Can Someone Help Me Find My Parole Officer?
“Macro view of an urban person’s hand on a chain link fence in De Nieuwe Stad” by Mitchel Lensink on Unsplash
The names in this court of Facebook groups are not changed to protect the innocent. I am guilty as charged.
It was going to be a busy work day, and I had very little time to spare. I had just posted my latest blog post on my website, and now I needed to share it with my social media sites. A few quick clicks and I was almost done. Finally, I was left with the many Facebook groups that I’m in.You know, the ones that you are supposed to be an active member in. Isn’t that how you share your information in the blogging world when you are just getting started?“Join as many groups as you possibly can and share your information and blogs there.” I was told by overeager marketers.If you do this consistently, many people told me, you’ll find clients by the dozen!!!! (Umm, well…I painfully learned this wasn’t exactly true. But keep reading. You’ll understand soon enough.)
TWO FACEBOOK GROUPS LATER….
I see a lovely picture in another group, so I go to comment on it. Just a friendly comment about that picture, and BAM!Iron bars start climbing up around me. I hear the jangle of the keys locking me in. The nice wooden floor turns into bare concrete, and everyone is wearing orange jumpsuits…ok, ok, I’m being slightly facetious, but you get the point.This picture shows exactly what does pop up.
Screenshot Facebook Account — Personal Page, Johanna Galyen
Yes, down below, there is a button showing you how to file an appeal if there has been an error. Feel free to fill that out! Share your impassioned heart with Facebook of why this is completely wrong and you are innocent.Do it!And then guess what will happen?Nothing.You’ll still be in Facebook jail, stuck with your thoughts, rethinking that last post to a group, and wondering what went wrong!Here are the lessons I have learned through Facebook Jail
Read the Group Rules and follow them
The rules for the group can be pinned to the top of the page, on the right side-bar, or hidden in the note section of the group. It doesn’t matter where they are posted, you are responsible to find them. Read them. Memorize them, and possibly quote them.
You must obey the law, always, not only when they grab you by your special place. Vladimir Putin
Some groups are nice; they keep the instructions plain and simple. They let you know what you can share and when. Other ones make it interesting. Wednesdays are for selling (one might say), Saturdays you can share your blog post. The other days you can only post questions or informative pictures – just not anything that remotely belongs to you.Some people like hashtags. For example, #nospam #nopromo can begin or end the post which let the moderators know quickly whether they should allow your comment.If you’re wanting to do any political or religious posts?…well, you’d better read the next section
Follow the flavor and style of other member’s posts
Making sure you follow the rules are good…if each group was run by an impartial judge, but this is not the case. It is often run by multiple members who do this for free, in their spare time, in between watching children and running 3 other businesses.You need to make sure what you are posting fits perfectly with the flavor or theme of the group. If it’s a support group for depression, then it’s not a good idea to post your latest political pundit even if it is a really funny post.
Read The Whole Article here: How to Stay Out Of Social Media Jail
This is the second guest blog post in a guest author competition I am running here: Guest Competitions