Twitter is popular with everyone but due to the very open nature of Twitter younger users should take extra caution. Remember everything you post to Twitter with an open profile can be seen by anyone in the world and is very easy to search for.

We suggest you put your Twitter profile into PRIVATE mode as this will stop the world seeing your updates.

Login at Twitter.com and go to SETTINGS. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Protect my tweets". Click save.

If you would like someone to see your update you will have to FOLLOW each other, if another Twitter user follows you they can't see your updates until you follow back. This gives you control over who gets to see what you are up to.

As with any internet service be careful what you post on Twitter, it's really easy to post pictures or video onto Twitter but you must take care not to post anything that could embarrass you later or get  you or anyone else into trouble.

One of Twitter's more advanced features is being location aware. That means if you turn the feature on people will be able to see where you posted a tweet from, using your exact location!!

We strongly recommend you keep this setting TURNED OFF. Some mobile phone Twitter clients make it easy to turn on or use the location feature, it's usually marked with a RED PIN or a MAP ICON. Stay clear of this feature if you want to remain private.

Twitter, like any network, suffers from nasty people who want to ruin it for everyone else. They steal accounts and then send messages pretending to be a Twitter user to trick you into clicking a link so they can also steal your account and do the same to your friends.

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