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.

When Newsletters and Blogs Find the Trash

I subscribed to a range of blogs and newsletters from a variety of sources. Recently, because of the sheer number of subscriptions that I have, I've starting clearing out these emails using my smartphone. There has been a trend to my behavior, and it is formulaic.

For some emails, I just hit delete, never getting past the subject line. Other emails, I skim through to the end, and still hit delete. There are a few that I'll actually click the links and read more.

Everyone will have their own criteria for hitting the delete button, and it really can be as simple as a mood factor. However, there appears to be some things that I honestly believe are person-independent.

Maybe it's time to break this right down.

15 Seconds an Email

Recently, I decided to run a little experiment, and recorded the results. I recorded how I reacted to certain newsletters and blog subscriptions that were delivered to my inbox.

It might sound boring, but trust me, you might find it enlightening.

17 minutes to go through 66 emails. That's an average 15 seconds an email. Of those 66 emails, only 11 survived in my inbox to be looked at later. 3 were marked as share with others, and 2 were flagged to look at in more detail. But of 66 emails, only 1 was actually read while checking emails (off screen, of course). That's not good odds for the carefully constructed message that found its way into my inbox. However, what you might find surprising is that majority of the deleted emails found the trash because the distribution list provider sent the emails in a format that I couldn't read on my iPhone.

Take a look at the sped up footage. I'm willing to bet that you go through your emails just as fast, if not faster.

Save Me From Spam Hell

So, there is this website that is offering something free and you want it. Let's face it, free things are always good — well, most of the time they're good. However, the moment you sign up for that free thing, handing over your email, you know you're going to be giving the owners of that email list permission to send you spam. You don't want that. So, what is a girl to do?

Easy. Use an email specifically intended for nothing but spam.

But for writers, it's not a simple matter of spam versus general communications. You also have administration details, submissions and blog subscriptions. The email inbox of a writer can quickly become a nightmare. Important emails can become buried without you even realizing it.

Do you want to fight the email crazies? Well, here's how.

Words Can Cut Like Knives

As writers, we carefully craft our sentences to use the perfect word to say what is it that we want to say, creating the exact image in a reader’s mind. There are times when writers have been known to spend days to find those perfect words. Yet, there is one aspect of our writing lives where many writers don’t take the same care with words as they do their stories.

I’m talking about the posts that writers put on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. The rush to get the post out there can sometimes land us in situations where the words cut like knifes.

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→

A Website and Blog are NOT the same thing.

There are many out there who will use the terms website and blog interchangeably. The difference between the two is not as clear as one might think. It probably doesn’t help that many blogs are hosted on personal websites. However, there is a BIG difference between a website and a blog, although the line is a little fuzzy.

A website is your internet home, containing information about yourself and your various projects. The pages are static, occasionally updated to reflect changes. It will contain the most up-to-date information about your work, assuming that you actually keep it up to date.

A blog, on the other hand, is like a diary. It will be constantly changing with whatever content or other information you choose to share with the world. In some respects, a blog will contain even more up-to-date information about your work. However, the information on a blog quickly gets buried, depending on the frequency at which you post. This means that you can’t rely on your blog as a marketing tool for older works.

If a reader visits your site, they want to be able to find your books, products, or whatever quickly — and with little effort. This is the key point that distinguishes a website from a blog.

What is a Platform?

The whole concept of building a following can be overwhelming at times, and there really isn’t much solid advice out there. However, a writer’s platform is not the complicated concept that many turn it into.

A writer’s platform is NOT marketing, promotion, or publicity. It’s not just a website or social media — for that matter, it’s not just your books. A writer’s platform is everything that you do to connect with readers.

It’s your local writers’ group that you attend once a month, or more frequently, as the case may be. It’s those conferences and book festivals that you save your pennies for so you can afford the registration. It’s your participation in special events that have nothing to do with writing and your books.

Yes, a writer’s platform includes your books, website, and social medial, and yes, this online component in today’s market is important, but it’s not everything.

Bios: One Size Won’t Fit Me

While writers are often into their own worlds of fire-breathing dragons or sexual encounters with that dark knight, there is one topic that many writers struggle to write about: themselves. It's ironic... Here we are, words flow easily on the page when discussing some fictional character, but writing about the one person that we know the best... You have got to be kidding.

However, writing a bio is not something that a writer should shy away from. There are so many ways to spinning what might seem like a boring hum-drum life and making it sound glamorous. We're writers. We can do this, right?