Social media and smart devices allow you to do some pretty amazing things. Sites like Facebook and Twitter, for example, allow you to communicate and connect with anyone in the world through text, photos, and videos. Devices like home security systems allow you to control your home remotely via streaming video, while products like Philips Hue let you turn on your lights from anywhere in the world.
Services like IFTTT let you do a lot of your social networking or control smart home devices automatically. Unfortunately, when the two are combined, disaster can strike.
These are some of the ways not to automate your social media accounts.
Before we get started, it's important to summarize what IFTTT, or “If This Then That” can do. Free Service IFTTT Now Connects to Anything:Introducing the Maker Channel IFTTT Now Connects to Anything:Introducing the Maker Channel The potential uses for IFTTT are endless. But until now, it has been difficult to interface with your own hardware projects. Today, all that has changed. Read More
Available on the web and through apps, IFTTT works with many smart home products, many of which we've already covered on MakeUseOf, including Philips Hue, Nest, and Amazon Alexa.
One of the reasons IFTTT is so popular is its simplicity. To develop new recipes, all you need to do is create an If / Then statement via the IFTTT website or app.
One of the reasons smart home devices are truly smart is their ability to detect when you're not home using your smartphone's GPS capabilities.
For example, you can set up your Nest Thermostat 13 things you didn't know you could do with a Nest Thermostat 13 things you didn't know you could do with a Nest Thermostat You may be surprised at how many little tricks your new Nest Thermostat can accomplish! Read More Smart Webcams How to Make Your Wireless Security Cameras Untouchable to Hackers How to Make Your Wireless Security Cameras Untouchable to Hackers In recent months, stories about security vulnerabilities have abounded. Clearly this is not an acceptable state of affairs. To combat this, you need to secure your security cameras. Let's find out how. Read More
These are great tools to have. Still, you should keep this kind of convenience to yourself.
With IFTTT, Nest is likely to notify your Facebook friends every time you leave your house or tell Twitter followers when motion is detected on your video camera. Most of your social contacts don't want to see this play-by-play of your day. Others can, however, but for nefarious reasons. The reality is that criminals have turned to social media to find out when they can attack potential victims. 9 smart gadgets that will stop the chill of an intruder in the home. security meant locking the doors, securing the windows, and even installing an expensive home security system. How times have changed. Read more.
Instead of telling the world when you leave home, try these IFTTT recipes:
The auto car adapter is one of the most popular smart devices on the market. For $99, it unlocks the data in your vehicle's on-board computer and alerts you when there's a problem. The automatic system also tracks your daily trips, giving you insight into your car's fuel economy over time. This tracking feature, while useful, could also get you into trouble.
With IFTTT, you can create a Facebook status message or tweet on Twitter every time you arrive at a destination. Does everyone in your social network need to know where you are in real time? Or more specifically, that you're not currently home? Not likely.
More broadly, you should never use automation tools to "check in" to your current location. By doing so, you are intentionally announcing to the world that you are not home. Additionally, your location details can be used to falsely or otherwise implicate you.
You should never reveal 9 things you should never share on social media 9 things you should never share on social media Be careful what you share on social media because you never know when something might come back and ruin your life. Even the most innocent messages could be used against you. Read More Data breaches and account hacks happen all the time. There is no reason to make your job easier by making your personal information available.
There's nothing wrong with posting photos online, as long as you follow a bit of discretion. You may love your body, but posting nude photos for the whole world to see is not a good idea. You should also not post images of yourself of alcohol or drugs. Randomly sending embarrassing photos of your friends is also unnecessary.
You should also refrain from automatically posting photos to your social feeds. A host of IFTTT recipes break this rule, including “Instagram video to Twitter,” “Share your Instagram photos as native Twitter photos,” “Automatically upload photos to Flickr,” and “Upload all new photos to Flickr .”
Images on your smartphone likely have geotags attached to them. Are you unknowingly sharing your location on Facebook? [Weekly Facebook Tips] Are you unknowingly sharing your location on Facebook? [Weekly Facebook Tips] Have you been inadvertently giving your stalkers your address? You may accidentally be giving all your Facebook friends the exact location of your home, your office, and where your kids go to school. Read More You might be okay with giving this information to a small group of friends on Facebook, but probably not to some random guy who started following you on Twitter.
A better approach might be to send all your photos to your Google Drive or Dropbox account, where you'll have a little more control over who can see the files. Among the IFTTT recipes we recommend:
Amazon Alexa offers several shopping tools. One of them is the ability to add and remove items to your shopping list. IFTTT offers recipes that will alert your social networks every time you buy an item on your list. This might not seem like a big deal, and in most cases, it's not. (If you really want to tell your friends the next time you buy shampoo or conditioner, go for it.)
However, it's probably not a good idea to tweet that you just bought a new iMac or an expensive pair of headphones. Do you have Christmas presents on that list? Again, certain eyes probably shouldn't see this.
Keep your lists to yourself. Some of the IFTTT shopping list recipes we recommend:
Posting automatic countdown clocks on your social feeds is a great idea when the event is like New Year's Eve or the number of days until your kids go back to school. However, you should not use IFTTT to post the number of days until you go on vacation Going on vacation? 7 Ways to Insure Your Home for Under $30 Going on vacation? 7 Ways to Secure Your Home for Under $30 Buying smart tech can be an expensive business, but if you're going on vacation and want to keep as much cash as possible as spending money, you'll need some affordable home security solutions. Read more . Doing so alerts people when you won't be home.
Social networks serve many useful purposes, just like smart devices. However, when the two are combined with automation tools like IFTTT, problems occur. Avoid pit pits to protect yourself and your family.
Have you ever run into trouble posting something automatically on social media? Share your own experiences and tips in the comments section below.
