Miss Albany, EDC marketing director Reedi Hawkins educates on social media safety

ALBANY — The social media craze has caught many by storm, making it necessary for those not familiar with it to get caught up.

Reedi Hawkins, current Miss Albany and marketing director for the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission,recently gave an overview to the Dougherty County Rotary Club of the different social media forums and how to use them wisely.

Hawkins described the social media activity that thousands have come to depend on as the top Internet activity — even though it is still a relatively new concept.

“In the ’90s we had never heard of social media,” Hawkins said.

Facebook, Twitter, Instragram, LinkedIn and Google + are among the forums available, with popularity in Facebook skyrocketing to become the primary means for many people to keep up with family, friends and colleagues.

Hawkins also explained how the hashtag concept works.

“It connects things together,” she said. “At the EDC, the one I use is ‘#onlyonealbany,’ and it connects (people) to things going on in Albany.”

While the social media bug has hit the large majority of those in the millennial generation, it is also becoming popular with their parents and grandparents — despite the notion older generations are intimidated by it — as a means to send and receive photos, messages or interact with long-lost friends.

“Age 55 and up is the fastest growing group on Facebook,” Hawkins said. “It does give away information, but there are more ways to protect yourself.”

Twitter functions as a microblogging site, Instragram is usually visually oriented and LinkedIn works as a professional networking site. Google + is a site, that if a person has a Gmail account, they may already have Google + and not know it, Hawkins said.

Hawkins pointed out something many people might not be paying attention to when they post a photo on Facebook.

“When you sign up or post something, you agree that anything you post is no longer yours,” she said.

Social media safety is the platform Hawkins is using in her role as Miss Albany. Specifically, she refers to her platform as “CyberSense.”

“CyberSense is the same thing as common sense, but translated differently,” she said.

In regards to safety, Hawkins advised that acceptance of friendship requests on Facebook should be just as restrictive as they are in real life, and to ensure personal information — such as cell phone numbers or email addresses — is not made public.

“People could do a lot with that kind of stuff,” she said of the personal information.

Also, make sure content is only viewable by friends, and check privacy settings frequently to make sure they stay how they need to be.

On Facebook, settings should be checked whenever a profile picture is changed, Hawkins said.

It is the responsibility of the adults to make sure children are not involved in online activities they should not be, Hawkins said.

“Start conversations and see what they are doing,” Hawkins said. “They may not be ready yet to start a relationship with the globe. Fifty-one percent of kids have been victimized by cyberbullying, and 49 percent been reported to be the bully.

“We’ve got to catch up to them.”