Nikita’s Story: SnapMaps
Nikita talks about changing her Snapchat settings to feel happy about using SnapMaps.
Support if you are feeling hurt by posts, comments, photos, tags or other forms of ongoing harassment and you are not sure how to stop it.
Some things to think about
What are the default settings?
When you first set up a new Social Media account, check what the default settings are (these are the settings that are there before you make any changes)
For example, on by default on Facebook photos you are tagged in are available publicly (even if your account is private).
Your account and all of your photos are public by default on Instagram for photos are also on by default whereas on Snapchat, the default settings are that only your friends can send you snaps and see your story.
Then take some time to change your settings to suit you best and to give you some privacy.
Manage my personal information
Think about the personal information that you make available publicly.
Don’t feel like just because there are options for you to put your school, place of work, interests and contact details that you have to.
Is this information that you would like a stranger to be able to see?
Include the compulsory information and then keep the other information private or ‘for friends only’.
Consider using two factor authentication
If there is the option to enable two factor authentication so that your account has more security.
This means that you need your password plus a randomly generated code, usually texted to your phone, to log into your account.
For example on Facebook, go to the downward arrow on the top right of the screen -> Settings -> Security -> ‘Login Approvals’ to enable this.
Manage Tagging and who can post to your Timeline
Take charge of who can tag you on your different Social Media Accounts
You can avoid embarrassing posts or photos showing up with your name tagged or on your timeline by making sure that only you can post on your timeline, or that only you can see what people post on your timeline, and that you can approve any tagged images before they show up on your profile.
On Facebook you can choose whether posts you’re tagged in appear on your Timeline using ‘Timeline Review’.
Keep in mind that posts you’re tagged in appear straight away on the timeline of the person that made the post and can also show up in News Feed, search and other places on Facebook.
When people you’re not friends with tag you in a post, they automatically go to Timeline review.
If you’d also like to review tags by friends, you can turn on Timeline review for tags from anyone. To turn on Timeline review:
- Click the downwards arrowhead icon at the top right of any Facebook page and select Settings
- In the left column, click Timeline and Tagging
- Look for the setting Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your Timeline? and click Edit to the far right
- Select Enabled from the dropdown menu
On Instagram, you can choose whether photos you’re tagged in appear on your profile automatically or if you manage these manually.
When you choose to manage photos manually, they’ll only appear on your profile after you approve them.
By default, when someone tags a photo or video of you, it will automatically be added to your profile.
To manually select the photos that appear on your profile:
- Go to your profile and tap the figure in the box
- Tap the THREE DOTS in the top-right corner
- Select Tagging Options
- Tap Add Automatically or Add Manually
If you choose to add photos to your profile manually, you’ll still be notified when someone tags you in a photo.
To add that photo to your profile, tap on the photo, then tap your username and select Show on My Profile.
