Social Media Manners

How to Avoid Sending the Message “Click My Junk”

Social media lends itself very well to pitching products.  A link here, there, and everywhere promoting “my junk” as Anita Campbell of Biz Sugar told Social Media Examiner is not the best message to send. 

This video is only 7 minutes long but it’s packed with good information.  Also, check out Biz Sugar.  It seems to be a great place to hone your writing skills and get plenty of exposure for your content. I registered already. If you do too, let me know what you think.

Anita Campbell from Michael A. Stelzner on Vimeo.

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The Trick To Protecting Your Privacy Online: LIE!

Yes, I said it.  That’s the ticket!  Who says you have to tell everybody everything?  Let me be clear though.  I am not saying be so afraid of protecting your privacy that you don’t participate at all.  I’m just saying be smart.  I see people all the time who slip up just enough to make themselves a target for people who are less than honest.  Good example, I just saw a Facebook status update that read, “Can’t wait to visit my folks in VA… 3 days to go.”  Does that make sense?  How about this simple but fact filled tweet that I saw that read, “Hungry, going to get a sandwich at the Subway.” Ok, just say you are going to leave the door open because this guy is very well known in the city.  It wouldn’t be hard to know where he lives and he’s always tweeting like this.

I ran across this very interesting article by Christopher Penn that puts a statistical spend on this issue of being transparent.  He reminds us that everybody is not a friend.  Now I know that stings but social media has made us drop our guard a little bit more than our mothers would recommend.  There are over 4,000 people who follow me on Twitter.  The moment I forget that I’m not just tweeting to my known business associates and my family then I’m putting myself at risk. 

Again let me emphasize that this is not about being so afraid that participation is impossible.  I’m saying be as smart online as you are in person.  In person, I take certain percautions, like keeping my purse on my arm instead of in the basket at the store.  Or, if someone who looks friendly approaches my car, I will not open the door or window.  Why? Because everyone is not friendly. That’s the reality of our world.

So what are some ways to share online without being totaly exposed?  I have a few suggestions.

• Never say that you are in a certain place at the time of your tweet or update.  Use past tense verbs.  Enjoyed my sandwich from Subway or really liked having coffee at Starbucks.  You’re not obligated to tell everyone that you’re still there.
• Don’t follow people automatically on Foursquare, Gowalla or any location based service.  Be a little bit more prudent here than on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or your blog.  The whole point of the location based services is to let people know what you’re doing and maybe even join you there.  Perhaps you have an app that let’s you see who’s near you.  So, just like we do in real life when we are deciding who to hang out with, vet these potential followers a little more before letting them in on your whereabouts.
• The changes Facebook made to the personal profile gives more information.  Be sure you visit the edit section and take out what you don’t want seen.  Also, Facebook decides what your top 5 pictures where you have been tagged will be but you can untag yourself on any that you don’t want or create a list of the ones you want to show.

I’m sure there are way more suggestions than this.  What would you suggest?  How do you remember to stay safe when online?

FaceBook Is Not Private! Use Common Sense To Be Safe

So often I have conversations with people about Facebook and just what is appropriate to post.  Just recently, I had a conversation with a young man who is in his mid 20′s and has landed a job at a bank.  Naturally, working at a bank should be a no brainer when it comes to posting on FB.  This young man is well informed and does not post anything about clients or about what is going on inside his department.  However, he did post a comment to a friend who was just catching up.  The young man commented that he had landed a nice job a a bank and gave the name of the bank.  The result:  he was called into his manager’s office for the talk.  Thank goodness, he hadn’t said anything damaging but it was a great low level lesson to remind him that his online social conversations are being tracked.

This whole thing reminds me of when email was first becoming popular.  (Yes, I’m that wise)  We did some really dumb stuff like ranting unfavorably about our bosses, telling company secrets, and gossiping about our co-workers.  How many people had to get fired before the reality of the openness of the internet really set in?  I don’t know but today you don’t hear people asking what information is appropriate to email.  It’s a no brainer.  If you don’t want every one to know, don’t use email to share.  It’s the same for Facebook and the other social media sites.

Oh, and don’t get me started about mobile phones!  Your voice is being carried along in little data packages in the air and they are subject to being snatched out of the air.  I also hate it when I’m watching a movie and someone goes to the center of the earth where clearly there are not cell towers.  Yet, they call home. Oh no they didn’t!

But, back to Facebook, did you know that even after you delete a photo FB keeps it on their server for an unspecified amount of time?  Scary isn’t it?  So if someone has the URL for that photo they could possibly retrieve it from the servers.  As a mother, I always used FB to spy on our children while they were away at college.  Sometimes it was fun and sometimes I wanted to cry!  As a marketer and social media strategist, I am still crying at times when I see people making big mistakes like telling everyone where they live or that they are going on vacation. Why not just hang out a sign that says your house is empty and available for robbery.  That would be insane!  It is just as insane to post that you are going away in a few days on FB. 

The Huffington Post had a great slide show about this subject.  Check it out.  You might be surprised to find that you are doing some things that might be putting you at risk of being improperly exposed.

What NOT to Post on Facebook: 13 Things You Shouldn’t Tell Your Facebook Friends

How do you decide when something you want to say is inappropriate or at the very least not safe to post on FB?