Despite the dangers of social networks they can be made safe mostly through common sense, and following a few simple steps (which we've listed below for you.) If these steps are followed and you use your common sense, then a social network can be a fun and safe experience.

1) Set the profile to private/friends only
This means that only those who you have added to your 'friends list' (or similar list) can view the profile, this way you can control if your profile is viewable to everyone or just the people you trust (naturally this is a lot safer as it limits who can view your information!)

2) Avoid joining groups that are location specific (e.g. a school, sports club)
Although this may seem harmless, there are often no limits on who can join these and this can help someone to find you real life location.

3) Keep certain information private!
Although social networks do have places to put in a lot of information about you, it does not mean you should fill it all in. Details such as address, email address, school name, places you visit a lot, phone numbers or anything that could be used to easily identify you or a friend/family member.

4) Remember that what you post can be viewed by the public!!!
In recent cases some employers have looked at applicant's profiles on social sites and having seen photos of "Drunk at -----'s" and similar they may form a bad opinion of the person. This has led to some embarassing questions at interviews and in some cases lowering the chance of being hired significantly. A very recent example of this was reported by 'The Times' newspaper (UK) where staff at Oxford University have been using photos of students found on their 'facebook' profiles to help prove rule breaking.

5) Only adding people you know in real life to your 'friends list'
This is where a few people make a mistake, you should only add people you genuinely know and trust to your friends list, this prevents random strangers contacting you and allows you to distance yourself from people who cause trouble, or harass you.

6) Reporting offensive pictures/emails
This is very important, although you may think that because it appears to only have been sent to you that it doesn't need reporting, you still should report any instances of abusive images/emails. This not only stops the person sending more to you, but may also prevent them harming and abusing someone else.

Well those are the basic tips on how to stay safe on social networks!