Take a Look Under Facebook’s Hood: 10 Account Settings to Consider

Whenever I do a Facebook workshop or presentation, I consistently get the same feedback: “I had no idea there were so many different Facebook account settings.” This tends to be followed by many “thank yous” for helping participants get their profile settings to their liking. There is no one perfect, universal setting, but it’s important to take a look behind the scenes of your Facebook Profile page to see what’s available to you.

There are two things I stress with people who are just starting out on Facebook: 1) Enter as much (or as little) information about yourself as you feel comfortable; and 2) If there is a privacy setting you don’t understand, disenable it or select the highest security/privacy level available.

For everything else, I tend to look to the experts for their recommendations. Stan Schroeder at Mashable recently posted a very helpful, easy-to-understand guide for Facebook users to refer to when editing their profile’s settings. In his “Facebook Privacy: 10 Settings Every User Needs to Know," Schroeder does an excellent job explaining functions behind ten settings to ensure Facebookers successfully tweak their account to the secured level they desire. The ten settings he discusses include:
1. Sharing on Facebook
2. Existing Photos
3. Checking In to Places
4. Connecting on Facebook
5. Apps You Use
6. Instant Personalization
7. Info Accessible to Your Friends
8. Public Search
9. Friend Lists
10. Enabling HTTPS

To his list, I would add one more setting to think about. In mid-February of this year, in TechWorld’s “Four Essential Privacy Settings in Facebook," Kristin Burnham included an explanation about participating in Facebook’s social ads:

“If you participate in social ads, your friends might see information about you that relates to the ads they're seeing. This may be a line that says you have "liked" a certain page, or they could include your profile photo with your name next to the ad.”
Advertisers don’t have access to your information, but you may want to investigate opting-out of social ads displaying your "likes," which she explains how to do.

If you’re using Facebook, take a look at Schroeder and Burnham’s articles to ensure you’re getting the most of your Facebook account settings.

- Anna, Hopewell Branch

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