Top 10 Reasons to Be Careful of Who You Talk to Online

Talking to people can be a fun experience if it's done right. You basically get to meet new people online, and there's absolutely nothing bad about that.

However, it's extremely important to be careful whom you talk to online, as not everyone on the internet is who they say they are. Read on to learn why it's essential to be careful whom you talk to online.

1. The internet is full of dangerous people.

   They could either be psychopaths, perverts, or major douchebags. They're everywhere online.

   Great list. It's exactly why I turned off messaging.

   True, the internet is full of those creatures.

2. Hackers could hack into your account.

   I honest to goodness think that my account almost got hacked because people that I deliberately blocked got unblocked, my friends all got blocked, a couple of my settings changed, and something in my description got deleted. I didn't do any of this. I changed my password, and then it stopped.

3. People could lie about themselves.

   

   Although I've been pretty straightforward as far as honesty goes, I could have said I'm a 40-year-old woman who lives in Saudi Arabia and is a Muslim, and you'd have to assume I'm telling you the truth.

   It's kind of ironic that I'm so honest online, because in real life, I easily lie through my teeth. Often, too.

   For example, let's say there was this 40-year-old man pretending to be a 14-year-old girl online and wanted to talk to other online teens just to lure them in. Not a pleasant thought.

4. People could verbally attack you.

   Cyberbullying is real. Words do hurt. What makes you think people say it's better to use a cuss word than to hurt a person anyway?

   I would argue, though (just like Cyri), that if it's just one person, then it shouldn't be a big deal. But if it's more than one person, then it is a problem.

   Yes, cyberbullying is real. It's verbal bullying - whether words are said in person, over the phone, or online, on the screen, it's verbal bullying.

   There are many scientific books about cyberbullying. The rustlers claim there's no cyberbullying ("it's just words on the screen") because they want to avoid responsibility for bullying people. Are their motives so hard to understand?

5. People could threaten you with messages.

   They could try to message you and say they're going to kill you. What would make it even worse is if they sent you a picture of your house, meaning they know exactly where you live.

   A user on here threatened to destroy me because I called him out on my profile a while back.

6. You're basically talking to online strangers.

   Shouldn't you have already been taught not to talk to strangers as a kid? I should definitely know by now because it is dangerous.

7. People could harass you.

   So always make sure you're careful.

8. Some people might stab you in the back.

   If you're trying to make new friends online, forget that because they could actually be backstabbers who would betray you.

   I should know because I already had that sort of thing happen to me.

   So far, this is more of a problem in real life than online, but I get where this is coming from.

   I've met people like these, not just online, but outside the internet too.

9. Trolls could troll you nonstop.

10. People could give you false information.

    Not necessarily about themselves but more about other particular topics. That's why you should always research things online yourself and not rely on strangers.

    Like my hypothetical lie of information under "People could lie about themselves."

The Newcomers
11. ?

    People could accuse you of being a pedophile.

12. ?

    People could go after your family or loved ones.

    Only if you give them such information. An easy fix to prevent this is to not give them your personal information.

The Contenders

13. No one online is worth trusting.