As you all know, the web is a pretty big place and just like in the real world, you can encounter all sorts of people. Here at Yahoo!7 Answers, as we strive to improve your experience on Answers, we are also committed to your online safety. That‘s why we offer many ways to control the personal information you want to display and who can contact you.

Since the amount of information you display on social networks is completely up to you, we wanted to remind you how to control these settings on Answers.

Want privacy?

• Don’t display your real name. Pick a nickname or a screen name. A nickname without any personally identifiable information is best.
• Don’t post your real photo. Pick an image or go for an avatar or no image at all.
• Don’t reveal personal information in your profile.
• If you don’t want the community to see your questions and answers, make them private.

Want to control who contacts you?

• Limit your network of friends. Your contacts can view your activity on Answers. Controlling your network allows you to add or remove friends, and also block users.
• Activate or deactivate contact options. We never display your email address, but through this feature you can control whether other people can contact you or not.

And now, a question for you: Do you feel too much personal information is shared in the online world? How do you feel about it? Comment below!

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• Better protection against online threats such as fraudulent sites and spyware
• Increased speed to help you browse the Web faster
• New tools that provide easier access to your favourite sites
• Built-in Yahoo!7 Homepage, Yahoo!7 Toolbar and Yahoo!7 Search

There are some great search features in the Yahoo!7 IE8 toolbar. Yahoo!7 Search Assist provides instant text suggestions to users so you can get further detail from your search.

Or you can customise it further and choose to search in Yahoo!7 videos, images or even on Answers, all from the toolbar.

Another nifty tool is the Answers button installed with the toolbar. When you’re logged in, you can click on the arrow then scroll through the suggestions. Options include going straight to Yahoo!7 Answers, going to the Ask a Question, Answer a Question or even to your own Q&As.

To experience all these goodies, download Yahoo!7 optimised version of Internet Explorer 8. Also, answer our question from the official IE8 account – How does internet safety impact your online browsing?

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I admit it, I’ve become totally addicted to Twitter in the last few weeks. I originally dismissed Twitter as an extension of the Facebook status update, but then I realised it’s so much more…

Need a debrief on what Twitter actually is?

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. Updates are displayed on the user’s profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. More

You see it’s more than just learning that your best friend had corn flakes for breakfast (although some are fascinated by that I’m sure). You can follow people you don’t know, which admittedly doesn’t sound that exciting, except when they’re people who have something to say. I’m talking about your favourite websites, companies and celebrities.

So why would celebrities want to be a part of twitter? According to Kristie:

It’s one way to communicate directly with their fans in a way that they know won’t be dispersed and misinterpreted by the press. The public are the reason they earn the mega bucks so they want to keep them happy. People like a celebrity who has the illusion of being open and friendly. More

Of course with celebrities you never know whether they’re the real deal or an impersonator. MrsKutcher for example?

As for websites, companies and politicians, it’s a brilliant way to find out updates from your favourite mediums. For example, you can keep up to date with the news from the people who are at the source, find out the latest stocks, get an update on what K-Rudd is doing then see what the girls at Famous Magazine have been up to.

And of course, you can sign up for our twitter feed – the YahooAnswersAU feed! You can find out the latest news from the Aussie Answers team as well as a few interesting things we stumble on along the way. Just go here and click follow. See you there!

Caitlin
Community Manager

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