about you or the person you are scrapping. If you go through the scraps (aka Craps) you will see people discussing everything from their person illnesses to property matters to intimate stuff. Would you like everyone on Orkut to know that you have a certain kind of physical illness? or that your friend is going through a bad marriage or relationship? Come on be realistic, respect someone's privacy.
Never talk work related stuff on scraps.
Not only work, any confidential chat should not be done on orkut. Apart from obvious threats, who knows your boss might be lurking there, visiting your and your colleagues' scrapbooks! And this is not a far fetched fantasy. I am sure you would hate for your boss or co-worker to find out how mean he or she is and how much you detest working at the company. If you plan to do that, make sure you have a copy of your update resume ready.
There is not a race going on for maximum number of friends!
Do NOT accept the friendship request from anyone you don't know/trust. Even if it is from opposite sex. You don't know who could be out there creating a fake profile!
Don't click on luring URLs.
Do NOT click on any URLs given by enticing profiles, promising whatever! Orkut and Google have raised warnings very often about viruses being transmitted in this manner. Clicking on a wrong URL can compromise your identity and your privacy, giving the scamer access to your personal information.
Don't accept offers for downloading e-books
You really think someone is going to let you download e-books for free if you provide them with your email address?. If you think so, than my friend I have no hesitation in calling you STUPID. How stupid does one have to be to believe the fact that a perfect stranger will distribute free ebooks for no reason. All the stranger is looking for and getting is your email address so that he can spam you with stuff or use your email identity to spam others.
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