How to make Facebook work for you, not against you.
Exposure. That’s something every ambitious artist and songwriter strives to achieve.
Exposure is essential. It’s all about getting noticed and spreading the word about your creative output. However, there’s a fine line between exposure and being exposed. Whereas exposure is good, being exposed is bad, and can turn out to be very bad indeed. In case you hadn’t noticed, there are some pretty seedy people lurking out there in cyberspace.
Ensuring your personal security and guarding your privacy while promoting yourself is important for every singer and songwriter, but it should be of particular concern to parents who are guiding the careers of their minor children.
Ask yourself this question: When did I last review my security and privacy settings on my Facebook page? If the answer is “Not for some time” (or worse still, “Never”) here are a few quick and easy ways to be sure that your security is all that it should be.
1. Find your security settings
To get started, go to your Facebook page and look for the little ‘downward-pointing’ arrow icon at the top right of your page. Click on that, and then click on “Settings” at the bottom of the drop down menu. This brings up a page headed General Account Settings. Look at the menu on the left of page. (Note: you’ll be returning to this menu for all the steps you need to follow.)
Click on ‘Security and Login.’ Here you can see where you are logged in to Facebook. Be sure that only your own devices are logged in. There are several ways to check and increase your Facebook security on this page.
2. Change your password
Under ‘Security and Login’ click on ‘Change Password’ and click ‘Edit.’ Click ‘Save changes’ when you have completed the change. It is a good idea to change your password frequently, at least every three months, and pick a password that is not the same as one you are using elsewhere.
Avoid using anything too obvious (such as part of your email address or the name of a pet that others might know). And always change your password immediately if you think your password has been stolen or accessed by someone else.
3. Set Up Extra Security
You also have the option to set up two-factor authentication. This means you login with your password and Facebook will also send a code to your cellphone. This helps to prevent anyone other than you from logging in to your Facebook account. Adding this option means a slight inconvenience when you login, but if you have any reason to think someone other than you could login, it’s worth the effort.
While you’re on this page, look over the other options to see if you think they would help preserve your security. For instance, look at ‘Get alerts about unrecognized logins.’ Click ‘Edit’ and you can choose to request alerts when a login is attempted from an unrecognized device or browser. Make your selections and click ‘Save Changes.’ You can do the same thing with any of the other Extra Security options if you wish.
4. Check your Privacy settings
Click on ‘Privacy’ from the same Menu on the left of the screen. Under ‘Privacy Settings and Tools’ you have the option to choose who can see your future posts. You can also choose to review all posts and things you’re tagged in. This is a good option if you want to keep track of posts about you (such as photos and videos of you performing) posted by other people. This is also an option that is worth remembering in the future if you have any reason to think that another person might be posting something unsuitable or offensive about you.
There is a subheading titled ‘Who can see your friends list?’ On the drop-down list, you can choose from Public, Friends, Only Me or Custom.
Pay attention to Facebook’s ‘caution’ note under “Who can see your friends list?” It says: “Remember, your friends control who can see their friendships on their own Timelines. If people can see your friendship on another timeline, they’ll be able to see it in News Feed, search and other places on Facebook. If you set this to Only me, only you will be able to see your full friends list on your timeline. Other people will see only mutual friends.”
Remember, if your Friends are not controlling their privacy settings, anything they post in which you are tagged in can be seen and shared and viewed by others. Naturally, you want to use social media to make as many positive impressions as possible, but take time to consider if this is right for you.
You can also decide who can look you up using the email address and phone number you provided to Facebook. (Do you really want people to access your phone number via Facebook?) I recommend you set this option to ‘Friends.’
(Parents: if your minor child is promoting his or her music career on Facebook, reviewing the Privacy Settings and Tools is a particularly important consideration! You will want to control who has access to his or her email address and phone number.)
5. Set your Timeline and Tagging preferences
When one of your Facebook friends posts a picture on his or her own Facebook page and you are included in that picture, it is possible for that picture to appear on your Facebook timeline, too. The same thing can happen if they post some text that mentions your name. Suddenly, it can turn up on your timeline without your knowledge or explicit approval. For the most part, it might not be a problem. But as your Facebook page is the ‘face’ that you present to your audience and to potential contacts in the music industry, you might wish to exert greater control over the words and images that are posted there, particularly those that might be distasteful or embarrassing.
- Look to the menu on the left and click on “Timeline and Tagging.”
- Beside “Who can post on your timeline?” Click “Edit.”
- Choose either “Friends” or “Only Me.” (With “Only Me” you have total control but it might limit posts from friends that are important to your career)
- Beside “Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline?” click “Edit” and select “Enabled.”
- When you click “Close,” it should now indicate “On.”
In this window, you can also choose to edit other settings, such as “Who can see posts you’ve been tagged in on your timeline?” and decide if you would only want “Friends” to see them, and so on.
6. Control your Ad preferences
Perhaps, at some point you’ve gone to the Facebook page of a company or business and have “liked” them, maybe so you could enter a contest or drawing. (See “Three final thoughts, below.) Visitors to your page might be able to see the businesses that you have “liked” and this in turn might be interpreted as being your endorsement for that business. Suppose you really are seeking an endorsement from, say, a guitar company, but when they visit your Facebook page, they see you have “liked” a competitor. Chances are, you will lose that deal! There’s a way to diminish the chances that this will happen to you.
- Look at the menu on the left of your Facebook screen and click on “Ads.”
- This brings up a page titled “Your Ad Preferences.”
- Click on each of the sub-headings (“Your interests,” “Your information,” “Advertisers you’ve interacted with,” etc) and I recommend that you select “not allow” for as many as possible.
7. Block unwanted attention
Back at the menu on the left hand side that you found under General Account Settings, click on “Blocking.” Here, you have a large number of options allowing you to start a “Restricted List” of friends who won’t be allowed to see posts on Facebook shared only to Friends.
You can also block certain users, messages, invites, apps and so on. This is a useful option for a musician or singer who is getting ‘unwanted attention’ from someone and wants to block them from any involvement with your Facebook page. Again, this is particularly important for parents of minors in the public eye due to their music careers.
Note: This does NOT mean you are invisible. People can still see anything on your Facebook page that you have set to “Public,” once they have gone to Facebook and searched for your name there. Taking the action recommended above simply prevents people happening upon your privateinformation via a search engine.
Remember: Facebook ‘updates’ its policies regarding security and privacy from time to time, so it’s a good idea to check back regularly to see if anything has changed since you last looked.
Three final thoughts
- When you’re done making any changes to your Facebook settings, you can click on the question mark [?] at the top of your Facebook page and click on Privacy Checkup. You’ll see three subheadings, Posts, Profile and Apps, & Websites. You should see wording under each that tells you that your updates have been saved. It’s a good idea to do this every month or so, then go back and repeat any of the steps listed above if you need to change or update settings.
- Ask all your Friends to update their security and privacy settings. (You can send them a link to this article if you like.) They will be protecting themselves but, more importantly, when they take these steps they are helping to protect you.
- Don’t be tempted to take so-called personality quizzes, surveys or prize drawings that show up on Facebook and elsewhere. The info they collect is harvested and your data can be sold or leased to third parties who now have personal information about you. You don’t want that!
Safer social media
Social media, including Facebook, can be a powerful promotional tool for anyone in the music industry. You may decide that some of the steps described here don’t apply to your situation, and you’re happy with the existing Facebook default settings. But now you know a simple way to check your settings to be sure they match your security comfort level.
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Preshias Harrisis a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com