Social media is an excellent way to express yourself and find people with common interests in groups online. However, people always wonder how much they should share about themselves.

Is putting your relationship status in your bio okay? How about the year you graduated high school?

Realistically, it is all up to individuals how much they tell people, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe or a good idea.

I come from a family of cops, so I have always been told that I should never put information about myself on social media, especially on a public account. Never putting your address phone number or even your full name in your social media bio could be life-saving.

A lot of people have their identity taken through social media because of how much of their information is available to random people. For example, they can end up being the pretend persona of a catfisher on a dating app.

This goes for photos as well. You can post photos of yourself on social media, but it isn’t wise because photos can get stolen or used for a bad purpose.

Recently, my dad has dealt with a disturbing social media photo phenomenon in his cases. Someone online will take photos of people as small children, artificially remove their clothing through editing and put them on websites for creeps.

Using a private account on social media is a smart choice to make, especially when posting photos of younger siblings or family members.

There are a lot of weirdos out in the world and it’s easy for teenagers to become a target, even if you just post motivational quotes. It is all about how much of yourself you put into a bio or a conversation with someone you haven’t met in person.