My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

Holiday photos on Facebook - you are NOT going to get burgled

154 replies

TaterTots · 24/08/2016 23:39

I've seen a couple of FB-related threads on here lately where the topic of holiday photos has come up. There have been several posts along the lines of 'why would you post holiday pics, you're letting the world know your house is empty, it's practically an invitation to burglars' etc.

Is it just me or is this a) ridiculously paranoid and b) blatantly not true for many reasons?

  1. It's very easy to make your profile visible to friends only, which most people do. If you're worried someone on your friends list might take the opportunity to burgle you, why the hell are they on your friends list?

  2. Even if you do have an open profile, surely you'd have to put your address on it as well to be at any risk? Surely no one is that daft?

  3. Do thieves really trawl FB in the desperate hope of finding an open profile complete with full address, the owner of which conveniently happens to be on holiday? Wouldn't it be a better idea to watch actual houses in the area for signs of emptiness?

  4. Who the hell has an FB friends list full of potential thieves?!

    I know 1and 4 are essentially the same point, but I feel it's so salient that it's worth repeating.
OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 24/08/2016 23:57
  1. It's very easy to make your profile visible to friends only, which most people do. If you're worried someone on your friends list might take the opportunity to burgle you, why the hell are they on your friends list? - How do they necessarily know that their 2nd cousin (for example) is a burglar/drug addict/wrongun?

  2. Even if you do have an open profile, surely you'd have to put your address on it as well to be at any risk? Surely no one is that daft? - If your friends just click 'like' on an open profile, it will appear in their friend's newsfeeds too. So all those people you refused to be friends with, in case they're burglars will be able to see the post.

  3. Do thieves really trawl FB in the desperate hope of finding an open profile complete with full address, the owner of which conveniently happens to be on holiday? Wouldn't it be a better idea to watch actual houses in the area for signs of emptiness? - I doubt it. They probably just see the posts in their news feeds, due to the reasons above.

  4. Who the hell has an FB friends list full of potential thieves?! - Again, see posts above. The list doesn't have to be full either. Just one person.

    But having said all of that, it's just a bit stupid of some people. They'll go to the trouble of buying one of those gadgets that turns their lights on/off, so people think they're home...but they'll tell all and sundry on social media that they're not.

    Doesn't mean they'll get burgled, it just means they're taking a silly risk that's unnecessary.
TaterTots · 25/08/2016 00:00

But even if your friend likes your pic and their friend Thiefy McThief sees it, how the hell would they find out where you live?

I don't know all my FB friends inside out, but only close friends have my address.

OP posts:
usual · 25/08/2016 00:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

littleprincesssara · 25/08/2016 00:03

If you make a post friends-only then no one can see it apart from your own friends, regardless of who likes it.

I certainly don't have criminals or randos on my FB, and there's nothing on my FB with my address or showing my street or front of my house.

It is paranoia.

Nevaehsmum · 25/08/2016 00:04

I agree with you OP!

MrsHathaway · 25/08/2016 00:04

If you happen to be burgled while you are on holiday, and your insurers discover you advertised your absence, they can refuse to pay up even if the burglary wasn't because of the social media posting.

TaterTots · 25/08/2016 00:05

Usual - what's stupid about it?

OP posts:
2016namechangeagain · 25/08/2016 00:05

I think you might be quoting me OP. Worra covers it really, it is just a silly risk that is not necessary. I always go by the idiom of only put on facebook what you would be prepared to announce in the local paper. It is very easy to be falsely comforted by having a 'private' profile but it is not that straightforward.

So no you're not necessarily going to be burgled but it is foolish to announce you're away in my opinion.

VimFuego101 · 25/08/2016 00:06

What Worra said.

hefzi · 25/08/2016 00:09

What MrsHathaway said ^^

Lasagna · 25/08/2016 00:12

Even if I didn't post a single thing on Facebook, my kids would. There's not way I can stop them and it's often too late before j realise they're snapchatting/checking in/uploading pictures/location tagging every where we go.

XianLiax · 25/08/2016 00:12

I think that burglaries are perpetrated by people known to the victim more often than you'd think.

The only experience of burglary in my circle turned out to be the teenaged son of the person the burglary victim had asked to pop in to feed the pets(!!!).

It's always baffled me that poor area = high crime. Why would burglars steal from their impoverished neighbours rather than hop on a bus to AffluentVille?

MLGs · 25/08/2016 00:13

Alot of people don't put their pictures up til they are back anyway. So how would burglars know that you weren't one of those people, even if you weren't?

Also it might be that not all of the members of the family are on holiday.

usual · 25/08/2016 00:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WorraLiberty · 25/08/2016 00:15

But even if your friend likes your pic and their friend Thiefy McThief sees it, how the hell would they find out where you live?

I don't know all my FB friends inside out, but only close friends have my address.

Of course not only close friends have your address.

Your close friends will have people on their friend lists who know you to look at (probably) and as such, they'll probably know where you live.

It's a bit naive to think otherwise.

Don't get me wrong, I do think there's far too much pearl clutching about Facebook on here, but it doesn't take a wild stretch of the imagination to see that what you're saying, isn't necessarily that cut and dried.

2016namechangeagain · 25/08/2016 00:16

lasagna - there's no way you can stop your kids posting on social media that you're away, seriously ConfusedHmm.

i think it's important not to and so my kids know my expectation. Nothing posted so far by them or me.

usual · 25/08/2016 00:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WorraLiberty · 25/08/2016 00:17

Even if I didn't post a single thing on Facebook, my kids would. There's not way I can stop them and it's often too late before j realise they're snapchatting/checking in/uploading pictures/location tagging every where we go.

Then you need to drum into them what MrsHathaway has said.

If they're old enough to have social media accounts, they'll be old enough to understand it.

WorraLiberty · 25/08/2016 00:20

Nor is mine Usual

My PILs enjoy looking after the house, the dog and my 24yr old, who doesn't actually live here any more.

But strangely manages to find a reason to pop in every day.

Nothing to do with the fry-up my MIL lovingly prepares for him at all Grin

usual · 25/08/2016 00:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TaterTots · 25/08/2016 00:21

WorraLiberty - I suppose that's true if you live in an area where everyone knows each other. Friends of friends who know me by sight are very unlikely to know where I live because my friends aren't really in a concentrated area/locale. I can see how it could be different in a smaller community.

OP posts:
Lasagna · 25/08/2016 00:22

If they're old enough to have social media accounts, they'll be old enough to understand it.

Therefore old enough for them to not have to listen to what mummy says.


I think that burglaries are perpetrated by people known to the victim more often than you'd think.
The only experience of burglary in my circle turned out to be the teenaged son of the person the burglary victim had asked to pop in to feed the pets(!!!).

So they'd know they were on holiday regardless of Facebook posts.

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

WorraLiberty · 25/08/2016 00:25

It's not daft really. It depends on the area you live in and who the teenagers have on their social media.

Some little bastards around here actually do scout around for empty houses.

About 9 or 10 months ago a kid knocked on my door and asked for Steve. I told him he had the wrong house and like a twat, I stood on the doorstep racking my brains, trying to think of a Steve and what number he might live at.

I sent him to the cul-de-sac opposite but he walked off in a different direction.

Then a week later, another neighbour tells me the little bastard was 'Scouting' for the local gang of drug addled, burgling shits around the corner - just checking who was home during the day.

Elizawh · 25/08/2016 00:25

I agree lasagna. Even when I've said please don't post where we are on facebook (didn't want someone knowing id gone out when I'd cancelled plans with them) they still do it. They don't think before they do this stuff but they're teenagers, it's just what they do now. So far it's done no harm and I'm just as bad checking in everywhere I go and taking a million pictures Grin

WorraLiberty · 25/08/2016 00:28

Therefore old enough for them to not have to listen to what mummy says.

No.

If 'Mummy' owns the house and 'Mummy' has her insurance invalidated due to their stupidity (after having the whole thing explained to them), then 'being old enough not to listen' doesn't come into it imo.

If 'Mummy' (God I hate that word Grin ) told them not to leave their key in the door when they went out, do you think it's ok that they're apparently old enough not to listen to her?

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.