At this time of year many folks go away for the Holidays or are using up vacation time which means they will not be available by e-mail or to participate in their social networks. So, we engage our vacation messages or away messages to keep folks aware of our status. A new component is onliners posting on their MySpace, Facebook, etc. pages that they will be out of town, away for two weeks, etc.
Think about it… These social sites are, for the most part, accessible by anyone. Yes, your goal is to let everyone who knows you or is a “friend” know what you are up to. However, what you may be inadvertently doing is letting those who are less than scrupulous (a.k.a. thieves) know that your home will be available to them for a visit.
Don’t believe me?
Search for your name on Google or any of the white pages Web sites. You may be surprised to find how much information about you is actually publicly available! That is why when posting your status to your social networks or including details in your away messages, you should not provide specifics or actual dates.
Talk about generalities in regard to your Holiday schedule — but don’t give To and From dates that will indicate when your home may not be occupied. Let those truly personal contacts know the details via direct e-mail or a phone converation. Do the same in your away/vacation messages. Simply state you will not be checking e-mail as regularly during the Holidays and will catch up shortly.
By not including dates and times of when you will be where, you are actually being prudent and reflecting the necessary caution to protect yourself from those with ulterior motives or that you do not know very well.
About Judith
Loading ...![[Take The Email Etiquette Pledge]](http://www.emailetiquettepledge.com/ee-rev-medium.jpg)
![[Email Etiquette Made Easy!]](http://www.netmanners.com/images/email-etiquette-made-easy-100.jpg)
Thank you so much for posting this! I never even thought about the concept of sharing times that you are not going to be home through email or social networks! Deffinately a great issue to bring up in this time of technology. Thank you for opening my eyes to this potential threat!
-Austin
I could not agree more with your section on “Taking Caution when Posting Holiday Plans” Judith! Too many people out there give out way too much information whether it be over email, facebook, or other social web service. If your giving dates and locations of when and where your vacation will be, you might as well just invite the thieves and scammers over for there own getaway at your house while your gone. Thank you for all the tips, and useful information.
Lee
Hey, Lee:
Thanks for reaching out and for your kind words!
This post is dead on! I never realized that we should be more cautious not to state too much information about our where abouts. Especially dates and such as to when we will be leaving home and when we will be getting back. Not only is it dangerous but it really does give any reader enough information to either find us or do something to our home. I own a business and it’s also not a good idea to mention these things publically because I know on my Faceook I do have customers as my friends. Not only is my residence at risk but so is my store. Thanks for the tips Judith!
This all makes sense, I had that same scenario happened to one of my relatives that decided to announce his travel overseas with his family and they were gone for more than 3 weeks, and sure enough, after he came back, thieves broke into his house, cleaned it inside out and they even stole the copper piping. No one should announce anything in my opinion that’s personal on any social site. Social sites are meant to interact with friends and relatives and not to disclose personal business.