Is your profile a turnoff?

Publishing has always been a business, and writers are expected to build brands, which consists not only of the books they write, but also of their social media and online presence. Our non-writing activities have always been a part of this whole marketing thing, and how we handle that message is just part of the game. However, the internet has added a "now" component to the marketing equation that wasn't there before, and disaster is waiting to happen.

Anyone who is a regular reader of this blog (and my personal blog) will know that I'm a big fan of protecting oneself on the internet, protecting one's physical and cyber security, as well as one's reputation. But there could be aspects with what you are doing that could be a massive turnoff... and you don't even know it.

I'm talking about the overall message behind what it is that you're posting. I'm talking about your profile as a whole: the bio, the photos, and the individual messages. I'm talking about the public face that you present to the world.

And it all boils down to two things: politics and religion. They are both incredibly sensitive topics, but they also have their fingers wrapped around almost everything that we do.

Let me explain further.

Facebook: Is it time to panic about security?

Facebook has hit the news once again with yet another security breach. This time, the breach was a flaw in the View as... feature built into the platform to give users the ability to see their profiles and pages as another user would see them. It had to do with some combination of settings between this feature and the uploading of videos that gave some hacker access to over 50 million people's data.

News of the breach is EVERYWHERE! There is even a public statement about it on the Facebook site.

To be honest, I'm not surprised this has happened. As much as people like to pretend otherwise, the internet and social media are still new technology. Yes, sites like Facebook have been around for a while, going public in 2004. However, what Facebook looked like in 2004 is NOTHING compared to what it looks like today. Social media as a whole is dramatically different. Same too with the internet.

More and more people are joining the world of the internet. For much of the Western Society, it has become a massive part of our lives. My children are now required to sit certain school exams or submit assignments online. This is the world we now live in.

With the changes in the world, we were bound to face issues surrounding privacy and security. The question is: is it time to panic?

In a one-word answer: No. In a longer answer: No, but it is time to examine our practices and take steps to protect ourselves.

Here is a list of steps you should take to protect yourself on the internet, not just Facebook.

Don’t blame Facebook for sharing data that you already share.

Facebook and Zuckerberg have found the news again, but this time it's about sharing data with the Chinese. This is not exactly a surprise, especially after what was revealed earlier this year. Lawmakers and government officials have the right to be up in arms about this, because sharing of data was independent of any privacy settings that you might have had on your accounts. However, do we really have the right to complain about Facebook sharing data that we already share publicly?

Don't get me wrong, I think this breach of privacy and security is a serious issue. Earlier this year, I posted about how to access some of the hidden Facebook features that were associated with synced contact details from smartphones. However, there is another whole range of security and privacy settings that most people either can't be bothered with or don't know about. Yet, many are complaining about data being shared when they themselves are the ones publicly sharing the data.

Privacy is World-Wide: The Impact of GDPR

If I was say “GDPR is here,” would you know what I was talking about? Be honest. There’s nothing to be ashamed of if you don’t.

Now for the next question: if you have heard of the GDPR, have you bothered to take the steps necessary to protect yourself? Or are you one of those who believes that because you don’t live in the EU that it doesn’t concern you? Again, be honest. It’s perfectly okay to think that.

However, believe it or not, if you are a public figure of any kind (e.g., writer, podcaster, musician, artist), then the GDPR could have huge consequences if you don’t take the steps now to protect yourself. Because of the way the internet works, there is a whole level of complexity added to the privacy of information issue that most people don’t realize or understand.

It’s time to get the picture straight.

Facebook Settings that Your Phone Forgot to Tell You About

Note to reader: This blog post was originally written in 2018. Some settings have moved and changed names. I have done what I can to update this post with the interfaces that were present in November 2022, but some things might not be entirely accurate anymore.

Facebook seems to be on a security breach, hole plug mode, with new updates and new features that are constantly coming online. (And some settings are disappearing.) I am updating this post as I discover more settings. If you desire, you can just skip to the updates and the new settings that I've found.

Unless you have been hiding in a hole somewhere, and NOT on Facebook, then you will know about the blowup that is going on about how the Facebook app seems to be accessing information from outside its app — in particular contact details. It's not surprising that people are all up in arms over this. This sort of information should be private, and Facebook should only be accessing information that we've given them permission to access.

Cue the evil doer music, because... Guess what... You did give permission for Facebook to access that information when you installed the Facebook or Facebook Messenger app on your phone. And permission wasn't given by installing the app. Permission was given by a hidden setting that syncs your contact details on your phone with Facebook. Here's the kicker... The setting is set to ON by default — sort-of.

There is actually a dialog that asks if you want to sync your contacts, but the only options it gives is Learn More and OK. How is the average user supposed to know that buried at the bottom of the Learn More option is a tiny Not Now link? So most people hit OK, and presto... You just gave Facebook permission to access your contacts list.

But not all hope is lost. Here's how you can change it, and remove your contracts list from Facebook, without uninstalling the apps — not that uninstalling the apps would remove your contacts list from Facebook anyway.

The Dangers of Photos and GPS on Social Media

Put your hand up if you have found yourself becoming a shutter-bug. Be honest.

With the latest phones, many of us now have a high-resolution camera sitting in our back pockets (or in my case, the outside pocket of my purse). So, it’s not surprising that people have become trigger happy with their phone cameras. Add in the fact that smartphones have easy access to the internet, and those photos are now being showcased for the world to see.

Before you hit the share button, you might want to take a good look at that photo.Read More→

Facebook and a Writer’s Platform

I frequently find myself in the middle of a conversation on some forum about Facebook and how one might include that particular social media site into their writer's platform. There are a lot of things to consider.

Unlike Twitter, where you can have as many accounts as you do email addresses, on Facebook, you are meant to have only the one account. Yes, there are some writers out there who have two accounts: one for personal use and the other for their writing persona. For those that get away with it, good on you. However, for those considering doing this themselves, be warned. There have been reported cases where writers have been locked out of their accounts by Facebook because of this. This is a standing policy of Facebook: one account per user. If they discover that you have multiple accounts, they can and will put you in Facebook Jail. It's a real thing, people. Considered yourself warned.

So let's carry on and assume that you've joined the masses in Facebook with only one account. So now what?