12 On Your Side: Don't 'like' everything on Facebook
News 12 at 6 o'clock / Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012
AIKEN COUNTY, S.C. -- From Facebook to Pinterest, there is so much to like about social media.
"A lot of photos can be heartwarming. They might be photos that you find funny," said Patrick Kind with USC Aiken.
King is a social media expert. He says sometimes posts that ask you to like or share are really just clever ploys to get you to spread spam.
"The more you like the photo, the higher that ranking goes and then the more people it reaches," King said.
The higher the ranking, the more money made by the spammers.
Clicking like or sharing spam also increases your risk of getting hacked.
"They could get your personal contacts within your Facebook account," King warned.
They could even message your friends under your name without your knowledge.
If you do "like" something, make sure it isn't spam. All you have to do is hold your mouse of the posts and check out the web address that pops up at the bottom of your screen.
Almost all social media websites have options to report spam. Facebook even has a way to report offensive ads. All you have to do is click on the "X" by the ad and it will ask why you want to hide it.
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