{"id":96598,"date":"2025-02-13T05:22:11","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T10:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=96598"},"modified":"2025-02-13T08:44:03","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T13:44:03","slug":"__trashed-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=96598","title":{"rendered":"Communications Column – February 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Walter Boomsma<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
207 343-1842
Communications Directo<\/em><\/strong>r<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Facebook and Social Media for Granges<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot everyone uses Facebook!\u201d<\/strong> Yes, I hear that cry. In fact, most of the Grangers I know personally do not. However, National Grange is becoming increasingly enamored of it, and we do have some Granges in Maine with Facebook Pages and Groups. Therefore, I\u2019m devoting just one column to some essential things you should know. Just this week, I had an inquiry about a message from a Grange received accusing them of a trademark violation. It was a scam. The general consensus is that scams are increasing on Facebook and in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One prevalent one on Facebook concerns methods for you to \u201cprotect\u201d what you post and limit what Facebook can do with it. In short, it doesn\u2019t work. Since, as a writer, I frequently deal with copyright and intellectual property, I try to explain to people that if you post something on Facebook, you have given up all control of it. The minute you use FB, you\u2019ve agreed to their TOS (terms of service), which no one ever reads. That means you\u2019ve agreed they can use anything you post pretty much in any way FB sees fit. The TOS is effectively a contract between you and them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of this, If I write something that I want to keep the rights to, I only post it on the website I own. I may post a link to the article on Facebook, but not the article itself. That doesn\u2019t stop someone else from posting it. Now, if they do post the article, THEY (the person who posted my article) have violated MY copyright. Facebook is not guilty or responsible. Remember, Facebook has the right to anything posted, and you can\u2019t change that agreement! (One reason they are claiming not to fact-check is liability reduction.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this happens, I could sue the person who posted it, but Facebook is pretty much off the hook. The point here is to understand the media you are using and use it responsibly. Simply put, you do not have the right to distribute someone else\u2019s property without their permission. Think twice before posting something you don\u2019t \u201cown\u201d on Facebook or other social media. The simple workaround is to post a link to the original material and not the material itself. Contrary to popular opinion, Facebook is not your friend. They don\u2019t exist just so you can stay in touch with friends. In fact, the more \u201cfriends\u201d you have, the better it is for them\u2014even if those friends aren\u2019t who you think they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That leads us to a second important point. You really should consider hiding your friend list on Facebook.<\/strong> When you are hacked or cloned (there is a difference), the person doing it is not after you; they are after your friends. When you leave your friend list available to the public, you only make Facebook happy while exposing your friends to more scams. It\u2019s like saying, \u201cThese people are my friends\u2014if you pretend to be me, you might be able to take advantage of them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll admit that I am not a huge fan of social media, but it can serve some great purposes. But it should be used cautiously and consciously. That\u2019s not always easy, and it\u2019s important to remember that Facebook\u2019s and your interests do not always align.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the attractions of Facebook is how easy it is to use. I know someone who almost everyday posts, \u201cDoes anybody know what the weather will be like today?\u201d I\u2019m always tempted to answer, \u201cYes! I checked the NOAA forecast!\u201d Easy doesn\u2019t mean safe or smart. You have been warned! (By the way, most scams are easy to fall into; that\u2019s why they work!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note the Maine State Grange Communications Handbook<\/a> includes the National Grange Social Media Code of Conduct and a number of resources and communication ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25ba FACT: Did you know that the MSG Communications Handbook<\/a> includes a list of daily and weekly newspapers in Maine with contact information?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Walter Boomsma207 343-1842 Communications Director Facebook and Social Media for Granges \u201cNot everyone uses Facebook!\u201d Yes, I hear that cry. In fact, most of the Grangers I know personally do not. However, National Grange is becoming increasingly enamored of it, and we do have some Granges in Maine with Facebook Pages and Groups. Therefore, … Continue reading “Communications Column – February 2025”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[165,14,218,15],"tags":[206,272,202,233,29],"post_folder":[505],"class_list":["post-96598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication-2","category-publicity-posts","category-resources-for-granges-and-grangers","category-web-site-information","tag-grange-advocacy","tag-grange-communication","tag-grange-events","tag-grange-policy","tag-grange-procedure"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Walter Boomsma207 343-1842 Communications Director Facebook and Social Media for Granges \u201cNot everyone uses Facebook!\u201d Yes, I hear that cry. In fact, most of the Grangers I know personally do not. However, National Grange is becoming increasingly enamored of it, and we do have some Granges in Maine with Facebook Pages and Groups. Therefore,…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-p82","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96598"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=96598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}