Tag Archives: internet

The Strangers We Let See Facebook

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It's been a while since I've written on my personal blog. This has been for a few reasons, the biggest of which I've been focusing on my fictional writing, trying to finish my crime novel.

Well, the draft of my crime novel is complete, and it currently in the hands of a developmental editor. While I wait patiently for his comments (and trust me, it has been a patient wait, as I'm not ready to delve back into edits yet), I thought I'd turn my attention back to something else that I'm just as passionate about.

Protecting ourselves on the internet.

For years, on the Editor's Blog on Black Wolf Editorial, I've been writing about some of the hidden traps associated with working online. Back in February, I decided to start a series here on my personal blog that delves into the mind of the bad guys who use the internet to prey on the innocent.

In the first post, I wrote about Twitter and how it's actually what we post that can be more of the security risk. Today, I want to look at some of the settings on Facebook, things that many of us never bothered to consider a risk.

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We Let Strangers Into Our Lives

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For the last few years, I’ve been writing crime thrillers. Thinking in the head of a bad guy can be liberating. Not sure when these stories of mine will be published (the publishing industry really is a hurry-up-and-wait industry), but I keep pressing forward, and continue to write stories where the bad guys come after us in ways that we are all subject to.

I always wanted the novel to be a cautionary tale about oversharing on social media and the internet. The more I delve into various aspects of internet security, the more I get excited—and scared.

I'm excited, because I know exactly how my serial killer is finding his victims—how he's stalking them. And I also know how he has managed to elude capture for over twenty years. As the writer of this creepy tale, this is fantastic. However, it also scares me, because I'm consciously aware that there will be some sicko out there doing exactly what the bad guy in my story is doing.

I've decided to start this blog series on social media and internet security on my personal blog in the hopes that at least one person out there will take notice and start to examine their own practices. If my ramblings can save just one person from becoming the victim, then I'll be over the moon.

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Smartphone

A Month Into the Device-Free Experiment

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It's been just over a month since my family started this device-free experiment. Each week seems to have presented a different set of challenges, along with some further insights into how the internet and technology has changed our lives. Things have been said that make me cringe, but when I take a step back and really look at what we're doing, those comments really are a slap in society's face.

Let me just further build this picture for you.

I started this little device-free experiment, turning off the internet and the devices for one day a week, because my children seemed to be sinking themselves into computer games and Netflix, and I didn't like it. That first week was incredibly difficult for them. (It was difficult on my husband too.) But I pushed through...

The weeks that have followed have tales of their own.

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Device-Free Days: It’s an Experiment

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I’ve noticed that both of my children seem to have an aversion to reading. This is not something that I like to see, especially considering I’m a writer and editor, but I do understand it.

My 17-year-old son spends almost all of his free time playing computer games, either on his computer or 3DS. My 13-year-old daughter seems to be obsessed with Netflix and YouTube (and the movies on the hard drives or discs). Whenever I suggest to either one of them that they read a book, they just roll their eyes at me and chill out in their own fashion.

My husband and I aren’t much better. Every morning, my hubby is on his phone, surfing the internet and watching C-SPAN… or playing a game… or watching anime. And I spend a significant amount of time either on the computer or the tablet, writing or editing (and talking to my writing partner in the US via video chat).

So, I had the idea of going device free for one day a week: no smart phones, no tablets, no computers and no TV — and certainly NO INTERNET. The only exception to this device-free rule is Kindles — simply because not all books are in paper formats. Besides, have you ever tried to surf the internet on a Kindle? (I’m not talking about the Kindle Fire. I’m talking about the traditional Kindle that is an eBook reader only. They have an internet browser, but talk about frustrating in the extreme.)

To start encouraging the good reading and other non-technology-based habits, my husband and I decided to do this once a week, every week. We’re only one week down, and have encountered some interesting results.
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