Top 10 Privacy Settings to check in Facebook

There are a lot of privacy and security settings available in Facebook, and the full list can be a bit confusing.  So to help you focus on the most critical items, here is a Top 10 list of settings to check (on your account, and on your kids' accounts!) in Facebook:

1)   Make sure your full birthday is not publicly displayed (Home / Edit My Profile) - Sure, we all enjoy getting a pile of birthday wishes on our big day, but those less scrupulous out there can use this information against you to steal your identity!  If you definitely want your birthday known, at least exclude the year from your Profile:

 

 2)  Make sure your home address is not entered in their profile (Home / Edit My Profile / Contact Information) - there is no need to enter your physical address into Facebook; you (and your kids) should just leave this blank:

3)  See what applications you have granted access to (Accounts / Privacy Settings / Apps and Websites) - any time you go to another website that allows you to log in with your Facebook ID/password, you have granted the ability for that application to gain access to your data (and that of your friends) in Facebook.  In many cases this is just fine, but it's good to know what is out there:

4)  Validate the location-based settings (Privacy Settings / Customize Settings) - Location based applications are all the rage now, but just be aware that when the world knows you're at the ball game right now, they also know your house is empty.  Use with caution!

5)  Google your kids' presence on Facebook - a simple search will help show what information in Facebook is available to the public, and not just to those who are set up as your Friends:

6)  Check for any Events your kids have set up, to ensure they are not set as Public, and that your personal information is not listed.  Also check events that they have replied to (Home / Events) - Another reason to make sure your home address is not public, and also to ensure that small gathering your son wanted doesn't turn into the entire high school showing up at your house...

 

7)  Closely examine the “Things Others Share” section of the Privacy Settings (Account / Privacy Settings / Customize Settings) - Even if you tighten up all your settings, your Friends still have some authority to share your information.  Tighten that up as well!

8)  Check what your friends can share about you through applications (Account / Privacy Settings / Applications and Websites) - Another example of keeping some control over your own information, rather than leaving that up to the others in your network.

9)  Get notifications when specific updates occur (Account / Account Settings / Notifications) - play around with the settings here if you end up getting inundated with emails..  Sadly there is no parental level notifications in Facebook, the emails get sent to the address of the account, so if you child has a Facebook account, the notifications go to his email.

10)  Limit who can see tagged photos (Account / Privacy Settings / Customize Settings) - Pick one of your friends and go through their Friend list - some will let you see their pictures (Friends of Friends setting) and some will not (Friends Only setting).  Use this to decide how you want your privacy level to be.

Facebook continues to modify their privacy features; check these occasionally to ensure you and your family are only sharing what you want to share!

Facebook impersonations at the AT&Tstore

So we were at the AT&T store the other day looking at cell phones, playing around with all the phones on display along the wall.  Now they are all fully functional phones, to really give you a good feel for how they operate.  So being the immature one that I am, I pick up one of the phones and start texting and calling my wife, who is on the other side of the store.  Hilarious, I tell you.

 

Anyway, I look further, and I start to poke around at the web access features on the phones.  Turns out a lot of them have a Facebook app installed, and wouldn't you know it, on the first one I pick up, the phone is already logged in to someone's Facebook account.  

e-Book: Facebook and Kids - Year by Year

Coming soon: an e-Book on the challenges that parents will encounter with Facebook as their kids grow.  Working title is "Facebook and Kids - Year by Year".  The draft table of contents is as follows:

Age 12:  Just Wait
Age 13:  Trust But Verify
Age 14:  It’s a Tool, Not a Toy
Age 15:  The Internet is Forever
Age 16:  Their Pages Reflect On You
Age 17:  Colleges are Looking
Age 18:  Keep In Touch
Age 19:  Expand the Definition of Friends
Age 20:  Networking for a Career
Age 21:  Let Go

Now your experience may only be at the low end of this age range, but you may know of others who would benefit from the tips for older kids.  Please forward/like/share/tweet/etc. to others who you think would benefit, or who could add more insight.

What other areas should be covered?  Let's hear your thoughts in the comments!

The (Friend) List is Life...

OK, the title is a little over-dramatic, but it got your attention…  Class, today's lesson is on Friend Lists in Facebook…

So your kid's getting older, starting to become more independent, and is generally embarrassed by your presence.  (If he's not embarrassed by you, are you really doing your job?)  You want to keep an eye on what he's up to online, despite his reluctance to let you see everything in his world…  Being connected to him on Facebook has the same allure of you yelling out "Hi sweetie!" to him at the bus stop,  But there is a middle ground where you can be connected while still giving him a semblance of freedom, and that is done by Facebook Lists.

Reunions: does Facebook help or hinder?

I've been getting communications recently about Reunion Weekend at my college alma mater.  I'm coming up on one of those milestone years (20!), so there is a bit more activity surrounding this year's festivities.  (Twenty years!?!  Feels like yesterday sometimes...) 

I have kept in touch just a small number of close friends out of college.   High school?  Forget it.  Even a few years out of high school I was only in touch with a few friends.   And one of them put it best:  "If I want to see anyone from high school, I'll call to have a pizza delivered…"  (Needless to say he didn't have a very high opinion of high school…)  But things changed recently…

Talking with Strangers - it's not as creepy, thanks to Facebook

So our little offspring is looking into a 'Study Abroad' program at college.  Very cool!  This came up in a conversation I was having at work, and it so happens that this colleague of mine has a grandson who is at her destination school right now.  So he suggests that my daughter contact his grandson, to get some first-hand knowledge of the place.  Simple enough, right?  But think about it, this is really an attempt to make a 3rd degree connection:  my daughter, to me, to my co-worker, to his grandson.  How would you start this conversation?  Isn't this a bit awkward?  Even creepy, perhaps?  "Uh, you don't know me, but…"

You're being watched - with help from the kids

So we were out and about running errands the other day, when I ran into an old friend and colleague of mine. Haven't seen him for years, but we just picked up where we left off all that time ago... So we're catching up when all of a sudden he says, "So I see the kids' Facebook pages, they sure are growing, aren't they? And I don't see your wife out there with a Facebook, what's up with that?

I guess I was a little taken aback, and before my brain caught up with my mouth, I heard myself say, "What, are you stalking me or something?!?".

Christmas cards or Facebook pokes?

After a several year hiatus, we sent out some Christmas cards this year. No particular reason for not sending them in years past, just the typical excuses of not getting around to it, not getting pictures developed in time, feeling awkward sending them out in April, etc…

It seemed like we were getting fewer cards in the mail ourselves this year, and at first I attributed it to the lack of our reciprocation for the last few years. However, it seems to be a national trend. The Washington Post chronicles this movement in their 2009 Holiday Guide section, so now perhaps I don't feel so bad, hearing that it's not just us! But is it a sign of the current lackluster economy, or of a larger shift in behaviors?