How to Avoid Getting Locked Out of Your Own Social Media Accounts

It’s a common story.  A business got enthusiastic about Twitter or Facebook and got someone either in the team or externally to set up the account.  The account has been relatively sleepy – as the business is still figuring out what to use these communication channels for. Then comes the time when they’re ready to fully embrace social media via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc – but what...?, they can’t access the account because the person that set it up has since moved on – and there’s now no way of accessing the set up account details (namely email and password).

Sound familiar?  I hope not. But it’s a business truism that is becoming more and more of a nuisance.

Particularly so when the Twitter handle (@name) or Facebook URL  that’s been secured is either directly the brand name – or brilliantly keyword enabled.

Hence why we advise clients and social media training delegates to follow these simple steps to avoid such a situation:

1)      Create a ‘social’ email address and password convention. Something that is generic to the business.  It doesn’t have to be a person’s personal email address.

2)      Ensure there is a central directory for all login details to your social accounts. It could be aas simple as a spreadsheet which is kept on a central server or in a cloud portal so that more than one person can access it. The account info, whilst it may be managed by one or a few, should be accessible even if those people move on.

3)      It’s good practice to regularly change your password (we suggest every 6-8 weeks) – and so create a password convention which enables you to do this simply – eg: adding a number to the end or letter – and be sure to update the central spreadsheet when passwords change.

4)      Run a test from the central store periodically to check that all the info you’ve got about accessing your accounts is correct. Eg: Try and access your accounts via the info you have stored. If you run into glitches – speak to the relevant people who are in the accounts daily to see if there have been any changes. Be sure to manage that the information you have stored, is up to date and correct.

5)      For LinkedIn, if you have a particular senior team – eg: Partners or Managing Directors, CEOs etc – then it may be worth keeping their login information centrally too.  We came across a situation recently where one of the Partners of a law firm had passed away – and yet their profile was still visible via the Practice.

Take a look at the policy relating to reporting a deceased user via Twitter here – and the other platforms are similar.

Therefore, our advice is ‘get it covered’ – get a central repository of all your account names, passwords and emails etc – and keep it up to date.

@Michelle Carvill is owner and Marketing Director at Carvill Creative – the online visibility experts. A digital marketing and design agency based in Maidenhead, Berkshire.  The agency covers all aspects of online visibility - covering social media marketing and social media training, user focused website planning and conversion focused website design.

For marketing and social media advice – view the Carvill Creative Blog