Knowing the potential dangers of social media, you must get into the habit of protecting yourself at all times. You will not have a social media strategist helping you along the way, so it is truly up to you. Here are some ways that you can improve the security of your social media use.

Disable Location-Based Services

Geolocation tags can be helpful for a select group of friends to know where you are, but as your social circle grows, it can become a risk when sharing such information with a much larger audience. The ability to tag where you are in a picture in real time not only tells people where you are but who you are with and even what you are wearing. One simple post can make it very easy for anyone to find you for any reason. These individuals may want to endanger your personal safety or risk your compliance. To be safe, disable/avoid all location-based services and social media apps that use geolocation tagging. Maintaining a safe presence on social media is an integral part to being a savvy social media user. For this reason you may want to consider referencing your location in the past tense when using social media.

Lock Your Phone

Given that one's mobile device tends to follow their owner wherever they go, the increased likelihood of losing it or having it stolen goes up. A lost or stolen device can be potentially hacked and mined for personal information, so it is critical to keep your phone locked when not in use.

Don't Reveal Personal Information

Sharing is great, but oversharing can be troublesome. Be sure to not accidentally reveal too much personal information in your communications with others. Posting things like your class schedule and current whereabouts can offer others the opportunity to find you, while posting things like your license plate, class ID, driver’s license or social security number on social media makes you a target for identity theft. This also means checking your photos for personal information. Snapping a picture of your dog sleeping may be funny, but much less so if your bank statement with your account information is clearly in the frame. Identity theft is a very real danger in online communities, so don't unwittingly fall prey to it with an overshare.

Keep Your Passwords Well-Guarded Offline and Unique

With so much of your life on social media, it is important to safeguard access to your accounts. Do not store and reference passwords in any communications on social media, even the private messages. If those passwords are not uniquely different for each individual account, you also risk opening yourself up to an greater deal of trouble, where the flood gates are open to your life. Please know that even when it is a "friend" who posts in your name, it is still your responsibility and you will bare the brunt of it.

Know Your Privacy Settings

If you are creating a new account or are continuing to use your current one, make sure you go into your account settings and review the level of privacy you have set. Don't assume the platform's default settings are sufficient enough. Recall that nothing is truly private in social media, so it is best to know the parameters of your privacy.

Familiarize Yourself with Recovery Apps

In case of a lost or stolen smartphone, there are many phone locator apps that can help you locate your phone, such as Find My iPhone, Where's My Droid and Find My Device apps. Beyond finder functionality, these apps allow users to lock a phone, disable it and send messages to it, so that if anyone finds it, they know who to contact. Some may be already preloaded onto your phone, while others may require download to your actual phone. Do not wait until your phone is missing to try and figure out what to do. Have a plan. Know what to do now, and remember, if you believe your phone is in the position of someone else that may have stolen it, do not confront them. Contact the police and have them intervene safely on your behalf.

Don't Share Your Passwords

Access to your phone can give anyone the ability to use your social accounts without your permission, as well as compromise the integrity of your contacts’ personal information. Posting on your behalf even as a joke means you then must accept the responsibility for their posts. You will not be exempt. Saying, “it wasn’t me,” will do little to sway people. Be sure you are in exclusive control of what is being posted on your account at all times.

If Hacked, Act Fast

If your social account is hacked, immediately shut down the affected account / handle and create an entirely new one. It is not worth the risk. Immediately contact anyone that may have been affected and explain to them what happened.

Don’t Encourage Unwanted Attention or Inquiry

Using social media to boast cash, expensive gifts, cars, etc. will do nothing but elicit the attention of potential criminals, the media and the enforcement arm of the NCAA. Be smart. Be safe. The last thing you want is to have the NCAA conduct an internal compliance review to understand where all this is coming from.