Adjust Your Privacy Settings

Consider these questions as you review the examples below. Try the quiz from the left menu: What Have You Learned? after you’ve spent some time with this section.

Image courtesy of Chris Tindal

Chris Tindal, a young professional with (at one time) aspirations for political office, shares his views about belonging to a generation that has grown up on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc.  In his post, My Inevitable Facebook Scandal, he questions whether or not we should allow a person’s “momentary lapses in judgement” to ruin a career or prevent them from reaching a personal goal.  He cites the 2009 Facebook scandal involving aspiring BC politician, Ray Lam, as an example. Yet we know that people are judged by their online presence – regardless of how or by whom that presence is created.

How, what and with whom you share aspects of yourself online is a personal choice and that’s why the ever changing Facebook default settings (such as the 2009 public default) have some people very upset. Privacy is important to all of us in varying degrees. There are things you can do if you want to manage who sees what on your social networking sites like Facebook.

• The right to choose your own privacy levels is important. Facebook’s privacy settings have become complex. The ReclaimPrivacy.org site offers good information to help you understand the implications of Facebook’s new approach to privacy.
• Facebook’s recent changes to privacy, includes the information you have shared on your profile. They have added something called Community Pages – which automatically connects you to public pages based on the information you have shared on your profile. The graphic below makes it easier to understand. You can learn how to manage and alter settings for these features on Facebook’s Blog or Guide to Privacy.

Implications of new Facebook settings on your profile information.

• Facebook also provides some FAQs on privacy information and a rights and responsibilities statement. Always check for terms of use and privacy guidelines on any site you choose to have an account with. Make sure they work for you.