03/08/2023
If you're going to have social media you need to make sure:
1) You have the password. Tech support can't help you remember what you set up when you set it up. And if someone else helped you, it's their responsibility to make sure they give you that information and yours to keep track of it.
2) Keep the connecting email address/phone number that you set the account up with current. If you change email addresses and then need to get back into the account later it won't be possible if the account information isn't current.
3) Social media sites have protective measures to help make sure someone can't take over your account without your knowledge. If the email address is changed, you will be notified. DO NOT IGNORE THIS If the phone number associated with your account changes, they will notify you. You need to respond if someone is attemping to hack into your account. Changing your account password doesn't necessarily help if the hacker has already entered in their email and you don't change it back.
4) Enable all protective measure like having a secondary email address in case your first one becomes compromised, having your cell phone connected so that codes can be texted to you in case you need to recover an account, and again - making sure your information is current and NOT IGNORNING WARNINGS.
5) Finally - there is a big difference between having your account cloned or copied and being hacked. When your account is copied they literally just copy photos and attempt to contact friends on your list. This usually happens because you've friended someone you don't know and given them access to your information, or someone you DO know has been hacked and now they have access to their friends. I usually remove people who are continually hacked since they clearly have unsafe social media practices and are opening me up to the possibility of being hacked. When you are actually being hacked they will change information slowly so that it becomes impossible for you to regain access to your account. If that happens PLEASE do not just open a new account. All the friends on your friends list on the hacked account are now open to being hacked. They need to UNFRIEND the hacked account, report it, and add your new account.
It is not simple to get back an account that has been hacked if you ignore the warnings or don't have your account properly locked down. Please be responsible.
