Your abuser can view your social media. Do not include your location on any of your social media profiles (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Linkedin, Tumblr, etc.) or make any posts that may reveal your location. When posting photos, if you are trying to conceal your location, make sure the photo background does not include easily identifiable objects or landmarks that may compromise your location.
Make sure to log out of your social media accounts after you’re done using them, and choose a strong password that can’t be easily guessed. Do not use names or important dates as passwords.
Change your privacy settings on Facebook to adjust who is able to search for you and how. Under “Privacy Settings,” you can edit who is able to search for your profile with your email and phone number, and can edit who sees your posts or whether search engines outside of Facebook link to your profile. See NNEDV’s Facebook guide for detailed instructions and additional tips.
You can protect your tweets so that only Twitter users you add to an approved list can see your Tweets or profile. Under “Settings and Privacy,” you can uncheck “receive direct messages” and adjust your Discoverability settings by unchecking boxes for “let others find me by email address” and phone number. See NNEDV’s Twitter guide for detailed instructions and additional tips.
Tumblr
You can adjust your Tumblr settings to prevent other users from instant messaging you. Click “Settings,” then click on your blog listed on the right side of the page and view settings for how to adjust your messaging settings, submission settings, question settings, and visibility settings. Under “Settings” and then “Security,” you can also turn your Availability feature off so that others won’t know when you’re online or were last active. You can also check a box under “Security” and then “Email” to prevent people from finding your Tumblr via your email. You can password protect a secondary Tumblr blog as well. More privacy options for Tumblr can be found here.
In “Privacy Settings” you can change who can look you up via your phone number and email. You can put your profile on Invisible Mode so if you view other profiles they won’t be notified. You can adjust settings to set who can see your last name. Find detailed instructions and additional tips here.
Want to learn more about domestic violence? You can see our educational presentation topics here. To schedule a presentation on DV 101 for your school, workplace, or organization, click here.