I want to feel safe...

My friends and family will tell you I am notoriously private. I don't spend a lot of time interacting on social media and have never been one for posting status updates. My life isn't all sunkissed beaches and Inca trails; at one point, a status update from me would have read: "I found the time to do the grocery shopping this week, result!"

So using LinkedIn and posting photos of myself isn't natural for me. I prefer meeting people in real life and letting my work do the talking...but I know that part of being in business is about widening your network, using social media channels and making new connections.

BUT...I also want to feel safe online.

In this last week alone, I have received a connection request from a person telling me they can help me use LinkedIn in a way that I'm sure sounded like hacking user accounts, someone else asking me to connect with them so they can connect me to someone who can help me raise funds as they helped her "when there is no money to take care of her hospital bill" (I'm not sure I understood either); a request with a prayer in it...And my personal favourite is someone telling me they care very much about my well-being after I posted about a frustrating weekend dealing with a car insurance company.

None of these requests are life-threatening, but they do make me feel uneasy. I'd much rather receive a connection request without a strange blurb that ends with "Amen"...

That said, it is not all bad; Since I received these messages, I've learned a lot more about LinkedIn privacy settings (which do give you control of what you want to put out there and who can view your profile), and LinkedIn is a great place to network, learn and be inspired. The odd requests won't stop me from posting, so please do connect with me, and just to prove I'm not about to retreat back into a Social Media free world, I've added a poorly edited photo of me to this post (My Adobe Illustrator skills are still in their infancy)...