Question from Darlene: I keep seeing this being posted by a lot of my friends on Facebook:
“Day 1 of 10 Day Grandma Celebration. Post a pic everyday for 10 days that celebrates being a grandma. No words. Today I challenge – …“
I’ve seen slightly different versions of this message too.
I know a lot of things like this are scams. Is this one safe to participate in, or should I skip it?
Rick’s answer: You’re very wise to be skeptical about any and all viral posts, Darlene. A great many of them are indeed scams and/or hoaxes.
But I have great news for you: This one is completely safe (with one caveat that I’ll mention a bit later).
All this post is asking you to do is share one photo every day for ten days that celebrates being a grandmother.
It isn’t asking you to click any links, watch any videos or enable or interact with any strange apps.
And perhaps even more important, it isn’t telling you to forward anything to all of your contacts or like or share any existing posts.
In short, this is a fun and completely harmless way to share your love of your family with your friends. That’s all.
Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll say a few words about the caveat I mentioned earlier…
Even though this isn’t a scam or a hoax, there is one potential danger you need to be aware of.
Any time you share a photo on Facebook (or any other social media website for that matter), you need to assume that anyone on Facebook or even the Internet at large might end up seeing that photo or even making a copy of it for their own use.
As I explain in this post, even photos that have their privacy level set to “Friends” can easily be stolen, viewed and used in illicit ways by strangers.
That’s why it’s wise to only post photos on Facebook that you would be ok with the general public seeing (because there’s a good chance that they might).
Bottom line: It’s completely safe to participate in the “10 Day Grandma Celebration” viral challenge that’s making the rounds on Facebook as long as you understand and accept the small, but very real risk mentioned in the caveat.