USA Today runs the AP story about Israel Hyman who twittered on his vacation and got his home burglarized. Twitter is blamed, because with constant updates on where Hyman and his wife were, the burglars could take their time. The AP story says:
Most people wouldn’t leave a recording on a home answering machine telling callers they’re on vacation for a week, and most people wouldn’t let mail or newspapers pile up while they were away. But users of social media think nothing of posting real-time vacation photos on Facebook showing themselves on beaches hundreds of miles from home, or sending out automatic e-mail messages that say, “I’m out of the country for a week.”
That’s the gist of it really. We’ve heard this before, about traditional blogging. If the wrong people follow you on Twitter, is watching you on Facebook, or reads your blog, and you tell them that you and your family will be on vacation for a week, then they could exploit that. It is worth thinking about, at least.
Do you worry about letting burglars know when you’re out of town via Twitter?
Author: Thord Daniel Hedengren
Thord Daniel Hedengren is a designer, writer, and blogger, and also the former editor of The Blog Herald. He used to be a hotshot in the gaming industry in Sweden, but sold everything and went International. Most recently he wrote a book called Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog, and does loads of kickass design.
Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t heard more about these sort of things happening. :\ A taste of things to come? I hope not…
Hi Thord Daniel Hedengren, thanks for a great post. It was really eye an opener, never thought of this aspect .
Izzy is a publicity hound who knows he can leverage all the Twitter buzz to get traffic. He’s a fraud. Even his wife thinks his claim is bogus.
http://www.socuteurl.com/bellypiggyhop
Simple solution…when you go on vacation and Twitter about it simply twitter about the friends/professional wrestlers/well-trained ninjas who are house sitting for you, etc, etc.
I doubt this is a serious issue as there are a lot easier ways to find homes to rob than scouring twitter, but if it is a concern there’s no reason you can’t use Twitter as a burglary deterrent.
I have made it a rule that I never put information on any of my blogs, or social network sites that could help anyone that I don’t want finding out where I live and work.
I also blog and post in retrospect, write the articles at the time, but post once your home.
And finally ensure that you have at least one police officer living in you immediate neighbourhood.