🚫 How to avoid scams on Facebook // New features to increase engagement

Here's what you need to know... Greetings from beautiful BC, Canada, {NAME}! (Well, I started writing this in BC but am back home in Oregon now!) I just enjoyed a most lovely week visiting my mother in the [Kootenays]( where I grew up. 🇨🇦 I also got to spend more time with my dear sis and brother-in-law, Fiona and Stuart, the ones from Scotland on a yearlong sabbatical! They spent a month going up to Alaska and back. 🐻 So it was very special timing to have more quality time with them, too. Here's my Facebook [post](=) with an array of photos! = No matter how much our minds want us to keep working all hours and not let up on the gas pedal 🚀, it's so important to make the time for what's truly important in our personal lives, too. For me, that is definitely family! And travel, and nature time! 🌳☀️ [Of course, now that I'm back in my office, it's all systems GO! 💥 Prep for a big trip to Florida next month for a speaking engagement + launching my newest programs, long overdue! Stay tuned, I can hardly wait to share!!] How to spot scams on Facebook I'm not sure if you've noticed, but there's been a significant increase in scams doing the rounds on Facebook lately. 🚫 Please be VERY, VERY CAREFUL of clicking on *any* links or attachments in posts or DMs or comments (or emails). 🚫 It's all too easy to get duped these days as the scammers seem to be getting more and more tricky. You do NOT want to get hacked and lose access to your profile or business Page. Or have your credit card used to rack up sizable ad spend. Or fall for any kind of awful scam! I recently published [a very helpful post]( on my page with practical info on how to spot scams on Facebook and what to do if you come across suspicious DMs, posts, etc. Definitely have a read through and share with your community as well, please. [Beware of scams on Facebook!](=) New Facebook features aimed at increasing engagement (& time on site!) @tags You probably know about the @everyone tag in Facebook Groups. It can be super annoying if not used with the greatest of discretion. Thankfully, Facebook has made some minor edits to the feature since rolling it out some time ago. There was a mass exodus of tagged members leaving all manner of groups they'd long forgotten about... myself included! There are a few decent use cases for @everyone, e.g. a group that goes with a program where people have paid to join and you don't want them to miss an update. Well, now there are these @tags showing up that some Facebook users have access to as well: - @everyone (this is exclusively in groups) - @followers (for both business pages and personal profiles, as far as I know) - @friends (for personal profiles) - @attendees (for tagging all your Facebook event RSVPs - 'going' and may include 'interested') - @highlight (use this in a comment on any post by anyone and it sends a notification to all your friends... hmm!) All of these @tags can only be used once a day, as far as I know. Just as well. For the most part, getting tagged in random content just really irritates most people! Have you seen/heard of any other similar @tags on Facebook? (Other than, of course, actually tagging people, pages, places, groups, etc. which we've been able to do for eons). Messenger Notes Have you noticed the little Note 'bubbles' as I'm calling them inside your Messenger mobile app? Now you can add a very short (60 characters) message to catch the attention of your friends inside Messenger. Apparently this feature has been out for two months in Australia and one of my Aussie community members shared with me that she got two new clients as a result of using this feature. Neato! It is eye-catching. Your friends/followers don't get a notification. But each time your friends that you interact with regularly open up mobile Messenger, they'll see your Note at the top. Test out some fun messages and see what happens! Sidechat in Community chats I'm not sure if you partake of the Community chats feature - usually part of Facebook groups used through Messenger. Well, now a new feature started showing up recently where group chat members can spin off to start a 'sidechat.' Hm. So many rabbit holes, eh?! Honestly, these three new feature sets in Facebook / Messenger are ALL designed to woo (lure!) you into engaging more on the platforms. Meta is really trying out every possible trick to try and get people reengaging and increasing our time on site. Hm. What do you think? Have you tried any of these features? Cheers 'til the next time! Mari Smith CEO, Mari Smith International, Inc. Premier Facebook Marketing Expert Top Social Media Thought Leader Author, The New Relationship Marketing P.S. You're invited to come connect with me, my team, and your fellow marketers in my [Social Scoop Facebook Community](=) - celebrating 23k+ amazing members. Get support and practical input on all manner of social media topics. P.P.S. I'm speaking at the AWAI's Copywriting Success & Getting Clients Bootcamp in Florida, October 24-26. My session is 'Proven Social Media Success Strategies & Best Practices to SCALE Your Writing Business!' Although the live event is now sold out, would you like to [join us virtually with a streaming ticket]()?! Attend from the comfort of your own home/office for 3 action-packed days learning real-world copywriting skills and marketing techniques from today’s leading experts. I hope to see you there! NOTE: the AWAI Bootcamp is an affiliate tracking link. If you purchase your ticket through this link, I may receive a commission. If you have any questions or feedback, you can reply directly to this email. If you prefer not to receive any emails from me, click to [Unsubscribe]( from all communications, including my Social Scoop newsletter. [OR, you can update your details on that same link!] Mari Smith International, Inc. 1467 Siskiyou Blvd #7 Ashland, Oregon 97520 United States (858) 215-3001