How can I handle giving my address to an internet friend?

[Lunicolil7]

I use Instagram and have a few close friends on Instagram that I don't know in real life. We've talked and they've posted pictures/videos of themselves, so I'm pretty sure they're real people...Anyway, one is sending out postcards with a nice letter written to us personally on the back, and they asked who would like one. I said I would like one, because I thought they meant they would send us the postcards through the direct message feature on Instagram, or an app called Kik which is like text messaging. But they meant actually SEND it to you, to your house. I didn't want to back out, so I told my Instagram friend, the one giving away the postcard, my address through Kik, which is like text messaging (like I previously said) and she assured me only she would know. I'm calmed down but I'm also terrified that something really bad will happen because I gave out my address... Here are my questions:

Should I be scared?

Should I ever give out my address again?

Do you think I will be okay because I gave out my address?

How can I handle all of this, overall?

I know it was pretty stupid of me to do this, but I don't need hateful answers. Thanks everyone, have a good evening, Blessings!
I hope I put this in the right category.

[Fred]

You must be crazy.

[Jake]

You probably shouldn't give you address to anyone online. (Or if you do, get a PO box so they don't know your actual home address.)

There's really not much you can do other than hope it is legit.

[Maddie]

Don't get yourself worked up about this, it will be fine, but you should never do this again. Giving out your address to people you don't know, is extremely dangerous, even if you think you can trust them. I think you will be fine, but if you are truly terrified, tell a parent or an adult you trust, they will be able to help you. I'm sure the people on Instagram are nice people, and are who they claim to be, but not everyone is.

We all make mistakes, and we learn from them, so don't feel bad about this.

Have a good day!

~Maddie

[wishnuwelltoo]

Oh......It was probably a mistake....but a predator could have found out where you live anyway. We learn from our mistakes by getting wiser and sometimes not making that mistake again.....and yet sometimes we make the same mistakes over and over until we get the clue it is a mistake. Well how you handle it is to be prepared in advance for what could happen next. It is possible that she just sends you a post card and you don't have to worry about an identity theft.....it is possible that she is fake and that you have to worry about getting kidnapped or raped or something stupid. put the phone number to the police department on your cell phone.......we should all do that anyway. Let your parents know where you are going so someone knows where you are supposed to be and when you are supposed to get back. I saw a thing on a talk show where they showed things you should do if someone tries to kidnap you and one thing they said was to sit on the ground....since it is hard for people to pick up someone who is on the ground since it is dead weight. I also saw where a woman said she wrapped her arms and legs around a light pole so a kidnapper couldn't get her into his van.....she saw her daughter do this to a candy machine in a store and it took 4 staff members to get her off the candy machine. If you are driving a car and a rapist gets in.....you are supposed to crash the car into something and then try and get out of the car....crash the side of the car the kidnapper is on though. If they put you in the trunk of the car, kick out the tail lights and wave your hand so people in traffic can see you. Modern cars have a latch in the trunk that you can pull to open it on the inside. I used to carry cash in my shoe when I was dating in case it was a bad date.....I had cab money to get home.