Warning to those with Facebook pages ??+ Instagram, LinkedIn, Meta, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, & YouTube Updates

If you aren't already, be sure to subscribe to this weekly newsletter by clicking here to get the most important social media news and platform updates right to your inbox.

Stick around for the Social Media News to Use below. This week's top five (or more!) most important updates to help you grow your brand.

??? WARNING ??

Spam and phishing messages on Facebook have been around for a long time, but a lot of us who are admins on Facebook pages have seen a severe uptick in them within the last week or two. If you’ve noticed the same, you are not alone . The message might look like this:?

It’s frankly infuriating and I get so mad because completely innocent business owners and brand marketers are getting tricked by these spammers, clicking the links in the messages which are phishing links, and their whole account is now taken away from them because what these criminals do is reset your logins and passwords and you’re unable to access your account and is it incredibly difficult to reclaim your page through Meta.?

Here’s my forever warning which I also posted on my Facebook account . Also below are 3 actions you can take to potentially reduce messages like these.?? If you are an admin on a Facebook Page DO NOT EVER click on the link in any message that looks like this. ?

Facebook Pages have been getting inundated with these messages within the last week. I haven't seen anything official that says why these messages have become more frequent recently, but they are. ?

Just a friendly reminder to NEVER click on ANY link in a message, post, text, email, anywhere, unless you are 1,000,000,000% sure that it is a legit link from a reputable source. ?

If you ever have a question about a Facebook or Instagram message and/or potential phishing attempt, please send me a message. I'm happy to take a look and give you my advice. ?

I'm seeing people's Facebook pages getting taken away from them more frequently now and it's so sad because people are building businesses and brands here without a backup plan and it is VERY DIFFICULT to regain access to a page after it's been taken and logins and passwords have been changed. ?

There are ways to set up your account to be more secure including putting multiple partners and admins on your pages and making sure EVERYONE has two-factor authentication on.

3 Actions You Can Take:

I have tried these and it looks like they’re helping but I can’t guarantee that they will for you. They seem to be the most probable ways to reduce these annoying messages at the moment until Meta hopefully comes up with a more permanent solution.?

1. Turn messaging completely off for your page. In theory, this would eliminate the entire problem. Granted, this is only if you don’t ever utilize messages either inbound or outbound for your page. I realize turning these off is not an ideal option for a lot of businesses as many need their Facebook inbox to communicate. Here are instructions on how to turn them off. It could even be something you do temporarily. ?
2. Turn off the Guest Chat option. This is specific to those getting messages from users with the word “Guest” in them, usually the user will be named “Guest [random multi-digit number].” Here are instructions . ?
3. Utilize Country Restrictions on your page to not allow countries that you choose to be able to access your page. A lot of these spam accounts seem to be not US-based. The thought here is that it might be beneficial for the page to restrict access by country or only allow access by certain countries if it's truly not a global brand/Facebook page. Here are instructions on how to do that.

THE SCOOP

My next Level Up Your LinkedIn in-person SkillPop class is live! Join me .?

A big thank you to everyone who came to my Social Media Strategies for Business class this week.

There is nothing better for an educator at heart than to see a-ha moments in real-time.?

It was a room full of 25 deeply passionate professionals dedicated to helping others through their services, taking notes, asking questions, and lightbulbs going off in their heads. I can’t wait to see where their businesses go next. A special shoutout to Kaelia (on my left), @neuroconscious on Instagram. It was her birthday and she was spending part of it learning and adding to the warmth of that room.?

INSTAGRAM: Not the most earth-shattering update, but this will definitely come in handy those random times when you upload the Story prematurely and forget to put the link on it or wanted to use a different picture or video instead.

• You Can Now Cancel In-Progress Stories Uploads on Instagram [SocialMediaToday] ?

LINKEDIN: Only available for Company Pages for now.

• Sponsored article [sic] are now available on Linkedin! [@Baptiste Beauvisage, LinkedIn] ?

LINKEDIN: Additional ways to help those looking for a new job.

• LinkedIn Adds New Tools for Job Seekers, Including Job Preference Highlights and AI Assistant Tools [SocialMediaToday] ?

META: Monetization for Creators on the Meta platforms just got way more sophisticated and streamlined. This is super smart on Meta’s behalf because the easier they can make the business side of things for Creators, the more they will stick around on Facebook and Instagram.

• Meta Launches Tools To Facilitate Links Between Talent and Talent Managers [SocialMediaToday] ?

META: Listen up, advertisers.

• Meta To Remove More Detailed Targeting Options for Ad Campaigns [SocialMediaToday] ?

SNAPCHAT: More options for parents.

• Snapchat Announces New Parental Oversight and Management Improvements [SocialMediaToday]

?

SOCIAL MEDIA: I’m not a fan of this article’s headline, but the information is very important for those who touch podcasts in any way.

• The incredible shrinking podcast industry [SEMAFOR Blog]

?

SOCIAL MEDIA: Good refresher tips.

• How to Create Compelling Video Content From Home [LinkedIn Ads Blog]

?

TIKTOK: This tracks for me as well as I have noticed that I’ve gone to TikTok before Google a good number of times in the last six months.

• TikTok Gains Traction As A Search Engine Among Gen Z [STUDY] [Search Engine Journal]

?

TWITTER/X: “X is now a video-first platform…” Mr. Beast is testing it .

• Transforming the Global Town Square [Twitter / X Blog]

?

YOUTUBE: YouTube steadily continues to update their short-form video repurposing capabilities

• YouTube Adds Simplified Tools To Edit Long Form Clips Into Shorts [SocialMediaToday]

NEXT STEPS WITH ME

• Let's talk! Looking for social media coaching for you personally? Content strategy for your organization? Customized employee advocacy program? Workshops? Put a call on my calendar here . ?
• If you need a speaker at an event or a guest social media expert on your podcast, please send me details.

?