Facebook has been around for a little over 11 years (can you believe it?) and you’ve probably been on it for quite a while too. It’s hard to believe someone when they say they are not on Facebook.
It seems that the privacy policy, the way we create posts and view posts are changing every week or so and it’s hard to follow them sometimes. But there are some common practices that you should know and consider before you create your next post. Here are 5 that we could think of for now:
1. Choose your audience. We posted this in our Tuesday Tip category this Tuesday. Basically, think about who’d you like to see your next post. Some people like to post little rants to Facebook, some like to post pictures of pub shenanigans from the weekend – and are you really sure you want everyone to see these posts? If there’s something you really don’t want a particular person to see you can now exclude individuals from your posts. We’d recommend to limit your posts to “Friends Only” unless it’s something you’re not concerned to share on a public platform.
2. Be careful when you post. A lot of us are tempted to check Facebook during the working day. Some even work with Facebook and it’s totally fine if it’s constantly open on the screen. But the truth is, most of the employers like to see people working on what they’re paid to do and not wasting time on Facebook. You never know where life can take you next, and some of the employers actually check your social media to check if your stellar description of yourself compares to your social activity.
3. Filter your content. Following from the above post, it’s not only important when you post, it’s also important what you post. Do you really need a picture with all those empty shot glasses on your wall? is your little rant about your roommate going to hold up in 15 minutes? A lot of times when you want to post a rant about something on Facebook, in general, you start feeling different once you’ve posted or once the heat from being annoyed passes. So, let it sit for 30 minutes and if you still feel like posting something along these lines – post it, taking into consideration the two points above.
4. Don’t tag your friends. This also ties into above points. When you post a picture of someone or a group picture to Facebook and you tag them, this picture appears on their wall. Are you sure that your friend will like this picture being posted at that time, place and with those people? What if they’r not supposed to be where they are or they don’t like the way the look on the picture? Really want to post a picture? Do it, but ask your friends to tag themselves if they like instead.
5. Go through your settings. Ever wondered what your page looks like to strangers? Log out or use your browser’s “private” mode to see your profile when you’re not logged into Facebook. Remember – that’s the page everyone sees. If all your posts, personal, work and friend information is visible you might want to go through your Facebook settings. It might be a tedious and time-consuming venture (Facebook has a lot of setting options right now) but it’s worth it on the long run.
Perhaps, you already know all of these and perhaps you’re thinking different. Either way, the next time you want to post something to Facebook just think about who could possibly find this post and what they could possibly think about it.