Express-It

Today, Facebook unveiled some new Privacy Settings for users. I was surprised to read that in the past, only up to about 20% actually use these settings, so maybe this change will go largely unnoticed…

BUT –

If you have a profile on Facebook, I highly recommend taking a few minutes to review your Privacy Settings, to be sure each is set according to your preferences, as a matter of your own personal Social Media Best Practices.

Perhaps you are one of the small percentage on Facebook to use these settings, and believe them to be already set as you desire. Please be advised — in my time on Facebook, Friends have shared with me that somehow “Settings” have been ‘reset’ or more surprisingly, never ‘set,’ even though they had previously done so. Their accounts had not been “hacked,” either.

As you well know, changes, enhancements and improvements are ongoing on Facebook. Because the platform is fluid in this way, it is a ‘Best Practice’ procedure to check your Privacy Settings — now — and I recommend doing so randomly, in the future. Increasingly, more Facebook user information is being made available to developers, and to the world.

What to look for? Take a quick peek through each of the areas under “Privacy Settings,” to see what personal and other information about you is publicly visible, as well as how it is set to be viewed by others. “Privacy Settings,” “Account Settings,” and “Application Settings” are currently found under “Settings” in the upper blue area of your Facebook profile.

Here are 3 examples — you may have other areas and more settings to review:

* Do you want to make all the information you provided to establish your Facebook account public? Do you want to provide this information to Developers? Consider what information you want to make available and how it will be presented.

* Is all the information that appears on your profile set as you want it to be viewable?

* What information can friends share about you, when they are using applications and websites?

From my observation, this information can be any and all of the information you provided to Facebook in establishing your account, as well as what you have posted on your profile. What and how it is presented is up to your personal preferences, according to your “Privacy Settings” on your Facebook profile.

Here is video interview Facebook held today on the new Privacy Settings:  http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/12/video-of-todays-facebook-privacy-call/

I hope you find this information helpful in your effectively utilizing the Facebook platform for your communication efforts…