Reality Check: Literary Agent's Attacker Found Her Via Social Media

A recent article from Huffington Post has captured the attention of many about the dangers of sharing too much information, especially "real time," via social media outlets like Foursquare.

The victim, Literary Agent Pam van Hylckama Vlieg. Read the rest of the Huffington Post article here.

We have all heard of and perhaps experienced the rejection letters from literary agents. People have long commiserated about the dreaded rejection letters. Most normal people just take it in stride until they find that one agent who does have a match for their work. Most people do not seek out revenge upon the literary agent or publisher who issued the rejection letter. However, for one well liked literary agent, she did not encounter a normal person.

Pam was shocked, while waiting at her daughter's school, to experience a man reaching into her car and slamming her head into the steering wheel several times. If not for her little Jack Russell terrier, that bit the man, allowing her to get away...things might have turned out much differently.

When police searched Pam's professional emails, they isolated a man who had been sending her unpleasant emails for a couple of weeks. They found his address in the database, and went to his home to question him. He had marks that looked like a dog bite on his arm.

While everyone is glad that Pam is on the mend, and she and her family are safe, a new set of concerns arise from the incident.

Pam believes that the suspect was able to find her location so accurately and in real time because she frequently posted in her professional and personal social media outlets like Foursquare. Sites like Foursquare tell friends, friends of friends, or everyone (depending on the settings) exactly where a person is or was.

The victim often shared her locations in "real-time."

While social media is a wonderful connection for authors, storytellers, songwriters, musicians, filmmakers, and anyone who seeks to build a network, there are downsides to consider.

The article essentially talks about safety precautions to consider when using location-based social media. These tips are common sense, but can sometimes be forgotten that they also can apply via the internet.

Even people who sometimes have an unpleasant nature to their jobs like literary agents, food critics, film critics, book reviewers, or even editors, need to consider taking precautions about sharing too freely where they are, or are not (like home, for instance). Expanding beyond these, the every day person also should be aware of what he or she is sharing publicly, "online friends" or not. Online friends may not actually translate to friends in real life.

A smart philosophy is to never share real time location ever. If you choose to share, do it long after you are gone. Also, it is wise not to share the exact locations of places you might frequent. Finally, it is always a good idea not to alert people when you are not home, in real time.

Details of the case are unfolding. The important thing to take from the case is to make sure to not share information that could be detrimental to yourself, your friends, or your family. It is the dark side of social media. However, there are more stories that extol the virtues of social media, like lost people and animals being found, crimes being solved, and long time friends and family being re-united. Also, social media is a wonderful way to expand your career. With some simple steps of precaution, you can enjoy the many benefits of having a strong social media network.