Use caution on social media during the holidays

You should strive to stay safe online every day of the year. But many people need a reminder of online safety during the holidays.

Here are some social media tips to make sure you stay jolly now, through the holidays and into 2016.

Don't: Show photos of tickets, gift cards or personal information online. Among the recent posts pushing naiveté to the limit was a close-up photo of a driver's license, complete with numbers and all personal information.

Do: Use the holiday season as a time to change your social media passwords. This should be done three times a year at least, but more is better. Rule of thumb: If your password contains the name of your kids or pets, it's a poor password.

Don't: Blindly accept friend requests from people you don't know. If you friend someone you don't know on Facebook, you could expose your friends to this person.

Do: Choose your audiences when you post things of a personal nature. Just because you shared publicly that link to the interesting story you read doesn't mean your photo gallery of Christmas dinner should be public. The ability to narrow down your audience depends on what network you are using, but, in general, try to avoid oversharing.

Don't: Give away your secrets in your profiles. Avoid making your birth date, home address or other information available to the public — this kind of detail invites identity thieves.

Do: Set up two-factor authentication. This is a fancy way of saying extra protection, and most of the big social networks and major websites offer some form of it these days. How it works can vary, but in general, turning on the feature requires a code to be sent to your cellphone or other device before you can log in or change a password. This way, someone can't pretend to be you without your knowing it.

Don't: Shop in a place with public Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi you log in to at your neighborhood coffee shop probably isn't very secure. You don't want to be typing in credit card numbers there. If you're buying online, have your latte first, then go home and click "Add to cart."