Share these tips to guide employee social media activity to help protect their personal information and that of your institution. Start with social media privacy settings so you don’t fall into the trap of oversharing.
Set adequate privacy settings
- Each social media platform offers privacy setting options. Adjust the privacy settings on all social media accounts so only people you know are able to read the details you share.
- For Facebook, the most popular network, use the privacy settings to limit who can see your posts and personal information.
- On Twitter, users have two options: private or public. The private account allows only the people you allow to view your posts and the public makes every post available to anyone.
Practice safe posting
- Be aware of what information you’re sharing across your social media accounts. What you share can be seen by families, friends…and strangers, including criminals.
- Use caution when posting photos and unintentionally posting personal information. For example, you may incidentally include your house address in the background of a picture.
- Like to share your vacation pics? Hold that thought. Post pics after you return. Letting everyone know when you’re gone isn’t a good idea.
Use trusted content
- When sharing posts from others, be sure they’re from verified accounts. Don’t get caught sharing scams and other fraudulent information. Confirm the information
- came from a verified account.
Don’t share something you wouldn’t be comfortable yelling in a crowded room. Anything you post on social media can be found even if you delete it.
Networking with others
- Don’t accept all friend requests. Make sure there’s a reason you want to add the person to your life. Do you really have more than 100 close family and friends to share your life with?
While many of these tips apply to personal social media accounts, they’re good tips for business accounts as well. Implement practices such as using strong passwords that are changed regularly, multifactor authentication and updating administration roles to restrict account access. For more information on protecting your social media accounts, read this blog, “Staying safe on social media.”
Hayden, Ben. “Practice safe social media practices to protect yourself and your business.” SHAZAM Blog, 12 Jun. 2019, https://www.shazam.net/news/shazam-blog/practice-safe-social-media-pract….