Facebook Privacy

I've switched from Myspace to Facebook because I was unhappy with the privacy controls there, and I've been told that Facebook lets you control this much better. Would you please go over the Facebook privacy settings and recommend which ones I should focus on?"

Privacy Options In Facebook

The amount of privacy control on Facebook is amazing. And the settings on which you need to focus are really up to you. But here's a rundown on the privacy options that you can twiddle to make sure you're sharing only the personal information as you want to share, with the people that you choose. To get started, login to your Facebook profile, and click the privacy link at the top right part of the Facebook window, and decide what you're comfortable allowing others to view.

On the Privacy Overview page, you have the option of controlling who can see your profile, your findability on Facebook and other search engines, and how much of your Facebook activity will be public. As you change the options, you'll see that the little bar graphs on the right will change, giving you a quick visual indication of the privacy strength of each setting.

Edit Your Facebook Privacy Settings

Click Edit Settings next to Profile and you can control who can sees your profile (or various portions of it), by selecting something along the spectrum of the inclusive "All my networks and all my friends" or "Only my friends" to the more private "Only me" or "No one" options. The same applies to your status, videos, photos, friends list, and your wall comments. You also have fine control over your contact information, including your address, phone, website and e-mail address. Remember that if you opt to leave that wide open, plan on getting some unwanted emails. If you want others to know what Applications you are running, this page is also where you make that choice. Press Save down at the bottom of the page when you're done, and you'll be returned to the Privacy Overview page.

When it comes to Search on Facebook, you control who can find you and what appears in your listing. In addition, you have the option of being listed by external search engines, good if you want others to freely Google you, not good if you would prefer to keep on the quiet side of the Internet. Finally, once someone has found you, you can choose what they can figuratively do with you, such as send you a picture, poke you, send you a message, or view your other friends. Watch that last one if you have a nosy boss, friend or neighbor.

When I first discovered Facebook, I found it unnerving that every time I checked in, a Newsfeed let everyone know what I was doing on Facebook. I didn’t think I wanted to be quite that demonstrative, so that was the first box that I un-checked. You can also control just how much your actions show up in your friends’ news feeds. Although the feeds will never divulge information you have marked as private, they do let your entire network know what events you attended, free gifts you have received, groups you belong to, etc.

You can also Block those pesky former college roommates that you didn’t like back then, much less want to put up with now. This is also very handy if you met someone online that turned out to be a mega-loser. You can select a Limited Profile, again a good thing if you tend to go online during office hours. Oh, and remember that when you get a friend request from someone else, you can choose right then if you want that person to view your full profile, or just the limited profile.

There so much that you can control, if you're not sure at first what you want to release, unclick all your options, set your limit to "Only Me" and gradually add what is best for you. If you have kids using Facebook, it's a good idea to fill these in together so that you can advise them of privacy concerns. Since the family unit typically spends more time these days on a computer rather than a dinner table, Facebook might be your own version of family unity.