10 Social Networking Safety Tips for Women and Girls

10 Social Networking Safety Tips for Women and Girls As social networking and social media have grown, weve paid a price few saw coming: the loss of individual privacy. The impulse to share has caused many of us to inadvertently expose ourselves in ways that can compromise our safety and security. While social networking sites may feel like an invitation-only gathering of friends thats accessible 24/7, its not necessarily a closed and safe universe. Others may be able to access your personal information without your knowledge. Although cyberstalking preceded the advent of social networking, social media does make it easier for a stalker or cyberstalker to locate and track a potential victims every move. Innocuous personal tidbits collected over weeks, months and even years often add up to a whole picture of who you are, where you work, live and socialize, and what your habits are all valuable information to a stalker. Dont think this can happen to you? Then you should know that according to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 in 6 women will be stalked in her lifetime. The best way to protect yourself is to not make yourself vulnerable in the first place. Whenever you engage in social media, remember this: what happens on the internet stays on the internet, and its up to you to make sure what appears in connection with your name and image does not have the potential to harm you now or in the future. The following 10 tips offer guidelines in managing the information that gets out there about you via social networking and can help keep you safe: No Such Thing as Private The internet is like an elephant it never forgets. While spoken words leave little trace and are quickly forgotten, written words endure in the online environment. Whatever you post, tweet, update, share even if its deleted immediately afterwards has the potential to be captured by someone, somewhere, without your knowledge. This is especially true of social networking sites including private messages shared between two people and postings to a private group. There is no such thing as private in the world of social media because anything you put up can potentially be grabbed, copied, saved on someone elses computer and mirrored on other sites not to mention hacked by thieves or subpoenaed by law enforcement agencies. A Little Bird Told Me Every time you use Twitter, the government keeps a copy of your tweets. Sounds crazy, but its true. According to the Library of Congress blog: Every public tweet, ever, since Twitters inception in March 2006, will be ar chived digitally at the Library of Congress.... Twitter processes more than 50 million tweets every day, with the total numbering in the billions. And experts predict the information will be searched and used in ways we cant even imagine. (This gives new meaning to the phrase A little bird told me...) X Marks the Spot Be cautious about using geo-location services, apps, Foursquare, or any method which shares where youre at. When it was first introduced, Facebooks Places feature gave tech writer Sam Diaz pause: Guests at a party at my home could turn my home address into a public place on Facebook and my only recourse is to flag my address to have it removed... If we’re all at a concert...and a friend checks in with Places, he can tag the people who he’s with - just as if you were tagging a person in a photo. Unlike Diaz, Carrie Bugbee a social media strategist had fun using these services until a cyberstalking incident changed her mind. One evening, while dining at a restaurant she had checked in at using Foursquare, Bugbee was told by the hostess that there was a call for her on the restaurants phone line. When she picked up, an anonymous man warned her about using Foursquare because she could be found by certain people; and when she tried to laugh it off, he beg an verbally abusing her. Stories like this may be why far fewer women use geo-location services as compared to men; many are afraid of making themselves more vulnerable to cyberstalking. Separate Work and Family Keep your family safe, especially if you have a high profile position or work in a field that may expose you to high-risk individuals. Some women have more than one social networking account: one for their professional/public lives and one thats restricted to personal concerns and only involves family and close friends. If this applies to you, make it clear to family/friends to post only to your personal account, not your professional page; and dont let the names of spouses, children, relatives, parents, siblings appear there to protect their privacy. Dont let yourself be tagged in events, activities or photos that may reveal personal details about your life. If they show up, delete them first and explain later to the tagger; better safe than sorry. How Old Are You Now? If you must share your birthday, never put down the year in which you were born. Using the month and day are acceptable, but adding the year provides an opportunity for identity theft. Its Yo ur Fault If Its Default Keep track of your privacy settings and check them on a regular basis or at least monthly. Do not assume that the default setting will keep you safe. Many social networking sites frequently update and change settings, and often the defaults tend to make public more information than you may be willing to share. If an upcoming update is advertised in advance, be proactive and investigate it before it launches; it may offer a window during which you can privately edit or remove content before it goes live. If you wait until your account automatically switches over, your information may go public before you have a chance to deal with it. Review Before Posting Make sure your privacy settings enable you to review content in which youve been tagged by friends before they appear publicly on your page. This should include posts, notes, and photos. It may seem tedious, but its much easier to deal with a small amount each day than to have to go back through weeks, months and even years to ensure that any and all content related to you puts forth an image youre comfortable living with. Its A Family Affair Make it clear to family members that the best way of communicating with you is through private messaging or email not posting on your page. Often, relatives who are new to social media dont understand the difference between public and private conversations and how they take place online. Dont hesitate to delete something that is too personal for fear of hurting Grandmas feelings just make sure you message her privately to explain your actions, or better yet, call her on the phone. You Play, You Pay...in Loss of Privacy O nline games, quizzes, and other entertainment apps are fun, but they often pull information from your page and post it without your knowledge. Make sure that you know the guidelines of any app, game or service and do not allow it unfettered access to your information. Likewise, be cautious about responding to notes shared by friends along the lines of 10 Things You Didnt Know About Me. When you answer these and post them, youre revealing personal details about yourself that may enable others to figure out your address, your workplace, the name of your pet or your mothers maiden name (often used as an online security question), or even your password. Do enough of these over time and someone who is determined to learn all about you can read the answers, cross-reference information obtained through your friends pages, and glean a surprising amount from these seemingly casual revelations. How Do I Know You? Never accept a friend request from someone you dont know. This may seem like a no-brainer, but even when someone appears as a mutual friend of a friend or several friends, think twice about accepting unless you can concretely identify who they are and how theyre connected to you. In many professional circles involving large organizations, all an outsider has to do is obtain one friend on the inside and it snowballs from there, with others thinking that a total stranger with no personal connection is an unfamiliar co-worker or occasional business associate. Social media is fun thats why half the U.S. adult population participates in online social networking sites. But dont be lulled into a false sense of security when it comes to protecting your personal information. The goal of social networking sites is to generate revenue and even though the service is free, theres the hidden cost of your privacy. Its up to you to keep tabs on what shows up and to limit your exposure and protect yourself. Sources: Dias, Sam. Facebook launches Places, geo-location service thats both cool and creepy. ZDnet.com. 18 August 2010.GLOBAL DIGITAL COMMUNICATION: Texting, Social Networking Popular Worldwide. PewGlobal.org. 20 December 2011.Panzarino, Matthew. Heres what happens when the police subpoena your Facebook. TheNextWeb.com. 2 May 2011.Raymond, Matt. How Tweet It Is!: Library Acquires Entire Twitter Archive. Library of Congress blog. 14 April 2010.Seville, Lisa Riordan. Foursquares Stalker Problem.  The Daily Beast. 8 August 2010.

Taking the ACT in 7th Grade Should You Do It

Taking the ACT in 7th Grade Should You Do It SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It’s just a short while before school ends for the day. You settle in to enjoy a discussion about sea monkeys in your 7th grade Science class when all of a sudden, one of your classmates starts complaining about having to take the ACT. What is she talking about? Who would want to take the ACT in middle school, and who even cares about 7th grade ACT scores? If you’re a parent, you may have heard or read about programs designed for early-achieving students. But it can be hard to figure out if those programs are for students who do well on the ACT, or if the students get to take the ACT if they do well in school. Fear not- I’ll clear up the confusion in this article as I go over the pros and cons of taking the ACT in 7th grade and the programs you can get into with high 7th grade ACT scores. feature image credit: Thinking by Jonathan Evans, used under CC BY-NC 2.0/Cropped from original. Is Taking The ACT This Early Useful? There's no one easy answer to the question "Should I take the ACT in 7th grade?" Taking the ACT Early Is Not Useful If... You're planning on using your ACT scores to apply to college, and only for that. Unless you're planning on applying to college within a few years (around age 15 or thereabouts), colleges are going to care much more about your current abilities and much less about what you were like when you were 12. While technically ACT scores don't expire, unless you get a 32+ score at age 12 you're probably going to want to take the test again once you've taken high school classes like precalc and biology. Even for the most ardent and ambitious students, 9th grade is plenty of time to start studying for the ACT. This doesn't mean that you can’t start prepping earlier than that, but it’s generally more helpful to spend that time in middle school focusing on your studies in school so that you have a good base for ACT prep later on. Taking the ACT Early Is Useful If... You want to become accustomed to the test. For some students, anxiety over the ACT can make it seem like an insurmountable hurdle that you must clear to make it out of high school and into college. Taking the ACT in 7th grade is especially handy if you live in a state where it’s mandatory and you know you’ll have to take it to graduate from high school anyway. Paying to take the test is not a financial hardship and you're curious about it. It's unlikely you’ll be able to get a fee waiver if you’re taking the ACT for personal enrichment, but if that's not a problem and you want to see what taking the ACT is like, go for it. You're interested in participating in certain programs for early achievers. For talent searches and other programs aimed at academically-gifted younger students, the SAT or ACT is often required either as a prerequisite or as part of the program. While the ACT isn't necessarily the only test you can take to qualify for these programs (they often accept other standardized measures like IQ tests and state-mandated standardized tests), it is a test you can study for, and there are plenty of high-quality prep materials available. What Programs Require Taking the ACT Early? There are many different programs that provide advanced academic opportunities, mentoring, and recognition for high 7th grade ACT scores. It's important to keep in mind, however, that the programs aren't going to judge your score the same way colleges would. Since you're so much younger than the average ACT test-taker, the talent searches and other programs aren't looking for perfect scores; instead, you'll be compared to other students your age. We have more on what a good ACT score for a 7th grader is in this article. Here's a couple of the most well-known programs that involve taking the ACT in 7th grade: Duke TIP By participating in Duke's 7th Grade Talent Search, you can qualify for a number of different summer programs (and awards ceremonies, if your ACT scores are high enough). If you're eligible for the Talent Search (based on your score on any one of a number of qualifying tests), you'll take the ACT. You can also take the ACT to qualify for the 7th Grade Talent Search in the first place. Read more about the ACT requirements for various Duke TIP programs here. CTY at Johns Hopkins Taking the ACT can also qualify you for certain programs at Johns Hopkins' Center for Talented Youth, including summer and online courses. It's also possible to take the ACT through the CTY talent search, which then gives you preference for enrolling in any of the CTY programs. We have more information about the ACT scores required for different CTY programs in this article. Other Programs In addition to the two programs I mentioned above, there are also several other programs for gifted youth that provide summer courses and general resources. We've already written in detail on our blog about Stanford EPGY, Summer Institute for the Gifted, and NUMATS, but there are several other programs worth looking into for gifted and talented adolescents: Belin-Blank Student Talent Search at the University of Iowa Joseph Baldwin Academy (JBA) at Truman State University Western Academic Talent Search (formerly the Rocky Mountain Talent Search) VAMPY at Western Kentucky University Vanderbilt Programs for Talented Youth Talented and Gifted Program at Southern Methodist University Halbert and Nancy Robinson Center for Young Scholars at the University of Washington talent by George, used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Why Do These Programs Use the ACT? You might be curious about why students have to bother taking the ACT (a test designed for college entry) for programs intended for young, non-high school students, On the surface, it seems like it would make more sense to have program applicants take a test that is specifically designed for younger students. In actuality, there are three reasons that these programs for early achievers care about 7th grade ACT scores. #1: It's Easy to Find Somewhere to Take the ACT Unlike an IQ, which often requires setting up a special (and expensive) session with a counselor, the ACT is a widely offered and available standardized test. This is especially true in states where ACT is required for high school graduation. There are still some special arrangements necessary (for example, students under age 13 must register for the ACT by mail), but on the whole, it's much easier for students to take the ACT than it is any other national or international standardized test. #2: There's a Lot of Data About the ACT Programs for high-achieving middle-schoolers have been using the ACT as a standard for many years, so they can see how your score compares to those of other students of a similar age (rather than against the graduating senior data the College Board provides on their site). #3: The ACT Measures Valuable Skills While it bills itself as a "curriculum-based achievement test," the ACT also measures critical thinking and general mathematical abilities to some extent. This means that even if you haven't taken all the courses necessary to understand every single question, your 7th grade ACT score can still provide valuable information about your ability to think well under pressure. Because the ACT has four different subscores, you can perform unevenly well across the different sections and still place into a summer program. For example, even if you don’t do well on the ACT English and Reading sections, you might still be able to participate in certain summer program courses with relatively high ACT Math and Science scores. ACT Prep for 7th Graders: What's Different? The key principle of 7th grade ACT prep is knowing that you should expect to get a (relatively) low score, compared to if you were taking the ACT to apply to college. In general, you won't have learned everything you need to score highly on the ACT by the time you're in middle school, just by sheer dint of not having been alive and talking as long as a high schooler. Your vocabulary will be smaller, your reading level will be lower, and you won't have learned all the math or science in school yet. Summer programs know that 7th grade ACT scores will be lower, which is why even upper-tier summer programs have a much lower bar for entry than upper-tier colleges. To settle on a realistic ACT score to aim for as a 7th grader, you should fill out our score target worksheet with information for the programs you want to get into. Another way in which ACT prep for 7th graders differs from what it is for high schoolers is that there are lower stakes attached to scoring well on the ACT, so the pressure should be lower. The summer programs I mentioned earlier do offer challenging, advanced, and diverse courses that can enrich your education, but they certainly aren’t as essential to your future as college is. Scoring well or poorly on the ACT in 7th grade won't prevent you from attending college or from graduating high school, and summer programs for early achievers compare the scores of students to other 7th graders, rather than high schoolers; perfect scores are not expected. One final, minor aspect of preparing to take the ACT in 7th grade is knowing that you won't be able to register for it online. Because of Internet privacy laws, ACT, Inc requires all students under the age of 13 to register for the test by paper. The main effect this has on your ACT prep is that you have to decide further in advance if and when you're taking the ACT to make sure your registration materials get there on time- you can't just decide a month before the test "oh hey, I guess I do want to take the ACT after all." Sorry, lightbulb. You should've decided to take the test at least six weeks before the test date. Now your registration materials won't get there in time. ACT for 7th Graders: Yes or No? You should take the ACT in 7th grade if you want to get acquainted with the test and lower your anxiety or if you want to qualify for special academic programs. You shouldn’t take it in 7th grade if you’re just using it to apply to colleges, since most schools won’t want or care to see your 7th grade ACT score. What’s Next? After reading this article, you might decide to go ahead and take the ACT in 7th grade, but what's a good score? Find out more about what makes a good or bad 7th grade ACT score here. On the other hand, you might decide that you don't really need to take the ACT just yet. But should you start to study then anyway? Read more about preparing for the ACT as a 7th grader in this article. Got your score, but not sure if you qualify for summer programs? Compare your 7th grade ACT score to the score requirements for Duke TIP and CTY at Johns Hopkins! Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.