If you’ve paid attention to my posts over the years you know that I’ve never been a huge fan of social media companies primarily for the advertising and “customer as product” approach. You also know that I am a fan of Signal messenger for their end-to-end encryption, cross platform apps, and desktop app (for easy hands on keyboard chatting). You may have also noticed I haven’t been as active on the socials lately. Well, with some of the recent additions to the Signal app I think it’s time to put it to use as not only a messaging platform, but also for secure social media (SSM).

But how do I do this you ask? Simple. Once you’ve installed the Signal app create a new “Group”. I would suggest starting the group name with something like “SSM Timeline” then adding the name (yours or the group) after. So, for instance, my group is named “SSM Timeline: Mark Jacobsen”. From there it’s a matter of what you want to do with the group, but here are a few ideas…

Personal Timeline: So, just like above, named something like “SSM Timeline: John Doe”, decide if you want “Disappearing Messages”, set “Admins” for “Who Can Add Members” and “Who Can Edit Group Info”, and finally create a “Group Link” if you want to share (be sure to turn on “Approve New Members” so you get a say on who can join). For instance, here’s my link if you want to join my timeline.

Moderated Group: Sometimes there are groups that need a few admins. You can accomplish that with the same settings as above and just adding other group members as admins.

Business/Public Interest: I don’t know about you, but I like to hear about my favorite businesses. In that case, you can create a group and allow anyone to add members and turn of new member moderation. As an admin you’ll still have the ability to remove someone if they’re being difficult. Be sure to create a “Group Link” too. For example, here’s a group for my real estate business, FreedomRE.

So, as you can see, using Secure Social Media (SSM) via Signal gives you your privacy back without being the “product”, gives you control (mute people/groups with too much activity), and allows you to do it all from one cross platform app! Join me today!