Today, I want to share with you how to get the most out of MeWe.

When learning how to navigate and interact with a new social media site, it helps to have some idea of where everything is, and what works and what doesn’t. MeWe is a great site–but it isn’t Facebook. The layout is different. The options for interacting successfully are different. It can take some time to get comfortable with the options–and I’ve had friends give up in frustration. Given that Facebook is becoming less and less user-friendly, and MeWe is currently the friendliest social media alternative, I want to do what I can to assist my friends in become more comfortable with MeWe.

So… let’s begin.

First, set up your MeWe account.

Note: I’m use MeWe on my computer. If you use it on your phone, some of the general advice will still apply, but the functionality changes, and you’re on your own.

If you want your friends to find you on MeWe, it helps to post a profile picture and some info that will help them recognize you as you. It also helps to share posts that showcase your interests. A header is nice too, but isn’t strictly necessary.

When posting, don’t just post memes or links. Add your own thoughts and reactions.

Account Settings:

This is where your account’s security settings can be found. You can verify your account here or become a premium member (which comes with a nifty badge).

Privacy & Sharing:

I’ve noticed friends sometimes are frustrated by the privacy settings. Here’s where to find them and my settings (occasionally subject to change). You do not have to use these setting options, but this is what works for me most of the time. You want to be findable via MeWe search, or none of your friends will be able to find you. I toggle between “Anyone can send me a request” and “Only contacts of my contacts” because, sadly, the scammers and bots are with us always.

I think you should be able to navigate the rest of the Account Settings options and set them up on your own now that you have some idea of where they are. But if you have questions, please feel free to ask.

Find Your Tribe:

1. Add some contacts.

Here’s how to find your own contact list as well as anyone else’s (including mine).

Once you’re my friend you can also friend my contacts because I’ve left that open as a possibility here on MeWe. But–this is (for me) a huge gesture of trust. I am quite careful who I let onto my contact list. If someone abuses that privilege to spam my friends–and I find out about it–we’ll no longer be friends.

Contact requests are limited by MeWe to no more than 25 a day per account.

2. Chat Options:

See the options at the top left that include Chat? Chat options on MeWe are much better than on Facebook because you can find them all in the same screen. On your left, you have the option of viewing them all, Contacts, or Group chats. Little red numbers will appear in the sidebar beside active chats in relation to how many comments you have to catch up on.

If strangers contact you via shared membership in a group, their chats will appear under “All.” If you mouse over the message that MeWe adds to these contacts, you can discover how they found you. If this contact turns out to be unwelcome, it’s possible in some instances to notify the admins or owner of the group and let them know. (This is an etiquette issue on MeWe–and admins in good groups will deal with the offenders). It’s also possible to report these contacts to MeWe and block them.

NOTE: it is considered good manners to interact with people in the groups and ask them first via group chat before contacting them privately on MeWe or sending them friend requests.

3. Join some groups.

One of the nice features of MeWe (once I got used to it, is the bar at the top with “Home, Chat, Groups, Pages, and Events.” (see top left on the image below). Home is where you’ll find your newsfeed. Because MeWe doesn’t data-mine our posts, it also doesn’t use abusive algorithms to determine what you see on your newsfeed. This is a good thing–but it can also sometimes be very frustrating. Your friends who are the most frequent posters are the ones whose posts you’re more likely to see on your newsfeed. Unless you visit your friends’ pages to see if they’ve posted (especially those who post less frequently), you’ll have to scroll and scroll that newsfeed just to see a wider selection of posts.

Tip: Posting several times daily can improve your visibility. Also, interact with other friends’ posts where you can. This will motivate them to look for your posts and interact on yours as well.

But–this is why groups are so important. As you can see in the image, when someone posts in groups that you belong to, that info is reflected at top right under the “Groups” tab. It’s much easier to keep up with friends in groups on MeWe than it is one-on-one.

More tips: groups on MeWe work best when they’re all about everyone interacting. (i.e., don’t post and run) Fewer rules and a wider focus is better, and 2-3 admins to keep a group going is vital because stuff happens on social media, and sometimes group owners inadvertently lose access to their accounts. This is a hard thing to have happen, not just for the owner, but also for the group.

A group without active leadership is like a ship without a rudder.

A few of my favorite groups on MeWe include:

• Conservative Christian Patriots (owner: Paul Harrell): active leadership, good admins, lots of posts/links, active chat/discussion.
• Writers and Readers of Christian Fiction (owner: myself): active leadership, frequent posts, active chat/discussion. Note: this group has replaced another group where the owner disappeared, leaving no one to run the group. That other group was huge (we’re still building this one up).
  • Note: There are a number of excellent groups for authors and readers on MeWe. I recommend seeking them out.
• Good Stewardship Homesteading (owner: Cheryl-Apothecary Homesteader Mom): active leadership, great info, great interaction
• Society of the Scarlet Pimpernel (owner: David Brollier): active leadership, great inspiration, chat is great.
• Natural Health God’s Way (owner: Marilynn Dawson, NHP): *This is a new group. Active leadership, great info, great interaction.

Suggestion: Work smarter, not harder. Before starting your own group, I recommend discovering what’s already out there that might be similar to what you’re considering. If there’s a group that has what you want and you really connect with the other members, offer to admin. This is a great way to contribute and help to make a good group even better in exchange for a ready-made audience.

4. Business Pages:

A key difference between Facebook and MeWe is in how they support their services. Unlike Facebook, MeWe doesn’t sell advertising (or force people to bid higher and higher amounts for it in order to compete for views). They do offer various levels of membership starting with free. A premium membership ($4.99/month) comes with nice perks but–unfortunately–one of those perks isn’t greater visibility. I wish!

Oddly, a business page costs less than a premium membership at only $1.99 per month–and it comes with great visibility. This is a steal, especially given the visibility that you can achieve if you put the word out about it in the groups you participate in and on your own personal page. I’ve found the cost of my business page (Art and Design by Krystine Kercher) to be well worth it for the sales it has brought me.

Where to find pages, plus who’s posted (and how much):

Be sure to invite your Contacts from your personal page to follow your business pages.

I’m going to stop there with this post because it’s in danger of turning into a book. I’ll have to write another one to follow it up.