Social media security is important. Most social platforms afford you the tools to be able to manage your business and to keep potential hackers and trolls at bay. If you are a Page Owner on networks such as Facebook or Instagram, then you’ll understand the realities of this becoming a possibility. Here are some tips to help keep your social media accounts secure, stress and headache free!
Banning Users: When someone makes unwanted comments on your social media page, you can choose to ban a user which in turns removes the comments that they’ve made, eliminating issues quite quickly. Facebook groups are a little different in that the group’s administrator can choose to either send the offender a warning, suspension or remove them from the group completely. Make sure to check your settings to ensure that they are not able to rejoin the group after then been banned or removed.
Social Media Trolls: Trolls are a much bigger problem! You’ll know if you have a troll when they have gone through the trouble of cloning your account or financially exploiting your clients by emailing them asking for money while posing as you or your business. Yes, it’s happened to me! Freaky right? It can be, but it’s best to remain calm and to report these activities. Create a post asking your friends or followers to do the same may also be a good idea. The more attention the situation gets, the more quickly it may be resolved.
Restrictions: My experience with the trolls that had cloned my social media pages were from specific countries and when investigating further, I learned that some possessed hundreds of accounts. I thought this would be a never ending issue until a friend who had had the same issue, suggested that I restrict the country in which my trolls lived which I found under the general settings of my page. When you add restrictions, whether a country or an age restriction, only people who meet the requirements will be able to see your page, and anyone who likes your page, but doesn’t fit the requirements will be deleted. You can update your restrictions at any time. If no age or country restrictions are listed, your page will be visible to everyone. A person who can’t see you page, cannot troll you!
Content Moderation: If you own a page on Facebook, you can eliminate certain words from appearing on your page. For instance, most will add keywords such as “fake”, “charlatan”, or “evil” to there Content Moderation list under General Settings. There is also a Profanity Filter section below it where you can add keywords to that may be useful in keeping unwanted content on your page. Make sure to review your General Settings on your account or go to your Facebook Help Section for more information.
Protecting Your Accounts: Hackers and trolls who like to wreak havoc on social media are part of our every day reality. If they gain access to your accounts, they can potentially cause you quite big headaches. If you’ve noticed some suspicious activity on your account, immediately log out of all locations under your personal account settings. Then, enable your two factor authentication through all of your platforms. It may be a little bit to get used to, but it will give you the extra layer of protection, and peace of mind! I also encourage you to change your passwords often.
I hope that these tips from my very own experiences help you move forward to a stress free social media environment! Do your research and if you have questions, make sure to look them up. The more information you’re armed with, the more it will help you keep unwanted visitors joining your social networks.
Founding Member, The Psychic Associates
Professional Psychic Medium, Vlogger, Writer, Inspirational Speaker, Brand & Social Media Expert