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A New Year Checkup – Facebook: Step 4 - A Final Check
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the fourth in a series about Facebook.
If you have followed this series then you’re ready to double-check that you’re done.
A Final Checklist
• Changed Facebook to Timeline Yes No
• Checked each month and each year’s postings to hide anything inappropriate Yes No
• Checked my Privacy Settings Yes No
• Sorted my Friends into the appropriate Lists Yes No
• Took a look at my Profile as others see it Yes No
No? If you want to do this visit your profile and go to "View As …" at the top. Those with Timeline should first click the wheel next to "Activity Log." Enter the name of a close friend, a co-worker or a random acquaintance to make sure no one is seeing too much. Click "public" to see how everyone else sees it.
A Final Warning
Facebook makes changes … a lot! In the past it has added functions and reset privacy settings without making any kind of announcement. So maybe it’s time to set up a regular reminder – monthly, quarterly or, at the very least, annually – to go through this kind of checkup.
As is true on all social media you should use these networks with a "buyer beware attitude." If you’re uncomfortable about something you have three choices, ignore it, turn it off or abandon that social network.
Yes, that last choice is one I’ve made with several social networks in recent years and one I have come very close to making with Facebook. Good luck.
Was this post helpful? Will you check your Facebook settings more regularly in the future?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 1 - The Timeline
• Facebook Checkup Step 2 - Privacy-Friends
• Facebook Checkup Step 3 - Lists
If you have followed this series then you’re ready to double-check that you’re done.
A Final Checklist
• Changed Facebook to Timeline Yes No
• Checked each month and each year’s postings to hide anything inappropriate Yes No
• Checked my Privacy Settings Yes No
• Sorted my Friends into the appropriate Lists Yes No
• Took a look at my Profile as others see it Yes No
No? If you want to do this visit your profile and go to "View As …" at the top. Those with Timeline should first click the wheel next to "Activity Log." Enter the name of a close friend, a co-worker or a random acquaintance to make sure no one is seeing too much. Click "public" to see how everyone else sees it.
A Final Warning
Facebook makes changes … a lot! In the past it has added functions and reset privacy settings without making any kind of announcement. So maybe it’s time to set up a regular reminder – monthly, quarterly or, at the very least, annually – to go through this kind of checkup.
As is true on all social media you should use these networks with a "buyer beware attitude." If you’re uncomfortable about something you have three choices, ignore it, turn it off or abandon that social network.
Yes, that last choice is one I’ve made with several social networks in recent years and one I have come very close to making with Facebook. Good luck.
Was this post helpful? Will you check your Facebook settings more regularly in the future?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 1 - The Timeline
• Facebook Checkup Step 2 - Privacy-Friends
• Facebook Checkup Step 3 - Lists
A New Year Checkup – Facebook: Step 3 - Friend Lists
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the third in a series about Facebook.
Consider Using the Lists Function
Do you really want to share everything with everyone you’re connected to on Facebook? Probably not.
You can start your control of who sees what in two ways.
First you can go to Lists (on the left side of your home page – where you may have to click on the “More” to see it). Facebook automatically adds some of your friends to lists and suggests dozens of others.
Next, look at "Close Friends." Again, Facebook adds some friends and suggests others.
Then there is a "Family" list where you can choose the people you’d want to share more with. In this case, those you’re adding will be told, so if you don’t want that known, create a new list rather use the one Facebook set up. To do that, click Lists and then Create List.
The thing with Lists: Some people are in multiple groups, others in none. The lists make it easier to share posts with only a subset of Facebook friends or see only posts from specific groups.
Facebook also has a "Restricted" list where you dump those you don’t want to share much with. Facebook promises not to reveal who gets added.
The second way to manage lists is more time-intensive, but can be done any time you’re on Facebook.
When viewing your feed you simply have your cursor hover over a name. This causes a popup mini-profile of that person including a Friends button. Hover over that button and a drop-down menu will give you the option of adding the person to a list or unfriending them.
How to
• Work With Facebook’s Improved Friend Lists
• How To Use The New Facebook Lists (And Why You Should)
Was this post helpful? Will you take the time to organize friends into lists?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 1 - The Timeline
• Facebook Checkup Step 2 - Privacy-Friends
• Facebook Checkup Step 4 - Final Checkup
Consider Using the Lists Function
Do you really want to share everything with everyone you’re connected to on Facebook? Probably not.You can start your control of who sees what in two ways.
First you can go to Lists (on the left side of your home page – where you may have to click on the “More” to see it). Facebook automatically adds some of your friends to lists and suggests dozens of others.
Next, look at "Close Friends." Again, Facebook adds some friends and suggests others.
Then there is a "Family" list where you can choose the people you’d want to share more with. In this case, those you’re adding will be told, so if you don’t want that known, create a new list rather use the one Facebook set up. To do that, click Lists and then Create List.
The thing with Lists: Some people are in multiple groups, others in none. The lists make it easier to share posts with only a subset of Facebook friends or see only posts from specific groups.
Facebook also has a "Restricted" list where you dump those you don’t want to share much with. Facebook promises not to reveal who gets added.
The second way to manage lists is more time-intensive, but can be done any time you’re on Facebook.
When viewing your feed you simply have your cursor hover over a name. This causes a popup mini-profile of that person including a Friends button. Hover over that button and a drop-down menu will give you the option of adding the person to a list or unfriending them.
How to
• Work With Facebook’s Improved Friend Lists
• How To Use The New Facebook Lists (And Why You Should)
Was this post helpful? Will you take the time to organize friends into lists?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 1 - The Timeline
• Facebook Checkup Step 2 - Privacy-Friends
• Facebook Checkup Step 4 - Final Checkup
A New Year Checkup – Facebook: Step 2 - Privacy Settings and Friends
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the second in a series about Facebook.
Check your privacy settings
Facebook insists that the pending switch to Timeline for all 800 million of its users will not change any individual’s privacy settings. But this ignores the fact that Timeline will expose everything you’ve ever done on Facebook.
Besides, when was the last time you checked your privacy settings? Do you know what your current privacy settings are?
Given Facebook’s troubled history with privacy – since 2009 Facebook has automatically reset users’ privacy settings to public at least four times – now is a great time to check them. (You can click on the "Facebook on Privacy" link below or on your Facebook page go to the pull-down menu on the top right of your Profile page and select Privacy Settings.)
And while you are considering your privacy you might also reconsider your definition of a "friend" – because even if your privacy settings remain the same, your list of friends likely continues to grow.
This probably means your definition of a "friend" has grown over the years and now includes such people as parents, bosses and random people you met at a conference. Someone you didn't know in 2008 would suddenly have easier access to something you posted then.
This might be a good time to open up your friends list and do some pruning. A friend’s ex-wife? A sibling’s friend in another state/country? An acquaintance who has 2,000 friends and never interacts with any of them? It’s time to tidy up that list. And don’t worry: Facebook doesn’t alert the people you drop.
How to:
• Understand Facebook Privacy
• Adjust Important Privacy Settings
• Decide Who Sees What on Your Wall
Was this post helpful? Do you keep up with your privacy settings? Will you be doing it more regularly now?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 1 - The Timeline
• Facebook Checkup Step 3 - Lists
• Facebook Checkup Step 4 - Final Checkup
Check your privacy settings
Facebook insists that the pending switch to Timeline for all 800 million of its users will not change any individual’s privacy settings. But this ignores the fact that Timeline will expose everything you’ve ever done on Facebook. Besides, when was the last time you checked your privacy settings? Do you know what your current privacy settings are?
Given Facebook’s troubled history with privacy – since 2009 Facebook has automatically reset users’ privacy settings to public at least four times – now is a great time to check them. (You can click on the "Facebook on Privacy" link below or on your Facebook page go to the pull-down menu on the top right of your Profile page and select Privacy Settings.)
And while you are considering your privacy you might also reconsider your definition of a "friend" – because even if your privacy settings remain the same, your list of friends likely continues to grow.
This probably means your definition of a "friend" has grown over the years and now includes such people as parents, bosses and random people you met at a conference. Someone you didn't know in 2008 would suddenly have easier access to something you posted then.
This might be a good time to open up your friends list and do some pruning. A friend’s ex-wife? A sibling’s friend in another state/country? An acquaintance who has 2,000 friends and never interacts with any of them? It’s time to tidy up that list. And don’t worry: Facebook doesn’t alert the people you drop.
How to:
• Understand Facebook Privacy
• Adjust Important Privacy Settings
• Decide Who Sees What on Your Wall
Was this post helpful? Do you keep up with your privacy settings? Will you be doing it more regularly now?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 1 - The Timeline
• Facebook Checkup Step 3 - Lists
• Facebook Checkup Step 4 - Final Checkup
A New Year Checkup – Facebook: Step 1 - The Timeline
It’s a new year and it’s time for social media types to be more conscientious about their social outposts. As part of a focus on social media strategy this is the first in a series about Facebook.
Get ready for Timeline
First, consider whether you want to stay on Facebook once Timeline becomes the default way you interact on Facebook. Some privacy advocates are now concerned that the new Timeline will allow Facebook even more access to your information and will then share that data with others (businesses). For example the Electronic Privacy Information Center has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission outlining its concerns that Timeline violates the 2011 agreement between Facebook and the FTC on user privacy.
But if you aren’t ready to bail on Facebook yet you need to understand that sooner or later you will be on Timeline and how it will affect the information others will see on Facebook.
Timeline gives a much more personalized presentation of information, with a large photograph at top and a timeline of all your Facebook updates – a virtual scrapbook of your Facebook life. On the upside, users can fill in missing moments from birth until present day. On the downside, every update, every photograph you’ve placed on Facebook or been tagged in and every ill-considered or likely-to-be-taken-out-of-context moment is there.
That’s why you need to spend some time today, or at least this week, switching to Timeline (see links below) and looking through your Facebook history.
Once you switch to Timeline only you will see your profile in this new way for seven days. This grace period allows you to hide or delete material that you don’t want the world to see. For example, I’m not very active on Facebook, but in 3-plus years I had made several comments that, taken the wrong way and out of context, could seem unkind, rude or worse. They are now gone from public view.
It’s an irony that Timeline is really Facebook’s acknowledgement that it has been saving much of your data, even after you delete it. If this is a big concern for you … remember, you can always leave Facebook.
How to:
• Enable Timeline With One Click
• Decide How to Set It Up; What to Do and What to Avoid
Was this post helpful? What has been your experience with Timeline?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 2 - Privacy-Friends
• Facebook Checkup Step 3 - Lists
• Facebook Checkup Step 4 - Final Checkup
Get ready for TimelineFirst, consider whether you want to stay on Facebook once Timeline becomes the default way you interact on Facebook. Some privacy advocates are now concerned that the new Timeline will allow Facebook even more access to your information and will then share that data with others (businesses). For example the Electronic Privacy Information Center has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission outlining its concerns that Timeline violates the 2011 agreement between Facebook and the FTC on user privacy.
But if you aren’t ready to bail on Facebook yet you need to understand that sooner or later you will be on Timeline and how it will affect the information others will see on Facebook.
Timeline gives a much more personalized presentation of information, with a large photograph at top and a timeline of all your Facebook updates – a virtual scrapbook of your Facebook life. On the upside, users can fill in missing moments from birth until present day. On the downside, every update, every photograph you’ve placed on Facebook or been tagged in and every ill-considered or likely-to-be-taken-out-of-context moment is there.
That’s why you need to spend some time today, or at least this week, switching to Timeline (see links below) and looking through your Facebook history.
Once you switch to Timeline only you will see your profile in this new way for seven days. This grace period allows you to hide or delete material that you don’t want the world to see. For example, I’m not very active on Facebook, but in 3-plus years I had made several comments that, taken the wrong way and out of context, could seem unkind, rude or worse. They are now gone from public view.
It’s an irony that Timeline is really Facebook’s acknowledgement that it has been saving much of your data, even after you delete it. If this is a big concern for you … remember, you can always leave Facebook.
How to:
• Enable Timeline With One Click
• Decide How to Set It Up; What to Do and What to Avoid
Was this post helpful? What has been your experience with Timeline?
Related links:
• Facebook Checkup Step 2 - Privacy-Friends
• Facebook Checkup Step 3 - Lists
• Facebook Checkup Step 4 - Final Checkup
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