A SOCIAL MEDIA-FREE CHRISTMAS

Siouxlanders who will be away from home for the holidays may want to reconsider telling the world about their plans on Facebook and Twitter.

Scott Parsons, an insurance agent in Waterloo, says your cheery news could quickly end up being read by an evil-minded Grinch.

Parsons says it's best to keep your travel plans to yourself.

The way social media often works, Parsons says your simple comment might end up bringing you a lot of trouble.

Parsons says you should also be careful about posting pictures and videos on social websites, because you really don't ever know how far and wide they'll be seen.

That, he says, makes it easy for someone to track down your address.

While there may be some amazing gifts under your tree and you'd like to brag online, Parsons says to stifle that urge.

Parsons also says using the "Find Friends" feature is something you might want to disable on your mobile device as the information about your exact location using GPS mapping technology could also be abused.