How to Protect Yourself on Social Networking Sites

Social media platforms dominate the way we communicate, consume news, and present ourselves. But that convenience comes at a cost—your personal data becomes increasingly vulnerable. Hackers, advertisers, AI bots, and even the platforms themselves often collect more than you realize or feel comfortable sharing.

So, how can you protect yourself on social networking sites? In this guide, we’ve covered practical privacy practices to help safeguard your identity and data while using social media.

Why Is Social Media a Hotbed for Privacy Threats?

Social media platforms thrive on data. Every click, like, message, or location tag helps build a digital fingerprint, which can be sold to advertisers, used by algorithms to shape what you see, or worse, exploited by cybercriminals. Here are the most common privacy threats:

• Behavioral Tracking: Algorithms silently monitor your time spent on posts, interactions, and browsing habits to target you with hyper-specific content or ads.

• Public Profiles & Oversharing: Even casual posts can reveal your location, daily routines, or personal milestones—details that scammers can exploit.

• Phishing & Impersonation: Fake accounts, especially on Instagram or LinkedIn, often lure victims into giving away sensitive data or login credentials.

• Data brokers & Scraping: Third-party companies harvest and resell your social data to advertisers or aggregators, often without your knowledge.

It doesn’t get more shady than this, Mark Zuckerberg and META are tracking every single site you go to OFF Facebook and Instagram

It’s called, “Your activities off META technologies” and they’re keeping a log. Just imagine what else they’re secretly tracking and keeping logs pic.twitter.com/lmYXtZI2o9

— ⁿᵉʷˢ Barron Trump 🇺🇸 (@BarronTNews_) June 1, 2025

How to Stay Safe on Social Media (Without Getting Tracked or Hacked!)

Social media is fun, until your privacy is compromised or your data is harvested without your knowledge. Here’s how to lock down your accounts and stay safe while still enjoying your favorite platforms.

1. Review and Tighten Your Privacy Settings on Social Sites

Most social networks are designed to be “open” by default. These settings are often buried, so it’s up to you to review and adjust them manually.

Here’s what you should do:

• Limit who can see your posts: Set default visibility to “friends only” or “private.”
• Turn off location sharing: Disable geo-tagging for photos and posts.
• Control tagging permissions: Prevent others from tagging you without approval.
• Restrict search indexing: Disable search engines from linking to your social profiles.
• Limit ad personalization: Turn off data sharing with third-party advertisers.

2. Avoid Oversharing Sensitive Content

What might feel like a harmless post could become a vulnerability. Common oversharing examples include:

• Announcing travel plans in real time, which signals your home is unoccupied.
• Posting high-resolution IDs, tickets, or work badges.
• Sharing kid-related content without considering long-term digital footprints.
  

If you’re unsure whether a post could be risky, don’t post it. Even deleted content can be archived or screenshotted. 

3. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Everywhere

Single-password security is no longer enough. If someone steals or guesses your password, 2FA adds a second layer of protection.

Best 2FA options include:

• Authentication apps (e.g., Authy, Google Authenticator).
• Hardware keys (like YubiKey).
• Biometrics (Face ID, fingerprint sensors).

Avoid using SMS-based 2FA if possible—SIM-swapping attacks can intercept these messages. Instead, rely on authenticator apps.

4. Use Strong, Unique Passwords for Every Account

Social media breaches happen all the time. If you reuse the same password across accounts, a breach on one platform can compromise the others.

Follow these guidelines:

• Use passwords with at least 12 characters, including symbols and numbers.
• Never use names, birthdays, or common words.
• Store your credentials securely with a password manager. 
• Avoid saving passwords in plain-text notes or browser autofill without encryption.

Pro Tip: Use PureVPN’s Password Manager to securely generate and manage your passwords in encrypted vaults.

5. Think Before Clicking

Cybercriminals often pose as influencers, brands, or support reps to get you into clicking malicious links or revealing credentials. To protect yourself:

• Avoid clicking links in DMs or comments, even from friends, unless you’re sure they’re safe. Accounts are often hijacked.
• Avoid surveys, giveaways, or contests that ask for personal data.
• Verify handles before engaging with brands or influencers.
• Look for spelling mistakes and odd grammar in messages, a common red flag.

Social media platforms already use AI to track digital footprints for every individual user: Politics, sexuality, mental health, interests, insecurities, relationships.

They’re used to sell ads.🫰

In an oppressive society, that's precision targeted weapon.🎯 https://t.co/NA0ABBaHdC

— WINGEDWOLF94 (@wingedwolf94) July 30, 2025

6. Don’t Trust Public WiFi

If you’re accessing social media on public WiFi, your traffic can be intercepted through man-in-the-middle attacks.

Here’s what can happen:

• Hackers intercept unencrypted data.
• Rogue networks that look legitimate can steal credentials.
• Attackers can steal session cookies and hijack your login without needing your credentials.
  

To stay safe on public WiFi, use encrypted connections, avoid logging into sensitive accounts, and disable auto-connect to unknown networks.

7. Limit Tracking Across the Web and Social Media

Even if you have locked down your privacy settings on Facebook or Instagram, embedded widgets (like share buttons or comment plugins) on third-party sites still track your activity.

The more you limit trackers, the harder it becomes for platforms to build behavioral profiles on you. Here’s how to do it:

• Use private browsing, VPN-based DNS, or privacy extensions like uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger.
• Block third-party cookies in your browser.
• Use browser containers or profiles to isolate social activity from other browsing.
• Disable cross-site tracking in your browser’s privacy settings.
• Revoke third-party app integrations on platforms like Facebook or Google.
• Clear your cookies and cache regularly or use auto-clean tools.

Pro Tip: Enable Tracker Blocker in the PureVPN app to block hidden trackers on the websites you visit.

8. Monitor for Data Leaks or Breaches

Your email, username, or password might already be circulating on the dark web, and you wouldn’t even know. You must regularly scan breach databases to check whether:

• Your credentials appear in leaked datasets.
• There’s unauthorized access to your social accounts.
• Your email shows up in public pastebins or hacker forums.

The sooner you know, the faster you can take preventive action (change passwords, enable 2FA, freeze accounts, etc.).

Pro Tip: Set up PureVPN’s Dark Web Monitoring to scan the dark web for your personal information and receive instant alerts.

What To Do If Your Social Media Account Is Compromised?

If your social media account has been hacked or accessed without permission, act fast to limit the damage. Here’s what to do immediately:

1. Change Your Password – Use a strong, unique password. If you can’t log in, begin the account recovery process through the platform’s official help center.
   
2. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) – Add an extra layer of security to prevent further unauthorized access.
   
3. Revoke Third-Party App Access – Go into settings and remove unknown or unnecessary connected apps that may have contributed to the breach.

4. Scan for Malware – Run a full device scan to check for spyware, keyloggers, or malicious extensions that may have caused the breach.
   
5. Notify the Platform – Report the incident through official support channels to help recover your account or stop suspicious activity.
   
6. Warn Your Contacts – Let friends or followers know not to click on any suspicious links that may have been sent from your account.

Acting quickly can help prevent identity theft, financial loss, or long-term damage to your reputation.

Conclusion

Social media will continue to evolve, and so will the risks. The best way to protect yourself is through proactive privacy tactics. Whether you’re a creator, influencer, or business professional, it’s time to stop being the product and start being in control.

Frequently Asked Questions