BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR F.M. MEREDITH

Wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother F. M. Meredith, who is also known as Marilyn Meredith, is nearing a staggering 40 published books. Though the Rocky Bluff she writes about is fictional, she lived for over twenty-years in a similar small beach town. Many of her family and friends are in law enforcement, giving her plenty of resources when researching her books. Learn more about F.M. at her website and blog. Today she joins us with some very important advice about social media in general and Facebook in particular. 

Big Mistakes People Make Using Facebook

Facebook is great! I post on it first thing in the morning and often several times during the day.

I have lots of friends and love reading what they are doing, how they think, and seeing photos of them, their children and grandchildren and their activities. However, I also see things they should never put on Facebook.

Never, never complain about your job or your co-workers and most especially not your boss. Even if your boss or none of your co-workers are your friends on Facebook, a comment you or someone else makes on the post could be sent to someone you didn’t want to see what you said. I’ve known people who’ve lost their job because of this.

The same goes for telling about your heavy drinking or picking up someone of the opposite sex, or revealing too much about your love life.  Jobs have been lost over this—the boss finds out you aren’t the person he/she thought you were.

Don’t complain about your spouse or make fun of him or her publicly unless it’s kind-hearted jesting. Even if your spouse doesn’t do Facebook, someone will be sure to tell him or her about the unflattering or demeaning remarks. Unless you want to get rid of your spouse, don’t do this.

Authors, try your best not to misspell or use bad grammar in your posts or when you’re blogging. I’ve been guilty of it—I know that even when you proofread, mistakes are overlooked. If you find something has slipped by you, fix it, or if you can’t fix it, acknowledge it.

Also for authors, don’t bad-mouth your industry professionals publicly. They all know each other and you might not have such an easy time finding a new one if you become known as a troublesome writer.

Don’t write nasty stuff about people who don’t believe the same way you do, whether it’s politics or religion. You can’t convince anyone to change to your way of thinking by a post you write on Facebook, and chances are you may alienate half your friends.

Since I put all these negative things down, here are a few things I think you should do:

Write positive posts when possible. If you’re going through hard times or going to have an operation or are sick, it’s fine to ask for prayers. I do it a lot for people, usually for relatives —though there are times it may be better not to identify the person by name.

It’s fine to tell what you’re doing, where you’re going, what’s happening while you’re there—and yes, include photos. (Anastasia stepping in here: It’s never a good idea to post where you are when you’re away from home. People have come home from vacation or a night out to find their house has been robbed because they let the world know they weren’t home.) Personally, I love to know what people are cooking or ordering in restaurants. Tell me about your kids accomplishments and the new babies that are born.

I write a lot about what I plan to do for the day because it helps me to actually do it.

Writers, I do want to hear about your new book, great reviews you’ve received, places you’re going to be for book signings and other appearances.

What kind of posts do you not like to see on Facebook?  What do you like?

Contest: Once again, the person who comments on the most blogs during this tour, can have a character named after them in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery. Tomorrow you can find me here:

http://seritastevens.org/?cat=1

A Crushing Death

A pile of rocks is found on a dead body beneath the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the new police chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for violent attacks on women, and Detective Milligan’s teenage daughter has a problem.

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