An important rule of life: If you’re going to use social media, be sure to log out when you’re done.
I learned this the hard way on Friday evening.
When I first got a Facebook account in 10th grade, I was careful to log out everytime I walked away from my computer. But as editor-in-chief of The Crow’s Nest, I constantly have people contacting me using social media. I try to keep my email open in my browser, and Facebook stays open most of the time too, just so I don’t miss anything.
I’ve never worried about being hacked before. Facebook is open on my personal laptop, and I generally don’t let others use it. I also love my friends, and never thought they would have any inclination of embarrassing me on social media.
Ha.
I think a wise person once said: “Good friends will pick you up when you’re down, but best friends will push you back down and laugh.”
I guess some people (i.e., me) just have to learn by experience.
A group of some of my closest friends came over on Friday night to watch a movie. We decided to hook my laptop to a larger TV in the residence hall lounge. When my tech-savvy friend and I went to get my laptop out of my room, I ended up locking my keys inside my room.
While I had to deal with my lockout, I handed my friend the laptop so he could set up the movie. He, with the help of my other “wonderful” friends, posted to my Facebook timeline. It was something to the effect of “Baaaaaaaaa, I’m a sheep. Baaaaaaa.”
Classy, I know.
The worst part is, I actually do have a good sheep impression. So when I came into the office on Sunday and told the staff my story, someone said, “Oh, you got hacked? I thought you meant to post that.”
Thanks, friends. I guess they know me a little too well.
I think in this day of social media, most of us have a similar story. I’m just thankful I was targeted by my close friends and not a stranger. In high school, I visited an Apple store with my friend, and she logged into Facebook on a computer in the store. We left without logging out.
The ending was not pretty, nor is it publishable in a newspaper.
So, as we navigate this new era of our lives being online, we’re going to have learn how to log out. Or face the consequences.
Or just laugh and enjoy our friends’ antics, regardless of whether we appreciate them or not.
But hey, we’ve been doing that since before social media.
