Protecting Your Privacy on Facebook
Have you ever reviewed the privacy settings on your Facebook account?
Depending on your personal and business circumstances, you may want to make your Facebook account settings more restrictive than the default settings.
How do you do that? It’s pretty simple. To adjust your privacy settings:
1. Click on the padlock icon to the right of the globe icon in the blue menu bar at the top of your Facebook screen.
2. Click on the words “See more settings” at the bottom of the pop screen.
3. Now you will see the Privacy and Tools section within the Settings part of Facebook.
Go through each of the options so you know what each does and select the setting that’s best for you.
Key Privacy Settings to Review
· Who can see your posts on Facebook? Usually “Friends” is the best setting, which means that the people with whom you are Friends on Facebook can see the updates you post to Facebook.
o However, you can make a Facebook Friend an “acquaintance” by going to their Facebook page and hovering your cursor over the Friends button. In the drop down options, you will see the word Acquaintance. Click on that word. Now you will be able to select “Friends except Acquaintances” for the audience who can see your posts on Facebook.
· Who can send you friend requests? Selecting “Friends of Friends” may be a better choice as it will keep you from receiving friend requests from total strangers.
o However, if you are active in organizations and/or have a small business and want people outside your current friendship circles to be able to send you a friend request, select “Public.”
· Who can look me up on Facebook using the email associated with my Facebook account? The default is “Everyone,” which I do not recommend, unless you want to be found very easily on Facebook. If you are open to people connected to your Facebook friends finding you via your email address, click on “Friends of Friends.” If you want to really restrict who can find you this way, click on “Friends,” which means no one who is not already a Facebook friend can find you through your email address.
· Who can look me up on Facebook using the phone number associated with my Facebook account? My observations for this setting are the same as for the one of looking you up via your email address. In general, though, I don’t recommend making your phone number available to anyone via Facebook, even to your Facebook Friends.
· Do you want other search engines to link to your Timeline (aka your personal Facebook page)? The default is “no”, which is what most people would want. Those who might select “yes” would be folks who want to have their personal Facebook page be found as a way from them to grow their business or an organization they are active in.
About Joyce
Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 50 and up, to become more comfortable using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Twitter.
She works with business owners, nonprofit organizations, retired people, consultants and many others. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com