You should be very careful nowadays when you’re exposing yourself online, particularly when you’re about to establish your name on the Web.  There are plenty of crazy individuals who can’t resist lobbing random hits at you.

We give you some common suggestions to keep out of trouble online:

Firstly, this rule applies not only to Twitter but also to other online media.  Never reveal your personal information such as your address, etc.  Someone may try to send loads of junk land mail to your address.  Some people desist from using their real name online.  When your identity is there to see for all and sundry, you will have to take the brickbats and the bouquets.  It all depends on you how much you divulge about yourself on the Web.

Next, you should ensure that you maintain security for all your data such as passwords.  Actually you should change your vital passwords regularly.  The Roboform is an ideal small application that can remember all the passwords, and also select new passwords for you; it creates some truly undecipherable passwords, with 8 characters minimum.  They are actually better than those we would create by hand.

But what should be done when someone steals your ID, or causes trouble for you at Twitter?  Don’t worry, just report to Twitter and they’ll handle the problem.  They provide you with a form which can be filled out specifying the offense.  One of these offenses is impersonation, which is very damaging to someone’s reputation. In case of such occurrence, you should provide Twitter with your personal contact details so that they are able to contact you.

When you’re taking the necessary precautions and are reporting any violations, you are giving yourself a better chance of survival in the social network jungle, of which Twitter is a part.