The 'Dark' Side to Social Media

*A follow-up to my post from this morning: I am bringing this up as I do not want it to happen to someone else.** I will term it the 'dark' side to social media.

First, read the attached post then follow-up with what I write here. https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6453224887526973440/

In my last comment I wrote: I think I know who may have done this; an individual from my past, 6 years ago to be exact. This individual has lots of computer skills and supposedly worked for the government at some point. I was relatively new to LI back then and looking for side work. What seemed a harmless connection was not.

Fast forward to the present and today it hit me (the aha moment) that one of my connections who was nice, we chatted sporadically-as a social worker I often have individuals approach me for support so I typically do not think much of it. I keep it light and minimum. A lot of us reach out and mentor here on LI. Part of win-win and pay it forward; we recently started messaging-a few weeks maybe and very sporadically, and in the last few days the messages got weird. Now I know why! The Eureka moment of my being human, personal, sharing some minimal info!! I wrote in a post that I was newly married; a second marriage. Was the account hacked?? No clue-but I knew something was not right. Red flags going off! Different tone, weird wording...messaged whenever I was online...

I asked them to stop messaging me-they sent tons. I asked again-still messages-I deleted them. More messages even though I deleted them?? Also, when I sent the leave me alone message for the last time I noticed that some of my responses to his messaging had been changed!! How is that possible? All of this on LI messaging. Very weird. A bit scary...I stated I was going to block them and the response was: 'Go Ahead...' so I did.

If it is who I think it is (initials RA), they knew 6 years ago I had separated from my first husband. We reconciled, but 3.5 years ago we began a divorce process.

If it is who I think it is-leave me alone! Do not try to connect with me through a connection of mine or create a bogus profile. Do not try to connect with any of my connections and in general leave women alone!!

If not this person from 6 years ago, then the connection I was messaging, initials of LV. Also, leave me alone!

Lastly, for all LI users out there-I understand the concept of open net working, being a L.I.O.N.-here is the perfect example of why one should be careful when connecting. Even in #projecthelpyougrow and #SPN, both of which I think are fantastic, I am super cautious with connections.

If someone wants to connect-click on their profile-look at it. Do they have a photo? Who do they know in your network? How many do they know? Do they post? Comment? Like posts? Have they written any articles? Every so often, as time consuming as it is-go through your connections and you may need to delete some. I deleted a few today.

I also received quite a few requests today to connect and most were legit or seemed legit, but 2 were not. Their profiles were minimal-they had photos, one even had a good headline until I dug deeper in the profile. I ignored them both, but of course I do not hide who I am on LI-so it will show up that I viewed their profiles...

I do not want this to happen to someone else! 

Please comment, please share this post so it does not happen to someone else....

#inittogether #spn #projecthelpyougrow #bullying #harassment #socialmedia#linkedin

https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6453224887526973440/