Seconds after it was confirmed released, I immediately tested it with a friend and as I was on it, I can't help but wonder the imminent dangers of exposing yourself on such a new and cool application.
The first one that entered my mind are the criminals. Most of us don't really know most of the friends we have on Facebook. Security analysts have warned us before of the precautionary measures to avoid exposing ourselves to criminals who, have not been slow to catch on at all. When they migrated to Twitter and Facebook, I wonder now.... will there be dangers on this new feature too?
Joining social networking sites is really fun and entertaining. I am hooked on Facebook and Google+ and I don't really care about who's going to be better that these two. I'm just one who likes to get in touch with friends once in awhile. However, we do have to be concerned of some of the dangers or what-not-to-do's and the biggest issue will be PRIVACY.
As always, it will be a problem. Although these huge social networking sites constantly find ways to make it secure for us, we are the ones responsible for our own exposures. I can think of only 3 things that can serve as guide on how to avoid getting into trouble when using Facebook Video Calling:
1. Keeping your profile on high privacy is the best solution.
There's a writing there on the top of your FB page that says "Accounts" where you will see the drop-down menu showing you Privacy Settings. Use that. Take good time to read and understand everything.
2. Never reveal anything private to strangers.
As I have mentioned earlier, you never know that it could be a criminal that you are enjoying a video call with. The migration of web criminals can extend to this new feature... starting off with being nice and sweet and eventually gathering information from you... information that can be disastrous. Despite the excitement and thrill of talking to strangers, fraud problems and identity theft might soon bite your ass.
3. Be appropriately dressed when opening a video call even to friends.
Your friends just might video-call you and post an inappropriate photo or embarrassing photo of you. I tested this with my second friend. She came out and I got to capture a screenshot of her that I know wasn't to her approval. I mean, being caught off-guarded can be a disaster. We all don't want such. So, just to warn her, I shared it to her privately and so, she understood what might happen. Just be dressed appropriately and look nice.
There are of course, a lot more as we go on living in an era of internet wonders, but I can only think of these for now....what I see that will pose imminent dangers to us. Try to keep your private life safe. Enjoy social networking! Enjoy this cool feature but... be safe as always!