What is Social Engineering?

What does Social Engineering mean to security on the Internet?

It means that peoples natural "bugs" in human behavior, reciprocity, commitment, social proof, authority, liking and scarity. A social engineer plays to these bugs in behavior to get information from a person through mimicking a trusted source. Source

Discuss at least two types of Social Engineering attacks.

Vishing: Voice phishing, over a telephone to gain access to a persons personal information.
Smishing: Using SMS (text messages) to gain access (possibly through a hyperlink) to gather information. Source

What can you do as an individual to reduce your exposure to social engineering attacks on your information?

Resist persuasion attempts through exposure to similar attempts, think before you act and scrutenize all information. Source