Don't let Facebook spoil the party!
I often see my friends getting frustrated and hear them complaining things like “Why is this this guy posting on my wall, I don't remember adding him in my friends list?†or “Where on earth did they get my emailâ€. The first question I ask them in response is that “Have you customised your privacy settings?†and the answer always seems to be “err… no†or “I am not sureâ€. So I tell them that's the answer to your question! In fact the first thing all Facebook users need to be aware of is the privacy settings. Facebook's philosophy of internet use is that internet is more fun when it's shared. The way I see it, Facebook is a party that never ends! The problem is, you can never be sure who else Facebook has invited to the party, and weather our new “friend†can be trusted. Take Instagram for example: Facebook recently brought Instagram, and as per its new terms and conditions, which goes in to effect from January 16, any subsequent photos uploaded on Instagram from that date can be shared with affiliates and advertising companies, without the users' knowledge. This will make Facebook and Instagram users' privacy more vulnerable than ever before. With the advancement of smartphone and tablet technology, most of us are already giving away our private information via Facebook's default settings and the sync and cloud features to individuals and companies without even being aware of. There for weather you are using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other social platform and weather you use a PC or a smartphone device to access internet, I really could not emphasis enough, just how important is to customise your privacy settings. Facebook automatically sets its privacy settings to default. This means user information are already available to people they do not want. By taking these simple steps people can stop themselves from getting poked by strangers or getting letters from Nigeria offering fortune and wealth. First thing first
Open Facebook's privacy options, by clicking settings icon on the top-right corner of any pages in Facebook. Then select privacy settings from the drop down menu, which will take you to the main privacy setting options. From here you can edit and set up who can see anything you posts on your wall, edit your tagging options and who can look you and find on the Facebook by doing a search with your email or phone number. Do a profile test
Now that you have taken the most important first step in securing your private information, it's time to put it on test and see what information you are giving away. The only way to do this is to view your public profile by clicking on View As, in Timeline and Tagging or by clicking on your profile name at the top right hand corner. This will display your profile just as anyone would see it on his or her computer. To change anything you like or dislike, return to the privacy settings and this time select the Timeline and Tagging from the list on the left hand side. From here you can really customise your settings and set up weather to share your posts with everyone, friends or individuals. You can even set up who can see what others post on your wall and posts that you get tagged in. Only thing to remember here is that even if your posts are shared with friends only, Facebook default still allows friends of the people tagged in a post to view it as well. To prevent this, choose the custom option from the drop the down menu, then in the Custom Privecy window select the appropriate option from the drop down list and save changes. Blocking, Apps and Subscribers features are just as useful and important, as they can also help limit your information being compromised. So don't let Facebook spoil the party and pay more attention to your security settings. End of the day the more friends you have, the more money Facebook makes (without harm of course!), but keep your security tight and the let both parties win.
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