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N E W S , T R E N D S , & T O O L S F O R R E A LT O R S ®
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How To Stay Safe Online BY TEAH HOPPER ® Everyone should take online safety seriously, but Realtors must be especially cautious on the Internet. The nature of the real estate industry means that your location is often public, and that you likely have a wider audience than many of your friends and followers. Social media is an incredible tool for Realtors®, and when you use it safely it becomes even better. So, let’s talk about how to stay safe online.
Know your accounts. Do you have a Facebook Business Page for your real estate posts? If not, you should make one. Facebook Business Pages are known for their marketing capabilities, but they also allow you to keep your personal and professional posts separate. This means that you can choose to keep private information, like details on family vacations, exclusively on your personal page, where you have more control over who sees each post. (Yes, you can actually change the privacy setting of each individual post.) Just keep in mind that Facebook Business Pages are always public, so the items you share are available for all to see. This is great for listings, but for personal details? Not so much! Instagram also has privacy features. You can make your account public, which means that everyone can see your posts, or private, which keeps your posts hidden until you accept someones request to follow you. I do recommend if you use Instagram that you keep your account public and only share information you are okay sharing publicly. But if you prefer to make your account private, navigate to “settings” on the Instagram app. With a private account, if you reject a person’s follow request, they will not be able to see your photos.
Check your privacy settings. Many social media accounts default to hyper-public settings, so it’s important to alter them to fit your needs. To change your Facebook privacy preferences, navigate to “settings,” then click “privacy.” Here you can customize everything from who can see your posts to who can send you friend requests. Take the time to review and update your settings. 4
Bay State REALTOR®
Take the time to review and update your settings.
