Writers use Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to market their work. You want to meet new people, and you want potential readers to know you. But, how do you protect yourself from those who might want to do you harm instead? Today, John concentrates on Facebook safety, but these pointers apply to any online networking site.

• Make sure your profile is secured. Go into the settings for your account and adjust how open your profile is to others. Choose what information and content is visible to certain user groups. Set your profile and content to be viewable only to friends. This way, strangers and others whom you may not know can’t access and view your information.
• Don’t “friend” people you don’t know. This is simply common sense. You wouldn’t call a random phone number and tell a stranger every detail about your life. Would you invite a stranger into your home to go through your family photo albums and find out about your everyday routine? However, many people will confirm people as Facebook friends that they’ve never even met in real life! If someone whom you don’t know adds you as a friend, you can ignore the request.
• Be careful what applications you use. Facebook applications may request permission to access things such as your profile and personal information in order for the application to work. You can choose to allow this, or you can back out and cancel. Be wise when using applications. Companies can potentially invade your privacy if you click “allow” without truly knowing what the application will be doing.
• Be careful what you post. Some things you shouldn’t post on Facebook include the following. Don’t tell when you are going to be gone or out of town. Never post a status along the lines of “Going on vacation next week.” This alerts all your Facebook “friends” that your house will be vacant and they can potentially break in. For people you really need to know that you’ll be gone, just email them instead. Don’t post your address. If you are inviting friends over or posting about a party, don’t post the address as a general status. You should instead send it to each invited person individually. Don’t post your phone number. It could potentially get spread around so that telemarketers or complete strangers could be calling you. Before you post something, read over it and make sure that it doesn’t give away private information that might put you in jeopardy.
• Be careful what you click on. If you see a post or a message from one of your friends that doesn’t seem like something they would normally post, don’t click on it. Just like other websites, Facebook can be used to spread malware. It may appear one of your friends has posted a link, maybe a video or a link to a website. When you click on it, your computer may become infected with a virus that may be spread to your other Facebook friends. These links, once they have been clicked on, can be automatically posted on your friend’s walls or sent to them in a message allowing the infectious virus or malware to spread to their computer, too. These links can be especially awful if they contain inappropriate content, and it looks like you sent it.

Using your head and these tips, you can enjoy Facebook and other networking sites without worry. Remember, it’s always better to be safe than sorry!

My Facebook friends include long-time friends, family, and writers/editors/publishers. I joined because a writer’s conference I planned to attend had set up a Facebook group. At first, I thought I would limit Facebook friends to writers, editors, and publishers. However, I soon found out that I had many long-lost friends on Facebook, so I decided to include them. Since I joined Facebook to promote my writing, it stands to reason that I want everyone who knows me to know about my blogs. So, why leave anyone out just because they’re not involved in the publishing industry?

Promote your blog: I have several blogs, and I often post an announcement that there’s a new post on a blog. This nets me higher traffic on the blog for a day or so after I post. I’m not getting many e-mail subscribers for my blogs from Facebook as I had hoped. It’s possible that I may be getting subscribers by RSS feed, which I cannot track. But, the increase in traffic, even if temporary, is worth the effort.

Promote your published work: Many published authors use Facebook to keep readers informed by setting up a group. Check out Rita Gerlach’s group for her recent novel, Surrender the Wind. I’m not sure whether you’ll get to see comments of fans unless you log in, but try the link anyway. For fiction writers, building a fan base like this is a must. You want your fans to be ready and willing to buy your next book when it comes out.

Non-fiction writers can post announcements about articles published in print or provide links to work published online. In addition, a non-fiction write can use a topic-based or cause-based group to build contacts. As group owner, you can post updates on your topic or cause, thereby keeping your expertise in that topic in front of your readers. See United Methodist Committee on Relief and Power of Prayer.

Priming the pump: In commenting on other people’s posts, I’ve had interesting Facebook conversations on topics that I’d never have a chance to discuss in person. Just yesterday, a friend posted a comment about an experience she had. I commented on it and received updates throughout the day. By the end of the day, I had an idea for a new article based on the topic that was discussed.

I welcome comments about your experiences marketing yourself and your work on Facebook. Next post: Twitter

Social media are a great way to build your contact list. Although there are several options, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn seem to be the most popular with writers. The first two can be used to network with publishing industry folks as well as friends and family. LinkedIn is more for networking with other professionals. There’s a great article on the Writers’ Digest site entitled “A Writer’s Guide to Social Networking” that covers these three social media. Take a look at this article this week, and I’ll write about my own experiences with them in my next post.

Meanwhile, for those of you who have not tried social media, follow the links below to how-to information on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin:

Ehow/Facebook or Butterscotch.com/Facebook

Butterscotch.com/Twitter

Butterscotch.com/LinkedIn

First, Wikipedia defines Social media thusly: “Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and perspectives. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. These sites typically use technologies such as blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, and vlogs to allow users to interact.”

Twitter: Let’s look at Twitter first, since it’s the simplest of the social media. Follow these links to learn how to Twitter and how it’s used by other Christian writers.

How to Twitter

Twitter and the Christian writer

Lee Warren’s thoughts on Twitter

See my Twitter page, and follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/emilyakin

Facebook: You can do more with Facebook. Your posts can be longer, and you can add photos and notes about yourself. Start with the how-to videos, and then check out how other writers use Facebook.

Videos on how to use Facebook

Facebook for Writers

My Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/emilyakin

And finally, advice on how to manage your time on social media:

General Social Media Tips for Writers

I invite comments from writers on this post. As I said, I’m not sure it’s helping me promote my writing, but I’d like to hear about the experiences of others. Comments are moderated, so, if you do comment, it may be a few hours before your comment appears here.