COSPLAY POWER LEVELING : LEVEL 7
SAFETY
Be Safe at Events
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Travel with friends. Stay in a group and don’t leave friends alone in costume.
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Don’t give out your phone number. Exchange email instead.
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If the event is at a hotel, don’t give out your room number to anyone. If you think someone is following you to your room, get off at a different floor. Return to the lobby & contact security.
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If your costume is hard to move in or risqué, have a friend with you as a ‘handler’. Agree on a safety word or gesture to use if you feel unsafe and need to leave.
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Use an alias instead of a real name on your badge if possible. This will make it harder for strangers to pose as a ‘friend’ to others.
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Do not go off alone for photos, no matter how nice the person you have met is. If a friend isn’t around to go with you, offer to pose somewhere out in the main convention area.
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If you feel you are being stalked or followed, find convention staff. Most events have staff roaming the grounds that can help you.
Be Safe Online
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Use an alias instead of a real name on accounts that allow for this. Twitter, TikTok & Instagram are places with large cosplay communities that allow you to use a screen name to identify yourself.
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Set up a cosplay email account to keep your correspondence with photographers and other cosplayers separate from your own personal account.
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Instead of listing the city in which you live on your profile, use state or region information.
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If you anticipate needing to give out a phone number to others at an event, sign up for a Google Voice number. It’s free to sign up for one and you can use it from your phone like your normal number.
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Beef up your social media security settings & consider closing your DMs to accept only friends and those you follow.
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If you are a minor, consider using a ‘locked’ account. Some sites like Twitter allow users to keep their posts from being public.
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‘Block’ is your shield. Use it. There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘this person can’t communicate with me or view my content’ for any reason.
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Don’t be guilted by the guilty. Some bad actors online may try to overstep your boundaries & guilt you into accommodating them. Don’t fall for it. Predators attempt to trick you out of following your gut instinct. A person who is socially awkward will apologize and feel terrible for overstepping your boundaries. A creep will try to make YOU apologize.