Random Facebook question

[Lexus1224]

I’m now down to 25 days until my cruise. I’ve been counting down for weeks now, but I’ve kept all of my excitement off of Facebook. I’ve heard not to announce your vacations or when you’ll be gone for security reasons (and I totally understand), but how do you get around this? I want to post about my cruise before I leave, and hopefully while traveling. I didn’t know if there were certain ways that you all do it. My boyfriend (and travel companion) is a local DJ, so his page is public. Anything that I would tag him in, would basically be public too. Obviously these aren’t dire circumstances, but I was just curious…

[Raenstoirm]

I don't take stock in the news medias hype about such things. I post all about my trips before, during and after. The bad guy has to know exactly where you live and be friends with you on Facebook to even connect that you are going to be gone for an extended period. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but it is rare. In our case our pet sitter comes in at least once a day to feed the crew so I know that a person has been in our house every day.

[saurian]

absolutely do not put your travel plans on FB!!! Especially if his page is public! Your address may not be public, but do you have photos on your or his wall that might show part of your yard? do you have pics taken on your phone? those pics include data on your location! so if you have a pic of opening christmas presents in your living room that was taken and posted with your phone, those GPS coordinates are right there for the taking.

 

Are your FB friends all people you would trust with watching your house for a week, or watching your kids? do you both know who they are? If the answer is no, even if you post on your wall, restricting him so his public wall stays out of the picture, those people know your house is an open target.

 

We even have a pet sitter who stays in the house (lights on, people in and out, mail picked up, cars out front, etc.) while we are gone, and we do not post on FB or anywhere else that we are gone. We do post ambiguous things, like DH will post the song "I'm on a Boat," or a nice poem about the ocean ("I Must Go Down to the Sea Again, for example) but we do not ever put travel dates or that we will actually be leaving. We will text our good friends and family, who will know in case of emergency, and of course out trusted critter-sitters, but your 200 friends on FB do NOT need to know. When we return, we post pics and talk about it, not before.

 

The people who follow your partner will know he is on vacation (someone filling in for him that week) which is bad enough. You don't want to make it even more well known. You are most likely to be targeted by friends and neighborhood people. So if your neighbor 2 doors down see you are gone, she might mention it over dinner, and her teenager overhears, and really wants that new gizmo or is bored and wanting to push boundaries, so breaking into your unwatched home is not a bad option. What you post on FB, no matter the protections, might as well be public knowledge (6 degrees of separation)

[killtheump]

If you are worried wait until you get home to post anything about your trip.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

You can change the settings of who can see your posts. I have an entire list titled "Travel Safe." This includes close friends and family who I can trust. When we travel I set it up so that my posts are only viewable to those people.

 

Whenever we go out of town we have our next door neighbor and one of our parents stop in to our home twice a day so there is always activity. We don't keep valuables at home anyway- we value experiences and not objects. We have a monitored alarm system with cameras at our home as well. Nothing is foolproof, but we like to share our experiences with friends and family!

 

So, yes I DO post online about our trips and there is a way to restrict who sees it. If your boyfriend is a popular DJ I would refrain from tagging him in your posts because it will be seen by all of the people who are friends with him or follow him regardless of YOUR settings on your page.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

Post away & add a special Thank You to Johnny for house sitting and watching your beautiful but protective pit bull. :p

[Goodtime Cruizin]

BTW, the boyfirend should create a FB fan page for his DJ service instead of using his name. Just a thought. I have to do the same and it works out well.

[Lexus1224]

Thank you for your tips. I like the idea of creating a list of those that can see the specific travel posts. My boyfriend does have a separate page for work, but his DJ name is different than his first name. It’s easier for some people to find him through his personal page.

[zephyrgirl]

This is one of those things I think the media over hypes but of course you should use common sense. Like adjusting your FB settings as people have suggested and not posting anything that indicates your address (you should do that anyhow...). Honestly, I live in a tiny apartment in a densely populated city so this isn't something I give too much thought to. And I really don't have anything worth stealing.

[retiredgram]

Post away & add a special Thank You to Johnny for house sitting and watching your beautiful but protective pit bull. :p

 

Like this.:D

[kelkel2]

I mean how many people are you friends with on Facebook? I would simply change the settings on my Facebook so that the only people that can see my status are friends.

I don't buy into all that hype...but still I think the security settings should help out with that!

[bus man]

I imagine that the odds are remote that anything bad would come of it, if you posted from your cruise . . . but to my way of thinking, why take the chance? If there's a select group of people to whom you want to gloat, you could create an e-mail group list for just those people. But otherwise, I would think your best bet is to simply go, disconnect from your online life for a week, and enjoy the company of your boyfriend without his and your electronic companions along for the ride. Then, after you get back home, you can post all about it.

 

(That, by the way, is what I did for my recent cruise. I put not one peep about it on Facebook prior to the trip and during it, but posted a bunch of pictures when I got home.)

[olemissreb]

We posted quite a few pictures to our FB accounts last year when we were in Alaska. We'd been talking with them about it and they all wanted to keep up with our journeys. Before leaving though, we also posted something about the house sitter was there to watch the dog (yes we really do have one, but no she's not a pit bull) just to make sure no one got any wild ideas. Because we were gone for 2 weeks this time, we really did have a house sitter that actually stayed at the house. Usually, he just comes a couple times a day to take care of the dog but doesn't stay.

[momofmeg]

I don't take stock in the news medias hype about such things. I post all about my trips before, during and after. The bad guy has to know exactly where you live and be friends with you on Facebook to even connect that you are going to be gone for an extended period. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but it is rare. In our case our pet sitter comes in at least once a day to feed the crew so I know that a person has been in our house every day.

 

Not true. I see posts my sister makes to HER friends that are NOT my friends.

[kelkel2]

Not true. I see posts my sister makes to HER friends that are NOT my friends.

 

I think she must have her settings set so that "friends of friends" can see her posts. The key is making it only your "friends" that can see your posts. That way when you comment or your friends comment, it would avoid that scenario unless you were friends with both of those individuals.

[wwcruisers]

Post away & add a special Thank You to Johnny for house sitting and watching your beautiful but protective pit bull. :p

 

LOL! :D Not to go too OT, but back when answering machines first came out, we had friends who put this message on their phone: "Hi, we're not home right now. If you're calling about our ad for the Rottweiler puppies, we apologize for the inconvenience. We've decided to keep them, as they are clearly too large and vicious to place with another home." I laughed every time we called their number -- they were both allergic to dogs. ;)

Edited April 23, 2014 by wwcruisers

[JimAOk1945]

I always wait until we return and then post comments and pictures. I wouldn't take the chance but that's just my opinion.

 

Happy cruising!

[Bonnie J.]

Maybe you could say you are just thinking of a cruise. You could say where you want to go (and not say where you ARE going or what ship). Say you are just thinking of booking and ask if anyone can tell you about those ports. Then say you'll let all know about the cruise after you've been on one!

Then no one will know you've booked one or when you'll be away.

[TC1957]

Honestly...I worry little (read not at all) about this. For 98% of people with internet access, a criminal using Facebook to plan at theft should be a small consideration. Criminals can get a lot of personal informaion about you as it is.

 

To the OP...have you ever Googled your our name? I would be willing to bet you would be surprised at what you would find.

 

This is just me...but I like to live dangerously :D

[Cruisin' Chick]

BTW, the boyfirend should create a FB fan page for his DJ service instead of using his name. Just a thought. I have to do the same and it works out well.

 

I know of several people who do this. Then they can post more personal things on their personal page and the business info on their business page.

 

There was a recent story on the news here about a family whose house was broken into, and they think it could have been someone who was on their teen's "friends" list. I didn't pay attention to the details so not sure how they can tell for sure. There has been a burglary ring that knocks on doors during the day too, unfortunately. So you can be at work and get robbed.

 

When I had booked our last cruise, I discovered that the Princess FB page had a roll call area (I think it's been taken down since then). I did click on one ship and sailing date, just to see if I can access it, and I was able to. That convinced me not to join the roll call for my cruise. I did check the roll call here, but just lurked (and emailed one of the leaders of it who I had sailed with before just to let her know I was going on the cruise). I did try to tell her that I wasn't interested in being listed on the roll call list and she suggested I do so I can join in on shore excursions. I did explain that we weren't interested in joining in on the private excursions.

 

I did instragram some photos from the ship (when we had arrived in port), but I think my setting was set to friends. Maybe some people would just think I was posting random photos I took of Hawaii as I've done that from time to time. But someone I know who lives around the corner does post photos while they're on a trip. Don't know if they have a housesitter or an excellent security system.

[momofmeg]

I think she must have her settings set so that "friends of friends" can see her posts. The key is making it only your "friends" that can see your posts. That way when you comment or your friends comment, it would avoid that scenario unless you were friends with both of those individuals.

 

Yes, but you need to make sure all your friends do that or else it shows.

[momofmeg]

Maybe you could say you are just thinking of a cruise. You could say where you want to go (and not say where you ARE going or what ship). Say you are just thinking of booking and ask if anyone can tell you about those ports. Then say you'll let all know about the cruise after you've been on one!

Then no one will know you've booked one or when you'll be away.

 

They find out after we are home-unless we have talked in person-lol! it's okay! I do not mind not posting everything on FB. I have enough friends I talk to to hear about it.

 

However, I am here a lot, maybe that gives me my "fix" so I don't have to blab it on FB.

[Eileen G]

We travel quite a bit and I don't like posting on FB while we are away. Sometimes FB can use a lot on minutes while on a ship too. I have a netbook I travel with. I down load my pictures every day then I email those people I want to share my trip with. Having a net book allows me to set up the email with pictures and what we did each day. It only takes a few minutes to send it off to everyone. This way I can also send it to anyone who might not use FB. After I get home I put the pictures on FB and write something about each picture so it is like a travel log.

[LauraS]

Most don't truly understand the depth of the info shared on Facebook.

 

This is a great article; read it and update your privacy on FB:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/22/watch-dogs-facebook-privacy-settings_n_5191237.html

[ger_77]

Why not create a new FB profile using an alias - maybe your birth name or a grandparent's birth name (Hermintrude Snickerdoodle), you get the idea. I have done that, because I have a rather sensitive job and don't need the people I deal with on a daily basis to see what I do in my off hours. Only the people who know me are "friends", and I never tag anyone in photos I post. You will be able to post your daily activities and locations with less concern.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)