Online safety and privacy is a balancing act
Sharing your life on social media can be a fun way to highlight your activities and keep up with friends and family across the world! However, when making your life public online, it’s important to be mindful of what you’re sharing and who can see it. From monitoring access to your online pages to support resources, UC Berkeley students share strategies and tools for how you can protect your privacy while still being able to express yourself online.
Quick tips
- Be mindful of what you post and who can see it. Leave out sensitive information like ID numbers, addresses, or personal schedule information.
- Consider having separate social media accounts for public-facing content and private content for just your close friends and family to see.
- Check out these tips to protect yourself from doxxing.
- Set clear boundaries for yourself as to what you’re comfortable sharing online.
- Utilize the CARE model from Bears That CARE.
- Balance your online life and practice self-care!
My online presence
If there’s one thing everyone knows about me, it’s that I love to make social media content. As a senior at Cal, I post frequently on my personal social media accounts and make content for the UC Berkeley Life Instagram and TikTok pages, in addition to the several social media accounts I manage for my extracurriculars. And while I absolutely adore posting on social media, doing daily vlogs, and sharing my travels, I am very mindful of what I put on the internet.
Being a part of UC Berkeley Life, I have a public presence on campus. My videos are sometimes seen by as many as 400,000 people and I am often recognized around campus for my videos. I love sharing insights into my life and experience as a student here at UC Berkeley and my videos often include personal aspects like what clubs I am a part of, what classes I am taking, and some of my favorite places around campus. But I never include any clips showing the outside of where I live or information about my living situation, unless it is general information on campus housing where I am no longer living at the time the videos come out. When filming “day in the life” videos, I do not include time stamps that would reveal places I frequently visit, such as classes or club meetings, with exact times. There are also many helpful strategies you can take to protect yourself from doxxing.
Knowing I have a public presence means I know my personal page can be easily found, especially since I interact with Berkeley Life content a lot. So I keep my personal profile private, and while I still have a decent following, I carefully monitor who I approve for access to my page and my content. Truly personal content I save for my second private account, which I reserve for just my closest friends. With all this, I feel safe while still being able to share my life online!
Some of Rachel’s videos on the Berkeley Life Instagram; Rachel and her Berkeley Life team.
An influencer story
For Joseph Arujo, a senior majoring in business administration and media studies, his online presence is even greater. Joseph is a verified influencer with 40,000 followers on Instagram, 820,000 followers on TikTok, and 3,000 subscribers on YouTube. He started in the TikTok Lives sphere during the pandemic, growing his online presence and moving to other platforms with lifestyle and fashion content. Through his work, he’s had the opportunity to work with many well-known brands, including Amazon, Disney+, Ralph Lauren, and YSL.
On any given day, Joseph is posting as many as 200 Snapchat stories. He regularly posts edited content for TikTok and Instagram Reels throughout the week and often shares his experience at brand trips like the Coachella Music Festival. All of this he does while balancing his life as a Berkeley student. Yet, despite his busy schedule, he’s found his college life to be a great source of inspiration for his content. “Being able to create content while on campus is so relatable and fun,” he shared. “It’s a win-win for myself and my viewers. I live my Miley Cyrus life: the best of both worlds.”
For Joseph, the public aspect is one of the things he loves about being in the creator space. He is an open book and loves sharing his life online, but there are still some areas he keeps private. It’s important to him to set clear boundaries and respect those for himself.
“Whether that’s certain relationships with friends or family or whatever it may be in between, there are definitely ways to be authentic online while also keeping parts of my life for me and the people around me that I love.”
Joseph on a brand trip to a Rams Game with the Amazon Influencer Program; Joseph at TIME 100 Creator Awards 2025 in New York.
Bears That CARE
I also talked to Zaina Ghouri, a senior studying molecular and cell biology, who works as a staff coordinator for Bears That CARE. Bears That CARE is an active bystander initiative. They give campus members tools to recognize and deal with harmful situations. Zaina started with the team as a peer educator and outreach coordinator, sharing informational sessions and safety resources with our campus community. Now her role includes organizing weekly meetings and coordinating their different teams to ensure everyone is on the same page.
“It’s such a great way to give back to the community,” Zaina said. “Seeing how much people care and want to help their friends feels really great. I feel such a sense of belonging there.”
Zaina (right) tabling on Sproul Plaza for Bears that CARE.
She shared the CARE model, a helpful bystander intervention strategy that could be applied to a variety of situations, including if someone you know is being targeted online or finds themself in a harmful online environment. The CARE model stands for Confront the situation, Alert others, Redirect attention, and Engage after — which are different avenues you can take to handle the situation, depending on what you feel most comfortable doing and what would be most impactful.
For more serious situations, confidential support is available through Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), PATH to Care Center, and the Tang Center Social Services.
Non-confidential support is also available through the Center for Support and Intervention as well as the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD). You can also schedule a free informational session with Bears That CARE through their website.
Taking a step back
When social media gets overwhelming, I find it helpful to take a step back and reconnect with some of my other hobbies, like reading and drawing.
Rachel sketching a statue at the Tate Britain.
For Joseph, being a part of the Cal Equestrian Team has provided a good balance for him. He trains at their barn every week and attends competitions with his team, allowing him to bond with animals and other Cal students. “It’s a release for me,” he shared, “a way to relax but have fun with animals.”
Joseph riding for the Cal Equestrian Team at competition.
As for Zaina, she finds taking some time away from her phone to spend time with friends and family to be a great form of self-care, as well as baking and cozying up with a good movie. “If you experience some kind of harm or violence online, you can really check in with yourself and do some sort of self-care day,” she explained.
Zaina playing games with her friends.
Building space for yourself offline and growing your community is a great way to employ the “Engage After” principle of the CARE model, or simply just a way to add healthy balance to your life. Regardless of how you choose to engage or unwind, employing some of these strategies can allow you to safely live your best online life.
Rachel Holmes, Class of 2026, is majoring in media studies and minoring in theater & performance studies. Cover photo by UC Berkeley Life.
Want more?
- Check out these additional strategies to avoid phishing scams.
- Meet Megan, a Residential Life Safety Coordinator.
- Discover these free academic and wellness resources.