Are you one of the over 350 Million people that use Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family?
According to Hitwise, Facebook briefly surpassed Google as the most visited site in the world during the Christmas season.
The founder of Facebook said that privacy is no longer a social norm.
Facebook also recently changed how privacy settings work. If you do not check these settings, you may be showing more about your personal life than you planned to.
Take this Quick Quiz:
Question 1: True or False. People who are not on your friend list on Facebook, can use a search engine and see your Facebook posts, including photos, even if they are not on your friend list on Facebook.
Answer: True, anyone can see your Facebook posts, unless you change your privacy settings in Facebook – and - even then, some things are still not private.
Question 2: True or False. Even if my information is out there on the web, the chances of someone finding it are remote because only about 25% of people actually google search each other.
Answer: False! In a recent PEW study out of the 75% of all Americans that use the Internet, over 53% are Googling (or using a search engine) to look up each other!
Go to your favorite search engine such as Yahoo.com, Google.com, or Bing.com and type in “Your Name, Facebook” and see what comes up as a test. If your kids have profiles, check each one of theirs as well.
Facebook recently changed their privacy settings making your profile more open unless you lock it down.
If you read their company information carefully, Facebook considers what you post to be available to the public unless you tell them otherwise.
Zuckerberg said that “if he had created Facebook today…he would have made user information public, not private, by default as it was for years until the company changed it”
Test Your Profile Privacy:
Go to your favorite search engine such as Yahoo.com, Google.com, or Bing.com and type in “Your Name, Facebook” and see what comes up as a test. If your kids have profiles, check each one of theirs as well.
You and Your Profile: Protect, Polish and Private
Now is the perfect time to do a little housecleaning on your Facebook profile.
The rule of thumb to manage what people can see about you is the 3 Ps: Protect, Polish and Private.
1. Protect Your Friends: Go to your settings where the Friends box is. Make sure that “Show Friend List to Everyone” does not have a checkmark in it.
2. Polish Your Profile: Make sure that if your current or prospective boss sees your postings that you have put forward your best image
3. Private: You can make each post private to your list of friends by clicking on the lock icon next to your posts.
Other Steps You May Want to Take:
· Photo Albums: Choose Settings and pick the settings you are most comfortable with. The “EVERYONE” setting is the most open.
· Friends: Choose “What your friends can share about you” and look at the check boxes. Most privacy advocates recommend that you uncheck all the boxes.
· Public Search: Go to “Public Search Results”. Where it says “Allow”, make sure you do not have a checkmark in that box if you do not want every search engine to pick your posts
· Your Kids’ Profiles: Be careful when your children reveal information that can identify them, such as a school team name, what sport they play, where they work or go to school, or the name of the town they live in.
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