Most of us post to Facebook without a second thought. Without realizing it you may have shared information that is more personal than you intended or that could be damaging to your public image. Here are 5 things you should never share on Facebook or social media.
Reposts That You Haven’t Verified As Authentic
We are in the day and age of Fake News so you must be responsible for what you repost on Facebook. Before reposting a story that appears to be news or even a personal story that pulls at your heartstrings, invest a few seconds verifying if it is true. The plain and sad truth is that anyone can make a story look and sound real so we must all be accountable for what we post. Consider if the original source is reputable and take a moment or two to fact check the story.
Highly Personal Information
You don’t ever share personal information on Facebook, right? That is what most of us believe, but it’s often not the case. Some of the information below is less of an issue if your privacy settings are high and your friend list is limited to close friends and family. Here are some common mistakes that many of us have made at least a time or two.
- Sharing your address which is sometimes present in photos, on mail, or on your building exterior.
- The layout of your house may be easy to determine when sifting through the entirety of your photos. Make it harder for potential thieves by cropping photos to close-ups or blurring out the sides.
- The name of your housing development or apartment building.
- The date you will be moving.
- When you will be on vacation.
- Your personal schedule and when you won’t be home. Try to post all photos and ‘here’s what I’ve been up to’ posts after your outing—not before or during.
- Personal information about your kids such as the name of their school, their teacher’s name, their schedule, etc.
- Private photos of your kids. For example, that bubble bath photo is cute but you don’t want it floating around online.
Complaints About Work
We have all heard more than one story about employees who have been fired or undergone disciplinary action after posting a negative comment to social media about work, their coworkers, clients, or even their employer. Even if you aren’t Facebook friends with anyone you know from work if your privacy settings are public or if one of your friends shares what you post it could be damaging.
Personal Opinions On Business Pages
If you haven’t yet, it is time to create a separate business page for your company or for professional networking purposes. For example, an author or public speaker often has a personal page for family and friends where the privacy settings are restricted—but also a second page which is open to the public in which they post topics and posts relevant to their work. Refrain from posting about religion, politics and controversial topics on your public page—and share those thoughts only on your personal page.
Posting Without Purpose To Your Business Page
The more you post to your business page the better, right? Wrong! Your posts must have a purpose and most should be part of a larger social media marketing strategy. Don’t just snap shots of your team doing nothing or to tell everyone about your products and services—as these posts won’t drive engagement. Instead, post with a purpose. Post about upcoming business and industry events, to build buzz about your new product launch, relevant local news and events, or photos that accurately reflect your company culture.
Last but not least, keep an eye on the photos and posts that friends, family, and colleagues post that tag or include you—as these can also be damaging.
Did You Know That You Can Schedule Your Posts In Advance?
If you manage the social media for your company you can maximize your time by prescheduling your posts in advance. My tool of choice is Post Planner. Not only does it allow you to preschedule your posts but it provides content suggestions that will resonate with your target audience.
