With several major sporting events coming up, including the Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Cup, Meta has launched an updated version of its safety guide for athletes, which provides a range of notes on how to manage your Facebook and Instagram experience to avoid spam, scams, abuse and more.

The 39-page guide is a handy reference guide to all of the various safety tools in both apps, which is not only relevant for athletes, but could also be of value to anyone looking to get a better understanding of their protection and moderation options in each.

As per Meta:

“This guide is designed to help you prevent, protect, moderate, and escalate on both Facebook and Instagram. We will run through how to protect your password, set up two-factor authentication, understand Page access and take action when you’ve been hacked. We will also walk through how to moderate your Pages, and how to escalate when you experience bullying and harassment.”

The guide includes helpful overviews of each key element, including how to create a strong password:

How to set up two-factor authentication (a key step for account security):

There are also notes on the various moderation and safety tools available on Facebook:

And more specific explainers on things like how to report a profile for impersonation:

As noted, the focus is professional athletes, so some aspects will be of more relevance to those in the spotlight. But it’s a handy overview of the various options and controls on offer, while Meta also includes some pointers on how to maximize fan engagement on your Page:

• Respond to comments on Facebook – When you engage in the comments section on your own posts (responding to comments or simply contributing to the conversation), the posts may be shown again in your followers’ Feeds, which increases reach and engagement. Responding to comments on your posts also elevates them to the top of your discussion thread.
• Start with the “Most Relevant” view on Facebook – When looking at the comments section on your post or video, confirm you are looking at the “Most Relevant” view to ensure high quality comments from fans, and comments from other public figures, creators and verified accounts are at the top. This will make it easier and more efficient for you to engage.
• Pin comments on Instagram – Consider pinning a few comments to the top of your post. By highlighting positive comments, you can better manage the tone of the conversation.

Nothing groundbreaking, as such, but some good reminders of the value of such engagement to help maximize post reach and engagement.

It’s a handy guide, which could be valuable for your process.

You can download Meta’s ‘Facebook and Instagram Safety Guide for Athletes’ here.