I joined twitter twice, first as myself, than as Karen.
As myself no one cared what I wrote but I can follow celebs, rock bands, & read what they have to say about thier day.
But as Karen a TG, I have been hit on by predators. I've been sent at least 6 links to porn sites. The messages I've been getting I wont evan talk about.
I knew that this could happen but I didn't want to join as a woman since I'm not yet.
I was just hopping to find others like me but I haven't.

The dangers with social networking sites are many. What Karen experienced is just one. EVERYTHING you put on the site becomes property of the site from what I have read in Terms and Conditions at some. EVERYTHING you put on the site is possibly public forever. Prospective employers already buy profiles on you before hiring. Your social sites are being added to this. More than a modicum of caution is advisable in this area. This is not paranoia, it's fact. Without spending a penny I have located people to their current town of residence on the internet. Just think before you post under your real name.

I follow one basic rule regarding the internet and also, incidentally, any computer not under my direct control, such as at work.

Anything I put anywhere can and may be read by someone else, and may be used for nefarious purposes.

And despite all the security in the world, someone somewhere could access my PC at home, so there is nothing there either I wouldn't want anyone to see.

Yes, I get my fair share of idiots and spam and all the other downsides of being online, but the benefits outweigh them. After all, where would we be without it - no TW for a start!

I'm on Plurk and haven't had any issues there, in fact the people who have 'friended' me have been great. Including another trans-woman from Canada whom I probably would never have had any sort of communication with otherwise.

I agree one has to be careful about what one posts online. The Internet never forgets. Archive.org has sites dating back 10+ years.

Talia.