Over the past two decades, the Internet has become increasingly integral to the success of the working professional as a powerful self-marketing and networking tool. But part and parcel of using the Internet is the risk of falling victim to online harassment and security breaches. For your safety and sanity, knowing how to protect yourself from these threats is essential. Pen America has written a Field Manual for online safety rich with useful resources for protecting yourself. Although the tips are written with writers and journalists in mind, the information is relevant for anyone who has a voice online.
Some Ways You can Prepare and Respond to Online Harassment
· Build an online support community. Whether through online forums or chat rooms, finding a group of individuals who share your interests can come in handy when you do experience an attack. They can jump in to report abuse, write positive comments on your behalf if you are bombarded by Internet trolls, help monitor the abuse, and provide you moral support.
· Secure your passwords and email addresses. Keep unique passwords for each of your social media and email accounts. Setting up two-factor authentication for logging in provides an extra barrier of security against hackers. Creating email accounts specifically for authenticating yourself helps keep your personal email address unknown to hackers.
· Consider using a pseudonym. Consider how important it is to attach your real name to some of the information you post on the Internet. Creating a pseudonym can help deter common online attacks such as doxxing.
· Keep a record of the abuse. Keeping a record of the harassment you are receiving is useful for reporting it to the host platform. Take screenshots and create email filters to send the messages to a separate folder so you don’t have to face the harassment every day.
· If you want a quick fix, block the user. This is easy to do on most social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Note, however, that this isn’t always effective, as an abuser can make a new account to continue attacking you.
The threat of online harassment shouldn’t deter you from having a presence online. Just as you would take precautions to be safe in public, taking precautions to be safe on the Internet is equally as important. You can read Pen America’s full field guide and access more online safety resources here.
Related reading: CheatSheet: Online Reputation Glossary