Should you add randoms on social media?

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What would you do if a stranger hit you up on social media? Maybe they followed you or slid into your inbox. Wyd?

We ask ourTikTok and Instagram community to send us questions.

This is what somebody wanted to know about: How do we feel about people you’ve never met adding you on social?

Then we ask them to answer those questions.

Here's what they said this time.

Your Questions

  • Zoe It's creepy! There's a difference between talking to someone on say Tinder, and then having them stalk you and find you on Facebook! If they're a mutual friend and you've simply been introduced online, it's not too bad.
  • Kira It’s sort of odd. When you don't know them you just automatically assume they're adding you based on your available information, like profile photos. It seems really superficial.
  • Lauren I don't think it's necessarily creepy but I always automatically delete because my profile's set to private so you're going off a display picture? So basically you're going off someone's looks? Why would I be interested in a guy who's just going off my looks, and why would they be interested in me? Answer's pretty obvious which is why I always delete. Besides, if you don't know them, they could be anyone.
  • Mady I really don't mind as long as there are at least some mutual friends. A complete stranger on the other hand, gets a bit strange.
  • Chantelle Pfft no prob. Strangers are fun because you don't need to try and seek approval from them. You can be as weird as you want and if they can handle it, tada you got a friend.
Submit a question

Some pretty differing views there. One thing nobody really mentioned was being smart about protecting your privacy, blocking people and dealing with unwanted messages/requests. Take the time to make sure your privacy settings are solid, and that you’re all over how to block any unwanted people and their messages or requests on whatever platforms you’re using.

Check out eSafety for more about this.

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