thanks to the pandemic lockdown and work from home people stuck indoors have been largely cut off from social interactions quick to spot the uptick in the use of social media four audio only social networking apps have entered the market they let people converse have a chat discuss and share opinions with not only friends they havent met in a while but also with likeminded strangers despite peoples eagerness to have a conversation there is the underlying risk that comes will all things online threat of data leaks and the lack of privacy heres a look at how to stay safe and still be yourself onlinefollow decorum and etiquette on the appharsha mv who is cofounder at a startup and runs many active clubs online says it is important to treat virtual spaces just the way you would treat a physical one where a particular topic is being discussed there is decorum and etiquette to be followed online as well heres a checklist use your real name add your alternate name as an alias have a bio what you do interests and why youre here the title or subject line tells you the discussion topic in a room enter if you want to listen or give your opinion on it listen to the conversation before offering your opinion on joining go on mute so that you dont disrupt the stage do not unmute to speak at random wait for your chance or until a moderator calls upon you to speak if you intend to speak out of turn triple tap your mic muteunmute mute x 3 to indicate to the moderators that you would like to speakconsider security and privacy issues before signing upvijay raj cyber security evangelist explains some audio social networking apps are inviteonly making people curious and eager to join but one must consider security and privacy issues before installing apps on the phone heres a checklist install the app through official sources alone such as the official app stores if you do not want the new app to have access to your contacts and followers data on another app do not link the new app with any other existing app do not share information that you do not want to put out in the public domain these apps are still working out bugs and glitches keep updating and get the latest security patchapps like these open up a new space to connectdr manoj sharma prof of clinical psychology nimhans says weve been cut away from most social contact for a long time now apps like these open up a new space to connect the anonymity especially if you are in a room full of strangers also allows one to vent this may make one feel good but the conversations only provide temporary relief one must not get addicted to this way of communication alone