Why You Need Social Media Accounts & A New Email Address

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Many freebies, coupons and contests will require your email address.  Some are very good about using your email address only for that coupon or giveaway but others will sell your information or send you very regular emails.

If you are just starting out, it is a good idea to make an email address just for this purpose.  If you use your personal email account, it will not be long before you are dealing with more spam than emails.  I regularly delete 100+ emails a day in my spam account.

It is a good idea to have an email that is not your name to try and protect your privacy as much as possible.  Use your forum username or a pets name etc.

You also need to be aware of the privacy policy when you sign up for freebies, coupons and contests.  Click and read it – know where your information is going and how they will use it.  This is especially true on social media.  Many facebook freebies will require you to allow an app to access your account. For some, they will ask for your name and birthday and to post on your behalf (most will still show a pop up that you have to click post comment on).  However others will ask for access to your photos, friends and other personal data.

Learn how to control who can access your information on facebook.  While against Facebook’s terms, many people do have a separate account for facebook – there are so many freebies and giveaways on facebook.  An account with no friends looks suspicious for freebies though so make sure you have some friends (but be aware you are giving access to those friends with some apps).

Twitter is safer to use with your personal information, but is used more for retweeting contests than for freebies (although we did recently get a free box of Kraft Dinner for tweeting that it would be our last meal).

Be sure to follow us on facebook and twitter to keep up to date on the latest deals and coupons.

This blog is part of our New to SmartCanucks series, click here to read more blog posts in the series


6 responses to “Why You Need Social Media Accounts & A New Email Address”

  1. Jina says:

    Great post. I personally have 2 accounts with Facebook. 1 that I use for family and friends under strict privacy settings and 1 under my maiden name for all the coupons, freebies, contests, etc.

  2. adora says:

    I do have several accounts for different purposes. One for work, one for freebies, and I tried to keep one just for personal and family, but they my friends and family all suck at using computers. Always get wormed or entering my email for to get free t-shirts, they are all compromised. It’s like damn STD…

    Many email services, such as Yahoo, allow you to add a suffix to your email address. e.g. let’s say your email is [email protected], you can use [email protected] when you buy from Best Buy and still goes into the same box. You’d then know who is selling your information.

  3. Linda says:

    So true, I only have one fb and twitter acc though. But my email of 4 yrs is a mess. I think I signed up for too many ‘freebies’ and I get stupid emails like single dating couger dating (I’m not even 20…), elder dating, random usa colleges. So tiresome to delete your spam sections bc some important emails are there.

  4. Unknown says:

    How can I make friends on Facebook? I only want to be on there for coupons but I don’t want my real friends to think I like all those companies . . . does anyone have any tips?

  5. Natalie says:

    For Facebook contests, when they ask you to accept their ‘APP’, make sure you have chosen the ‘only me’ option as to who will see what you post on your wall. It’s a little tool or wheel symbol near the bottom corner of the screen with a drop down box that give options as to who can see your post.


















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