Twitter, Facebook and MySpace invitations to party gatecrashers

Social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace are being used to issue party invitations but make sure you control what information you issue to whom as otherwise gatecrashers and damage are inevitable.

Whilst there are clearly advantages of social networking, so too are there some disadvantages.

Research by Sainsbury’s Home Insurance that despite the well publicised issues of homeowners facing huge costs for damage as a result of their children posting party invitations, with full details of date, time and venue, on social networking sites, viewable by anyone with internet access, it is still happening.

With many looking to host Halloween parties over the next few days, it’s important that homeowners protect their properties and ensure that such ‘open’ invitations are not posted.

Having home insurance in place is vital – make sure you get home insurance that meets your needs.

Over a third of parties held by children in their parental home result in damage of some sort being caused.

As Sainsbury’s advises though, homeowners who host parties or whose children do so, may risk invalidating their home insurance cover if adequate care is not taken to prevent damage to the property.

Home insurance cover may in some cases be invalidated if open invitations are posted on the likes of Bebo or Facebook.

You really do need to be careful to ensure you gain from the advantages of social networking, rather than suffer from the disadvantages.

As we covered recently they can be a haven for burglars seeking to gather information about potential targets.

There’s also the question of ID theft.

So whilst social networking sites are a fantastic way of sharing experiences with friends, there is a need for caution.