What Is Social Media Impersonation (Identity Theft)? And How Can You Prevent It?

With the rise of social media, individuals have become increasingly comfortable sharing personal information online. However, this has also made them susceptible to social media impersonation, a growing phenomenon that can lead to identity theft and other online fraud. Impersonators can easily create fake profiles and use stolen personal information to deceive others. They may use this information to gain access to private accounts or even steal money.

If you're familiar with Microsoft Teams, you probably know about its built-in archive feature. By visiting the Microsoft Teams Admin Center (you need to be a Teams administrator to do this), you can quickly archive a team, which removes it from the active list and makes it read-only.

The adoption rate of Microsoft Teams over the last few years has been nothing short of astonishing. In 2019, just prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Microsoft's collaboration platform had around 20 million users. As of 2022 (the most recent stats available), the number of active users sits at 270 million! This incredible growth is a testament to the benefits that Teams offers organizations—especially in an environment where many employees are working remotely.

Pagefreezer now offers Microsoft Teams archiving as part of its legal and compliance solutions.

The popularity of online channels—such as company websites, social media accounts, collaboration platforms, and messaging apps—grew steadily throughout the 2010s. But with the arrival of the COVID pandemic at the start of 2020, these online data sources became crucial to the day-to-day operation of countless organizations.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests, many city and state government offices have seen a surge in open records requests. In some instances, the number of requests has doubled, and backlogged FOIA cases jumped nearly 18% in 2020 from 2019.

Emergency management, incident response, election details, program announcements, updates to transportation routes, event promotions, funding decisions, and town hall management. These are just some of the many areas of responsibility that public information officers (PIOs) can be expected to manage. No matter the government agency they work for, PIOs are essential in fostering trust between communities and the government on a federal, state, and local level.

Amidst an ever-increasing amount of misinformation, internet trolls, and open records requests, social media archiving has become an imperative for public entities and businesses.

The internet has become a breeding ground for misinformation and disinformation. According to the Pew Research Center, Americans' exposure to––and belief in––misinformation differs by the specific news outlets and the general pathways they rely on. More specifically, people who rely on social media are more prone to consuming misinformation and disinformation.

Social media archiving is necessary for police and fire departments to comply with open record laws. It can also help facilitate crisis communication and foster organizational trust within the community.