Almost a third ofsocial networking siteusers have
entered false information to help protect their identities, which
somewhat defeats the object of using them.
Nearly two thirds (62%) of networking sites users say they are
worried about the safety of their personal data held on such sites.
A survey of 100
social networking users by e-mail research specialist emedia
recorded users' concerns.
The move to disguise identities comes after it was reported that
potential employers are now scouring social networking sites to get
a flavour of what job applicants are really like.
Andrea Simmons, consultant security forum manager at the
British Computer Society, said, "As we become citizens of
cyberspace and with social networking sites making details of
members visible through public search engines, we need to learn how
to use privacy settings in better ways and to use computers
safely."
Users of social networking sites visit their sites on a regular
basis and almost half of them (48%) admit to using the sites at
work. Nearly one in four (24%) users log in every day with half of
them logging in several times a day.
The
TUC recently demanded that employers allow staff to access such
sites in company time as it said work and play were now
intrinsically entwined for many.