Facebook Orientation

From Missionary Standards for Disciples of Jesus Christ: Supplemental Information 7.5.6:

• "Make sure your social media accounts reflect your purpose and calling as a missionary.

• Ensure your profile picture and the individuals and groups you follow show that you are one of the Lord’s missionaries.

• Do not create a second account on a social media site to avoid making changes to an existing account. This is a violation of the user agreement for many social media sites.

• Do not use the title “Elder” or “Sister” in your account name. Titles like these are not allowed by some social media platforms.

• Focus on meaningful, one-on-one interactions instead of getting “likes” or having your message shared online.

• Do not imply that your posts are official Church communications.

• Protect your own privacy. Be careful when sharing your schedule and location online. Be careful about people you accept into your social network; some individuals will exploit missionaries.

• Protect the privacy of others. If you want to post something about someone you are working with, you need to ask for his or her permission (either verbally or in writing) before posting anything that mentions him or her by name or includes his or her picture (see 3.7). Because of local privacy laws, in some missions missionaries are not allowed to publicly share photos of those they are teaching."

Click on the links and read the sub-bullets for further instructions. Refer back to the principles for using social media to best set up your account for missionary use.

1. Create an Account

• Click here for instructions on how to create an account.

2. Set Appropriate Privacy Settings

• • • Missionaries are a prime target for those wish to cause trouble on social media. To avoid problems:

      • Make sensitive information private (birth year, hometown, high school, college, relationship status etc.)

      • Make your friends list private

      • Hide pictures that give away sensitive information

    • On your computer, go to Settings, then Privacy Checkup in Facebook or click here and then click on each tile to adjust your privacy settings now.

3. Add Friends

• • • Click here for instructions on how to add friends

    • Find and add at least 10 friends

4. Post something to your News Feed

• • Click here for instructions on your homepage and your newsfeed.

  • Click here for instructions on how to post photo(s) and/or video(s)

5. Send someone a Facebook message

• Click here for instructions on sending messages

You could also:

1. Add a picture to your Story

2. Follow at least 1 church-related page

3. Join at least 1 church-related group

4. Review "How to Participate with Missionaries on Social Media"