managing your facebook PRIVACY SETTINGS
Note: Facebook is not supported by the IT Help Center. We are simply providing this information because we think it's an important topic and we hope this page will be helpful.
Using Friend Lists and Privacy Settings
Facebook offers flexible Privacy Settings that everyone should consider using to better manage their Facebook identity. You can use Privacy Settings to participate in Facebook as much or as little as you want to. If you don't want your new employer to see your college photos, for example, or everyone in your Friend list writing on your Wall, you can control that access.
Rather than ignoring Friend requests from say, your aunt or your professor, you can simply put them into a list that controls what they are able to see and do in your Facebook profile. Use of very restricted Friend lists is a great way to get started with Facebook if you have been wanting to, but have been hesitant.
Lists are also useful because they can be used to quickly send a message to an entire group. If nothing else, lists are a way to organize and display your Friends and their updates.
Almost everyone needs to take better control over the information they are sharing on Facebook. Here's how to do that.
Organize your Friend Lists:
1. Select Friends.
2. Think through the categories of people in your life, and Make a New List for each of those categories. Typically lists might include friends, coworkers, and family...but you might even want to break those categories down more. For example, "best college friends" or "misc" or "very restricted." Into the "very restricted" group you should put people with whom you really don't want to share any information.
Lists can include many people, or just a few. People can also be in more than one list, although it will make your privacy planning easier if you can pick just one.
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3. Add Friends to your lists.
NOTE:
a) At the bottom of the Friends window there is a place for you to Delete this list. This action does not delete the Friends in the list, just the (selected) list that they are in.
b) You can also Message this list - send the same message to an entire group of people.
Use the lists to protect your privacy:
Once you have some Friend lists to work with, go ahead and open your Privacy Settings.
Ultimately, you'll want to work your way through each of the following categories shown below, to make sure things are set up as you want them to be. See some examples below.
For example...
The screen shot below shows Custom control over the lists of people that can see tagged photos. Note that, for this user, only college and highschool friends can see photos tagged of her. An even more conservative approach would be to choose "Only Me" and "None of my Networks." Regardless of the settings you choose, setting up some kind of control like this is so much better than having every "Friend" see every photo you're tagged in!
In the next example, only people in college and work lists can see the user's IM Screen Name.
Once you've modified your Profile Settings, you should also go to your Application Settings and set the same kinds of control.
In the example below, the user has decided that she doesn't want anyone to see which Groups she is in.
Another important thing to think about is controlling access to Photo Album content. Set that up either at the time you create the album, or at any time through "Album Privacy" in your list of Albums.
In the example below, only users in the "highschool" list will see the "highschool-restricted" album. (Naming "-restricted" isn't required; that just tells the people seeing it that the photos aren't public, which is probably comforting to them!) Users who do not have access to an album will not even know it exists and, in fact, the album will not be counted in the Album total they see for you.
How do I know it's working?
Facebook allows you to view your site as other people see it, and you'll need to do that repeatedly as you modify and refine your settings. To do that, go to Privacy Settings and click on Profile. Pick a person (as a representative of a list) and enter his or her name. You'll then get a view of your site as that person (and the corresponding list) will see it. (When doing this, make sure to choose a person who is not in more than one list: those people you should check separately -- particularly if they are people you want to restrict information from).
Borrowing from the example above, if you enter the name of someone who is not in the "highschool" list, you'll notice that they do not see the "highschool-restricted" album. People who are in the most restricted of your lists should not see anything that you don't want them to see. If they do, go back and modify that setting so they can't, then test it again.
How come "hidden" things are showing up?
Remember that you are viewing your site as you, and you can see everything. In order to see your information as other people will see it, you will need to test the view of those other people, as described above. Once you've done that, if someone is still seeing something you don't want them to see, you will need to modify your Privacy Settings accordingly.
Now what?
As time goes by, you'll probably develop more lists and continue to modify your Privacy Settings. Now that you understand how to do it, you'll be able to control the impression you are putting out over Facebook, which is really important as your life changes and your Friend list expands.
From this point forward, whenever you accept a Friend request, it's a good idea to immediately put that person into the list(s) they should belong in. You can do that either right in the Friend request window, or later by clicking on a list and using Add to List. (You can also do it when Friends are Toggled in a list.)
Meanwhile, if you would like even more examples of ways to use Privacy Settings, this article seems particular good, and an Internet search will reveal others.
You can also get assistance with Facebook in general from the Facebook Help Center at www.facebook.com/help.php.
Will people know I've set restrictions on them?
People won't know what your lists are called and likely won't notice some of the more subtle restrictions you could put on them. For example, people won't miss photos that they don't know are there, and if you block people from seeing Status Updates, they might just think you aren't using Facebook much...
However, as people become familiar with the use of Privacy Settings themselves, they will be aware that you have placed restrictions on them. For example, if your Facebook looks very plain to them, or if your Friend list isn't visible, or if they can't write on your Wall...they will guess that you have restricted them in some way. However, depending on the situation, that could be more comfortable than ignoring, rejecting, or removing a Friend entirely. In fact, some people want to be your Friend because they can message you that way, but they would really prefer not to see everything about you!