How to Stay Safe as a Blogger

I love blogging. I couldn't imagine my life without it and I honestly believe it has changed my life for the better. With that being said, let's face it. It's kind of scary. You're putting yourself out there for the whole world to see, and you don't know who's out there. As unfortunate as it is, there are some bad people out there and the last thing any blogger wants to do is to give her personal information to the wrong person. It's easy to be the most trusting person in the world. We've all been there or we will be eventually. Sometimes you just have to let common sense kick in and ask yourself if what you're doing is safe. However, other times it's not that easy and that's where these other tips come in. Without further ado, here are four tips on how to stay safe as a blogger!

Get A P.O. Box
I'm really one to talk on this one since I don't actually have a P.O. box, however I've been thinking about getting one and I think it is a really smart idea! If you send or receive a lot of packages, or you participate in snail mail groups such as the Snail Mail Sisters or Blogger Buddies LINK LINK LINK, this is such a great idea because you aren't giving out your address. You do have to pay for this, but the alternative is compromising your safety so I really recommend doing this.

Don't Over Share
This is a good rule for bloggers to follow just in general! As much as your readers may love you, we don't need to know every single little detail about yourself. If you share too much about yourself, it's almost too easy for someone to find out all of your personal information. You're basically putting a sign on your home page saying," Here is my address! Here is my phone number! Come attack me!" A good general rule to follow is if you wouldn't want your writing on the front page of a newspaper or website, don't publish it. I live by this when writing and I suggest you should too!

Un-Geotag your Pictures
This is another easy way for people to get your exact location, but there's an easy way to fix it. On your phone, before you take a blog or Instagram picture, turn your location services off. This way the picture can't be tracked and you can't either! If you use any third party editing apps (I live by Aviary) make sure you turn those off too in settings. You can always turn the apps back on when you're done, just make sure you repeat this process every time you take a picture.

Report Anything Untrusted
If you see an account or person on any platform that looks suspicious, report them IMMEDIATELY. Not only will the person behind the account get in serious trouble, you could save a lot of people from falling victim to the fake account.

The general rule behind this post is to always use your head before posting and always think about what you do. If you have any more tips or ideas be sure to leave a comment so I can read them!