Tag Archives: Tips On Tuesday

Tips on Tuesday

Hello all. We are all rejuvenated following a short break so we’re back with today’s tip and this is one that can apply to all social media channels.

I’m often asked by clients about the use of scheduling tools such as Hootsuite for social media posts and whether they’re a good idea.

I think that they can be a very useful tool IF you don’t rely solely on them. They’re very useful for standard messages but the beauty of social media is its spontaneity and I think you can lose the power to tap into breaking stories if you don’t check your social media feeds personally.

There has also been some controversy surrounding the use of scheduled posts during tragic world events. My take would be don’t let this put you off, but possibly discretion is the better part of valour and it may be wise to turn off scheduled posts if something major happens. At the end of the day whether you agree or not, you don’t want to be the subject of a social media rant about insensitivity, your social media profile has to be impeccable.

So my conclusion is, yes use them. But don’t rely on them and don’t lose that personal touch!

See you next time!

Tips on Tuesday

Today I am going to visit the current rumours on Facebook surrounding a wide scale hacking of accounts.

You might have seen on your timeline a number of posts like this: –

❌❌❌❌ Urgent ❌❌❌❌
All the accounts are being hacked. The profile picture and your name are used to create a new Facebook account. Then they want your friends to add them, your friends think it’s you and accept. From this moment, the pirates can write what they want under your name!! ….. Please do not accept a 2nd invitation from me!! Copy this message on your wall to warn your friends!
Do not share. Make a copy and paste this message.
Just in case, protect your accounts!.

For once, unlike many of these viral warnings, it seems there is some element of genuine risk. However, to put it into context. Firstly accounts aren’t being hacked, no-one is entering your account on Facebook, they are copying your profile picture and creating a new account – so in effect cloning you. Secondly, the level of occurence is in dispute, there is certainly no suggestion currently that it is all the accounts on Facebook.

So, what can you do to avoid this happening?

Keep your account privacy settings high – my personal account is locked down so that if you searched my name, I wouldn’t appear at all.
Keep your friends list hidden – this means that if people do find your profile, they cannot see who you’re friends with apart from mutual friends.
There is no harm in putting a basic warning on your Timeline, along the lines of “I only have one Facebook account, please do not accept another friend request from me”. I would recommend rather than sharing/copying and pasting a viral post, simply post a warning. Viral content is too easily ignored.
Although this isn’t a hacking attempt, it is important to change your Facebook password regularly.

Tips on Tuesday

A slightly different format to our usual Tips on Tuesday slot as today is Safer Internet Day. The safety of young people on the internet is one of our passions at Aire Media – in fact, we launched with a post about helping parents make sure their children are using Social media safely – so we thought we would #shareaheart with the wonderful people at the UK Safer Internet Centre and share our top tips for young people to stay safe online.

Never reveal your passwords to other people. Choose a password that is really strong by using a mix of letters and numbers. Make sure you change them regularly.
Make sure you think before you post. Never post anything you wouldn’t want your parents or teachers to read. As soon as you press send, the information/image is no longer private.
Be kind. If you think your post could upset someone, don’t post it.
Be really careful about what you share online. Don’t give clues about where you live in either the information or the images you post.
Make sure you check your privacy settings regularly. Bear in mind that you might think you’re only sharing something amongst close friends, but that isn’t always the case.
Be careful who you talk to online. If someone you don’t know tries to add you as a friend, ignore them and block them. Don’t give people online your address and phone number.

Social media platforms have an age limit for a reason. It is to keep young people safe. The people at Linneyville made this brilliant infographic giving details of the age limits across all social media channels.

We hope you enjoyed today’s slightly different Tips on Tuesday. If you would like to book Rachel to come talk to children or parents about staying safe online, please contact us here!