Facebook Messenger is a popular messaging app that allows you to chat with your friends, family, and contacts. You can also send photos, videos, stickers, GIFs, voice messages, and more.
However, like any online service, Messenger has some risks and challenges you should know. This blog post will share some tips and best practices on using Messenger safely and responsibly.
How To Use Messenger Facebook Safely and Responsibly
Protect your account and privacy
To prevent unauthorized access to your account or personal information, use a strong and unique password, enable two-factor authentication, and log out of your account when using a shared device. You should also review your privacy settings regularly and adjust them according to your preferences. For example, you can choose who can see your online status, send you messages or calls, and see your stories.
Be careful about what you share
When you chat with someone on Messenger, you should always think before you send. Don’t share anything you wouldn’t want to be seen by others, such as sensitive or confidential information, personal photos or videos, or financial details. Remember that you can’t take it back once you send something or control how the recipient uses it. You should also respect the privacy and boundaries of others and not share their information without their consent.
Avoid scams and phishing.
Scammers and hackers may use Messenger to try to trick you into giving them your personal or financial information or clicking on malicious links or attachments. They may pretend to be someone you know or trust, such as a friend, family member, or a reputable organization. To avoid falling for these scams, you should always verify the sender’s identity before responding or clicking on anything. You should also look for signs of phishing, such as spelling errors, urgent requests, or offers that seem too good to be true.
Report and block abusive or harmful messages
If you receive any messages that are abusive, harassing, threatening, or offensive, you should not reply or engage with them. Instead, you should report them to Facebook and block the sender. Reporting helps Facebook identify and remove accounts that violate the Community Standards and Terms of Service. Blocking prevents the sender from contacting you again or seeing your profile. You can also mute or ignore conversations you don’t want to participate in.
Seek help if you need it
If you are feeling stressed, depressed, anxious, or suicidal because of something that happened on Messenger, you should not keep it to yourself. You should reach out to someone you trust, such as a friend, family member, teacher, counsellor, or helpline. You can also use Facebook’s Safety Center to find resources and support for various issues, such as bullying, self-harm, mental health, and online safety.
How to manage your privacy in Messenger
To access your privacy settings in Messenger, tap your profile picture at the top left corner of the app and select Privacy from the menu. You can then customize various options, such as:
- Active Status: You can turn off your active status to hide when you are online or last active from others.
- Story: You can choose who can see your stories or mute stories from others.
- Blocked Messages: You can see a list of people you have blocked or unblock them if you change your mind.
- Blocked Calls: You can see a list of people you have blocked from calling you or unblock them if you want.
- Message Delivery: You can choose who can message or call you directly, who needs to send a message request first, and who can’t contact you at all.
- Message Requests: You can see and respond to requests from people not on your contacts list.
- Secret Conversations: You can start or delete encrypted secret conversations.
How to report online abuse
To report a message that violates Facebook’s policies, tap and hold the message and select Report from the menu. You can choose the reason for reporting, such as harassment, hate speech, violence, nudity, or spam. You can also report the entire conversation by tapping the info icon at the top right corner of the chat screen and selecting Report Conversation from the options.
How to block someone on Messenger
To block someone bothering you on Messenger, tap the info icon at the top right corner of the chat screen and select Block from the options. You can choose to block their messages, calls, or both. You can also block someone from your contacts list by tapping their name and selecting Block from the menu.
For more details on managing your account to stay safe on Messenger, visit the Messenger Help Center (facebook.com).
