Some tips on safe navigation in risky online world

As individuals, people can “save” themselves while surfing through tonnes of information over social media platforms, with easy two steps. 

First is to appropriately secure their personal information and to be careful about what they say. The second is to prepare their thoughts and minds well while consuming the immense load of diverse information from all social media outlets. 

It sounds very easy, but it is not, because an enormous amount of information flows very fast and chaotically. Thus, social media literacy is required for life in an era of booming social media.

Social media literacy is a fundamental necessity for living happily in the modern era. That means people being able to understand and effectively apply social media in their daily life, both for work and personal interests.

So many companies have launched initiatives such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes to help people, especially youths, while they are online. 

Total Access Communications (DTAC) and Telenor Group, for example, recently launched a Safe Internet initiative for Thailand to provide children and new users with the tools and awareness necessary to safely navigate the online world, which is increasingly common in the country, particularly via smart-phones. The companies expects their Safe Internet initiative will be a key tool to help Thai children. Telenor Group expects some 10-15 million Thai children to be online by 2017, and wants to help them be good digital citizens.

Microsoft is also concerned about helping to protect people from harm via social media. It offers tips to help protect people who use social media. 

Their tips are be cautious when clicking on links received in messages from friends; do not trust that a message is really from who it says it is from; avoid giving away email addresses of friends; do not allow social networking services to scan your email address book; be selective about who you accept as a friend on a social network; choose social networks carefully and make sure you understand the privacy policy; assume that everything you put on a social networking site is permanent; be careful about installing extras on your site; and think twice before you use social networking sites at work. 

Another example is Intel Security Digital Safety Program, which was launched recently. It is a three-year education initiative designed to teach children to “Think Before You Link” and make safer decisions when using the Internet. This initiative is not yet available in Thailand.

These kinds of initiative examples are created to assist the massive number of people who are going to be online, because of the wide availability of devices – especially smart-phones. Networks expect to see 4G service in Thailand in the near future – at an affordable price for users.