Travel plans on social media is a great help to thieves
Dec 10, 2017, 4:49 am
#61
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The idea that social media posting of trips is widely responsible for home robberies doesn't compute. Thieves would have to cast a wide net across social media, filter it for people within their geographical area, and be able to accurately connect accounts to real-world addresses. This is beyond the sophistication of most petty thieves. And even for the sophisticated ones it's arguably a steeper effort/payoff ratio than more traditional, opportunistic approaches to theft.
Dec 10, 2017, 9:20 am
#62
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I think you’re on the right track, but I suggest there’s more to each sentence:
Too many people today are willing captives of our technology.
Too many people think they can (or worse, should) only make a point in regards to any subject using just 140(now 280) characters on Twitter ... liking/repeating/retweeting an ill-considered or ill-informed opinion (to say nothing of an outright lie) a dozen or a hundred times doesn’t change its essence ... we have more than a problem ... these are (or certainly should be) serious concerns.
The 'phone' aspect of the device called a 'smartphone' is getting less and less actual use as a phone!
While I can agree with you that more and more people are 'captives' of our technology, I might question the 'willing' part of your statement. To be willing, implies some knowledge of what is happening to you. I'm not so sure how many people actually know what is happening to them and 'willingly' accept it. I'd say many who are accepting it are ignorant of what is happening.
Dec 10, 2017, 9:48 am
#63
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The idea that social media posting of trips is widely responsible for home robberies doesn't compute. Thieves would have to cast a wide net across social media, filter it for people within their geographical area, and be able to accurately connect accounts to real-world addresses. This is beyond the sophistication of most petty thieves. And even for the sophisticated ones it's arguably a steeper effort/payoff ratio than more traditional, opportunistic approaches to theft. Most thieves choose a target area near home and roam it looking for obvious signs of a good opportunity. Things like newspapers piling up, mail overflowing the mailbox, packages left at the front door for more than a day, car(s) not moved for several days, and grass uncut in the growing season are classic signs that the occupants are away. These are much easier to associate with a specific house being unattended than reading online somewhere that "Barbara Smith just landed in Aruba, woo-hoo!"
All you are doing is arguing the probability of it happening. You are not arguing that it doesn't happen or that you couldn't avoid it happening by not posting your plans.
In other words, are you telling us that you take absolutely no steps whatsoever to reduce your risk of a burglary when you go on vacation?
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Last edited by StartinSanDiego; Dec 10, 2017 at 12:13 pm Reason: Enough already! Posting should be friendly and welcoming.
Dec 10, 2017, 2:18 pm
#64
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Unless a person is wealthy and high profile (e.g. movie star, sports figure, etc.) or has an over-inflated sense of their own importance the risks presented by posting your plans on social media are insignificant. Updating people on your travels is hardly inviting a local thief to throw a party at your house.