Online Resolutions for 2019

Remember the cartoon show, The Jetsons?
It doesn't seem like it was that long ago we thought how amazing it was to see George Jetson’s boss, Mr. Spacely, call him from what looked like a TV screen which was actually a phone. Just think about that for a moment. Look at all that has happened in the last couple of decades with technology. We’ve gone from the simpler days of “Pong” to adjusting our phone settings so we don’t get so many instant notifications.

We’re worried about who's watching us through our cameras without permission, viruses, hackers and people cloning our social media accounts. Our swipe credit cards are now chips, our dogs are also chipped, our children's phones have trackers and Uber will be here in just a few minutes.

Last year we touched on a lot of what is mentioned above with advice, tips, and information on how to maintain a safe and secure online life. The questions you send to us gives us a good idea of what the majority of you are curious about and thinking about and we do our best to address them. This year, we encourage more readers to submit their questions to us. We love being interactive with you online and enjoy helping you to be more social media conscious.

With a new year, often comes new resolutions. Here are 5 you should consider if you spend any time online:

Set some time aside to log into your Facebook and your other social media platforms on your computer and review what you have set to public viewing. Whether they are intentional or unintentional public posts, are you sure you want the world to see your content? Confirm that the photos you have taken of your family, children, pets, home (both inside and out) are being viewed only by the people you choose.

What better time to update your online passwords than the new year? Changing your login passwords regularly is always suggested but none of us do this often enough. It’s too convenient to continue to use our old passwords because we already have them memorized. Write down your new passwords and keep them somewhere safe. Or use password software that creates and stores your passwords for you. Take note this includes your social media accounts, bank accounts, email, and your online shopping accounts such as Ebay or Amazon.

If any family member’s device gets lost or stolen, make sure that they are protected with a personal identification number (PIN). Thumbprint passwords are convenient but you may need to access a device of a family member in an emergency. You don’t want the wrong person to access your device’s personal content, which includes not only photos and videos but probably your email as well. It is also likely that apps in your device have stored/memorized your credit card information.

Discuss with your family your online usage rules, social media do’s and don'ts and reiterate your established household guidelines, such as no devices at the dinner table, or no online activity one hour before bedtime to limit exposure to blue light.

Commit to writing good reviews for services and businesses you've been in contact with, in the last year. If you haven’t yet, join Yelp, Houzz or TripAdvisor and write some awesome reviews. Companies also appreciate reviews on Google and Facebook. If you’ve had a negative experience, you may feel tempted to write a bad review but give that business an opportunity to resolve the problem. Try to speak in person with the management first.

2018 was an exhilarating year online. We saw many changes both good and bad on some of our favorite social media platforms. We survived the great Facebook Hack. We’ve battled with Artificial Intelligence. We said goodbye to Google Plus and we watched the Mars landing via live stream. As technology grows leaps and bounds daily, we never know what each year will bring us.

Who knows, maybe in 2020 we will have a “Beam me up Scotty” app but until then, we’ll just have to use Uber.