Social Media Privacy Check Up – Part 1

Are you happy with your social media privacy settings?  Do you even know what they’re currently set to, let alone where to change them?

The good news is, most social media platforms have improved, simplified and clarified their privacy settings in recent years.  The bad news is, based on questions I’ve fielded in recent presentations and seminars, many users have yet to master these settings.  Among the questions I’ve been asked. . .

1. Should I create a 2nd LinkedIn profile if I’m considering a career in a different industry?
2. Is there a way I can hide my LinkedIn profile, or parts of it, so that someone doesn’t think I’m over-qualified?
3. Can I temporarily suspend my LinkedIn profile while I make certain changes?
4. Should I create a 2nd Facebook profile – one for fun and one for a professional footprint?
5. Should I create a Facebook business page for myself for professional purposes?

The short answer to each of the above is “No!”  If you take the time to learn and master your account privacy settings, there’s no need to create unnecessary duplication of profiles.  Not only would a duplicate profile violate user terms, in fact, profile duplication can do more harm than good.

Let’s start with LinkedIn.  To locate your LinkedIn privacy settings, you’ll want to click on the icon in the upper toolbar that contains your profile picture (if you haven’t uploaded a profile picture, click here!).  After clicking on that icon, select “Privacy & Settings” from the drop-down menu.  Privacy & Settings is split into three distinct areas: Account, Privacy, Communications.

While you should check each and every setting, in particular, here are the ones you’ll want to review:

Under Account/Basics:

1.  Name, location and industry:  See how this information appears to other people on LinkedIn and make changes, if needed.

Under Privacy/Profile Privacy:

1.  Edit your public profile:  Control how you appear when people search for you on Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc. as well as which profile contents are displayed (picture, headline, websites, posts, summary, current position and details, past positions and details, volunteer experiences and causes, projects, skills, education and details, recommendations, and groups).  You can also make changes to your profile summary, which is especially helpful if you want to describe a change in career focus.
2. Sharing profile edits:  As you make changes to your profile, you can turn off the notifications to your network that would ordinarily accompany each change as it’s made.
3. Profile viewing mode:  When you view someone’s profile, do you want them to see your name, location, industry and headline?  Or do you prefer generic characteristics?  Or do you prefer complete stealth mode?

You cannot temporarily suspend your LinkedIn account, so make sure you adjust your settings accordingly.  As a way to check how your settings impact the information that’s visible in your profile, you’ll want to go to Profile in your main toolbar and then select Edit Profile.  The blue button next to your profile picture will say “View profile as.”  Click that button and in the white toolbar that appears under the black toolbar, toggle between connections and public (those you’re not connected to).

Don’t forget that the value of LinkedIn lies in being found and finding others.  The more active you are and the more information you include, the more valuable of a tool it becomes.

In my next post, I’ll address how your privacy settings in Facebook can help answer the questions that I’ve fielded in recent seminars I’ve given.

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The Most Surprising LinkedIn Tip

Tuesday evening I had the privilege of presenting “Advanced LinkedIn:  Hints, tips and tricks to take your LinkedIn skills from beginner to advanced!” to patrons of the Penfield Public Library.  It was a large crowd (as far as these types of presentations typically go) that was very engaged with many great questions asked.

In the course of 90+ minutes I covered how to create a customized and robust personal profile, how to create and save advanced searches, how to find groups and customize group settings and numerous other hints, tips and tricks.

When you’re presenting to a group of people, you learn to “read” the audience in terms of which points are resonating and which you might need to explain or clarify in further detail.  While I provided well over 20 tips throughout the evening, there was one in particular that seemed to generate the most “a-ha!” reactions among the attendees. . .

LinkedIn defaults the news feed on your home page to “Top Updates” (i.e., those with higher engagement levels . . . likes, comments and/or shares).  While it’s great to see what’s popular in your network, many people want to check their news feed for recent updates.  LinkedIn doesn’t make it easy to change from Top Updates to Recent Updates.  You need to locate the ••• symbol located between “Publish a post” and the first item in your news feed (see red box area in the screen capture above).

When you click that symbol it allows you to change from top updates to recent updates.  However, this setting is not permanent or “sticky” so each time you navigate away from your news feed, you’ll need to change it if you wish to see recent updates.

If you attended my presentation, was there a different tip or trick that you thought was even more eye-opening?  If so, please mention it in the comments and I’ll build a future post around it to share with others!

 

Detecting Fake LinkedIn Profiles

On Good Morning America yesterday, they ran a story on how scammers are targeting job search sites (LinkedIn, Indeed, etc.).  After watching that clip, you might wonder how someone could fall victim to such a scam.  It’s easy to be skeptical of email scams because they’ve been in existence almost as long as email itself.  But when it comes to social media scams, it’s sometimes a little harder to  discern.  After all, you have a level of trust with your connections and they couldn’t possibly share something false or harmful.  Right?  Wrong!

I regularly receive LinkedIn requests from people I do not know or have never met.  Since I’m not a LION (LinkedIn Open Networker), I tend to be selective when determining whether or not to accept the request.  I’ve been a member of LinkedIn since October 2007 and I’d like to think my “scam detector” is pretty accurate after all of these years.

A few weeks ago, I received a LinkedIn connection request that immediately had several red flags.  The top 3 concerns I had were:

1. The first thing I noticed was that this person claimed to be a professional in my industry.  While I have an extensive established network, especially in the marketing field, I do not know everyone.  Yet, we had at least 10 connections in common.  Supposedly.
2. The second thing that caught my eye was the use of ALL CAPS for her first name.  That’s certainly not a guarantee of a fake profile since some people intentionally do little tricks with how their name is displayed to stand out.  And, stand out she did.
3. The third thing I noticed was how glamorous her profile picture was.  This wasn’t just a picture of an attractive person – she looked like a movie star!  And surprise, surprise, the picture IS of a movie star.  Emily Blunt, meet your alias, NAOMI Thomas.  How did I figure that out?  By using a reverse image search on Google!  This page from Google Support explains how to do that.

So now that you know how to conduct a reverse image search, I suggest you search for your own profile picture to make sure a scammer isn’t using your image for dishonest purposes.  After all, images of regular users are less likely to raise suspicion than a movie star.  If you find your image being used by a scam account, report it to that website immediately.  And as for NAOMI Thomas?  LinkedIn has removed her profile.  🙂

Are You Missing Facebook Content?

During a recent conference call for a consulting project I’m working on, someone asked why he wasn’t seeing Facebook updates in his News Feed for a business page he had liked.  He assumed (as most do) that by simply liking the page he’d automatically see their posts.  It’s a great question and one that has two answers!

The first answer has to do with Facebook’s complicated and relatively secretive algorithm.   The easiest way to see more content from a business page you’ve liked is to engage with their posts (like, comment and/or share).  The more you engage with their content, the more Facebook will show you their content in your News Feed.

The second method is also easy but not as obvious to many users.  In just three steps, you can ensure you’ll see posts from a Facebook page you’ve liked!

1. If you go back through your Facebook News Feed, “hover” your mouse over the logo or name in the News Feed. It will bring up a box that will show the cover image, how many/which friends also like the site, and there will be 3 buttons (Liked, Following, Message).
2. Hover your mouse over the Liked button within that box and it will drop down a menu (Get notifications, Add to Interest Lists, Unlike).
3. Click on “Get notifications” and you’ll be sure to see all postings from that page regardless of Facebook’s complex algorithm that computes what it thinks you want to see!

I’ve included a screen shot that shows what this box and drop-down menu looks like. You can do this for any page you’ve liked on Facebook and if you ever change your mind about a page, simply un-click this preference setting (or even unlike the page entirely).

If you’re unable to locate a previous post for the page in your News Feed, you can go directly to the Facebook page for the company by conducting a search.  Once on their page, hovering over the “Liked” button (“Liked” button is immediately below the cover photo) will give you the same drop-down menu mentioned in Step 2 above.

Of course, Facebook changes their site features and settings frequently and their mobile apps work differently than the main site.  I hope this helps you with your Facebook experience.  If you’re wondering about filtering content in your News Feed for friends, I’ve written about that in this post.

My Top Ten Posts for 2013

The New Year holiday is often a time for reflection and for looking ahead.  While circumstances prevented me from blogging as much as I wanted, I still had a successful blogging year!  Below are my top 10 posts (number of views) written in 2013:

10)  Do You Have A Twin On LinkedIn?  Why duplicate profiles exist on LinkedIn and how you can remedy it if you have a duplicate profile.

9)  The $209,200 Question  My answer to the question, “What is the skill a graduating senior would need most in order to secure employment?”

8)  We Take Care of Our Own  What do Bruce Springsteen and networking have in common?

7)  The Value Of First Impressions  How first impressions of schools and universities participating in a college fair passed/failed.

6)  The Secret to a Successful Job Search  My answer to the question, “If you had to narrow down all of the various pieces of job search advice into the singular most important thing someone could do, what would that one thing be?”

5)  Twitter Players  What’s a “twitter player” and how do you spot one?

4)  Follow Up To:  LinkedIn Policy Is Guilty Until Proven Innocent  Responding to reader questions for more information, this follow-up post provides additional detail on LinkedIn’s #swam policy.

3)  Check Your Facebook Privacy Settings Ahead of Graph Search  A review of how to check and change your Facebook privacy settings.

2)  LinkedIn Policy Is Guilty Until Proven Innocent  This was the most commented on post I wrote in 2013, which criticizes LinkedIn’s Site Wide Automatic Moderation (#swam) policy for group posts.

1)  Recent Examples of PR – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly  In any given week, if you look for it, you’ll find examples of public relations; good, bad and ugly.  Here’s what I found at the time . . .

As 2013 winds to a close, I wish my readers a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014.  Thank you for reading, commenting and sharing my posts this year.  I look forward to sharing my knowledge, expertise and thoughts with you in 2014.

The Secret to a Successful Job Search

Job seekers are often told that the secret to finding a job is through networking.  I believe that’s very true.  However, these factors are also important:  job boards, recruiters, a good resume, your digital footprint (LinkedIn profile, etc.) and continuing education.  But, the common thread that weaves through all of these important resources is networking.

When networking, I’m a firm believer in two guiding principles:

1. You must give to get
2. Quality is more important than quantity

Want to know what’s even more important than networking?  Want to know what’s the secret to a successful job search?  You must tell your network that you’re looking for employment!  I recently learned that two friends lost their jobs, but I learned of this somewhat after the fact and indirectly.  Job seekers – your network cannot help you if they don’t know you’re looking for work!

Losing a job can be a hit to the ego, in addition to the checkbook.  I’ve been there; I understand that.  You don’t need a billboard to announce your availability and you certainly don’t want to be over-the-top with your announcement.  That can make you appear desperate, which can backfire.  However, here are four things you should do immediately.

1. Update/Change your LinkedIn profile.  Some job seekers are worried about showing a gap in their employment history.  While that’s understandable, it’s worse to be misleading and confuse people who can help.  Make sure you make it easy for people to contact you!
2. Contact your friends and family.  Who’s more likely to help when you need help – friends and family or casual acquaintances?  Most people “take care of their own” first, but they can’t help if they don’t know.  Call or send them a private message – but be specific with your ask!  I have 150+ friends on Facebook, but I probably know the career paths of less than 25% of them because our relationship on Facebook isn’t for professional reasons.  If interested, there are Facebook apps that can facilitate this.
3. Contact your professional connections.  LinkedIn allows you to send messages to those you are connected to, so why not take advantage of this and touch base with your connections?  Remember the “give to get” philosophy of networking, so your message should not be all about you.  If you expect help, you should offer help first.  If you’ve been a ghost in your network, then I’m afraid you’re about to learn a very hard lesson at an unfortunate time.
4. Update recruiters you’re connected with on your search, the positions you’re looking for and the companies you’re interested in.  Make sure to ask them how frequently they wish to be updated (typically it’s monthly, but ask) about your search and interests.  Be sure to schedule and conduct those follow-ups to stay top of mind!

My question to those who have successfully navigated the job search waters is this . . . If you had to narrow down all of the various pieces of job search advice into the singular most important thing someone could do, what would that one thing be?

Do You Have A Twin On LinkedIn?

Do you have a twin on LinkedIn, or have you ever found someone on LinkedIn with a duplicate profile?  It’s more common than you might think.  There are a few ways this can happen:

Accidentally . . . . It generally happens because someone creates a profile with one email address, then is invited to connect by someone who sends the connection request to a different email address.  LinkedIn has no idea that the two email addresses belong to the same individual, so it prompts that person to create a profile using that second email address.

Intentionally. . . . Someone creates a profile using an email address, but then they lose access to that email address (i.e., a work email at an employer they no longer work for).  Since they can’t access that account, they start over with a new profile but don’t take the time to delete the original profile.

Needless to say, a duplicate profile is confusing for people looking to connect with you.  And whether accidental or intentional, having a duplicate profile isn’t great for your personal branding, because it gives the impression that you’re not technologically savvy.

The best way to avoid a duplicate profile is to provide LinkedIn with all of your email addresses.  You then have the ability to select which one you display publicly on your profile.  Then no matter which email someone uses to send an invitation to connect, LinkedIn will know it’s you.  Here’s how you do that:

1. Go to settings (hover your cursor above your name, above the search box in the upper right hand corner).
2. Once on your settings page, scroll down and select “Account” in the bottom window.
3. You’ll see a section for “Email & Password” with an option for “Add & change email addresses” which you’ll want to select.
4. Follow the instructions per the screen capture below.

If you already have a duplicate profile, there’s no way to merge the two together.  Your best bet is to pick the one you want to keep.  Generally it’s the one with more connections and/or recommendations.  Looking at the profile you plan to delete, see if there are connections you have which you do not have on the profile you plan to keep.  You’ll want to send them a customized invitation to connect on the profile you plan to keep.

When you’re satisfied that you can delete one of your accounts, you’ll find that setting in the same general area under settings, then account (pertinent areas highlighted in pink):

Once it’s deleted it’s gone, so be sure you’re ready to delete!  If you’re in a situation where you can’t access the profile you want to delete (i.e., you no longer have the password and/or access to the email associated with the profile, etc.) you’ll want to contact LinkedIn customer support to explain the situation.  Long-time readers of my blog know that I haven’t always had great luck with LinkedIn customer support, so be patient.  🙂

Check Your Facebook Privacy Settings Ahead of Graph Search

You may have heard Facebook’s recent announcement about Graph Search.  It’s currently being beta tested, but it will allow you to search Facebook for people, places, photos and interests.  It’s Facebook’s attempt to take on Google’s powerful search engine.

Now (before this feature is released to the masses) is as good a time as any to make sure your privacy settings are set the way you want them to be.  Perhaps the easiest way to check your settings is to use the padlock symbol in the upper right portion of the Facebook toolbar.

As a first step, check each of the three areas that appear in the drop-down privacy settings box as shown in the picture above.  I tend to limit my posts to friends-only (you can always change this on a per-post basis).  You can always view your profile as someone else sees it, if you’re uncertain as to what the settings mean.

As a second step, review who can contact you and how you’d like your messages filtered to your inbox.  Next, you’ll want to click on the link at the bottom of the drop-down privacy settings box titled “see more settings”.  Are you comfortable with who can look you up using the email address and/or phone number you provided (if you did provide such info)?  Now’s the time to edit that info and/or change that setting if you want.

The last setting under “Who can look me up?” (see image below) allows search engines to find your profile and link to your timeline.  I have mine turned off and I’m guessing you may want to as well if you’re concerned about privacy.

Lastly, you’ll want to review the apps that you’ve given access to.  Do you still use all of them?  Are you comfortable with them making posts on your behalf?  You’ll want to remove the apps you no longer use and check the settings for the ones you keep.  This can all be done by clicking on the apps link (left-hand column in the picture above).  In addition to the apps you use, make sure you review the settings for “Apps others use.”

Filtering Facebook

If you’re active on Facebook and have friends like I do, you’re encountering plenty of “soapboxers” who believe their political commentary and posts will somehow magically persuade you to vote for their presidential candidate in less than two months.  On a personal note, I can’t wait until I can once again enjoy pictures of cats, pictures of kids and postcards with snarky quotes without having to navigate articles that are obviously and blatantly biased for one side of the aisle or the other.  😉

If you feel that way too, the good news is you don’t have to wait until after the election is over!  Here are two areas in Facebook where you can filter what you see.

The first is to filter the ads in the right-hand column/panel.  If you hover over the ad, a small “x” will appear to the right.  If you click on the ad, it will remove it and you’ll have the opportunity to provide Facebook with information on why you chose to remove it.  In theory, Facebook will learn your likes/dislikes to show you advertising you’re interested in.  Since Facebook is a free site, advertising is one of the ways it makes money, so the ads are not going away.  You might as well see ads that are interesting.

A second is to limit the content by specific friends.  To do this, go to your friend’s timeline or find a recent post of theirs in your feed.  Hover over their picture and then hover over the “friends” button.  Then click on settings.  From there, you can control the frequency of updates (all updates, most updates, only important updates) as well as the type of updates you see (life events, status updates, photos, games, comments and likes, music and videos, other activity).

As with most social media sites, there’s often more than one way to change settings, so it’s not limited to the method I’ve detailed above.  The Facebook filter is not an ideal one, but it’s better than nothing.  When you’re ready to un-filter that soapboxing friend, the steps are the same.

I can say that once I filtered some friends, Facebook became more enjoyable.  Have you filtered content or friends yet?

6 Ways To A More Contact-Friendly LinkedIn Profile (Part 2)

In the first part to this post, I covered three areas you can and should update to make it easier for people to contact you on LinkedIn.  If you haven’t read that post yet, I encourage you to do so now, as it contains an important overview on where to check/change your various profile settings and preferences.

The first three are in the prior post, so let’s jump right into areas four, five and six of your profile that you can change to make it easier for others to contact you on LinkedIn:

4)  Do you have groups displayed?  You don’t need to display all groups that you belong to, but you should display a few core groups.  Select settings in the drop-down menu next to your name in the upper right part of your home page.  Then go to Profile.  To the right you’ll see “Helpful Links:  Edit Your Profile.”  Scroll down to the groups section on your profile.  Next to each of the groups you belong to should be a link for “change visibility.”  If you click on that link, it will bring you to the “your settings” page for that group.  The first setting is visibility (the red highlighted box in the screen capture below).  Select or deselect accordingly.

5)  Do you allow group members to contact you?  If groups are moderated well, spam shouldn’t be an issue.  If it is, notify the group manager or leave the group.  If you’re open to being contacted for the opportunities you’ve specified, this is the easiest way to facilitate that.  Follow the steps outlined in the previous point and review the settings in the green highlighted box of the screen capture above.

6)  You can always add contact information to your summary.  Select settings in the drop-down menu next to your name in the upper right part of your home page.  Then go to Profile.  To the right you’ll see “Helpful Links:  Edit Your Profile.”  Scroll down to the Summary Section of your profile and click the edit link.  You can add contact information as part of your summary should you so choose.  The advantage is someone will still have your contact information even if they don’t share group membership with you.  However, depending on your personal preference, that could be a disadvantage.  Adding contact information here is somewhat controversial among LinkedIn “experts.”

What sections of your LinkedIn profile have you improved as a result of this post or Part 1?  What other areas of your profile have you utilized to make it easier for others to contact you?