A guide to likely harms, not a list of scary possibilities
Know the threat. Lower the harm.
Public digital work can bring unwanted attention, but a useful response starts with the risks that are both likely and costly: account compromise, exposed personal details, community-control mistakes, and unsafe downloads. Record the event, secure the affected account, and distinguish ordinary online abuse from a specific or immediate physical-safety threat.
Four boundaries to review
- Account and identity capture: protect unique credentials, recovery paths, and multifactor authentication.
- Public footprint and doxxing: reduce unnecessary location, contact, and relationship details.
- Community and moderator compromise: limit roles, bot access, webhooks, and integration privileges.
- Downloads, plugins, and integrations: use official sources and review access before adding tools to a streaming workflow.