Save Face with These 3 Facebook Security Settings

Facebook makes it easy to connect with everyone; unfortunately, this includes people that you may not want to connect with. Whether it is the person you once had an awkward date with, or a hacker looking to hijack your profile, you can make sure that only the people who you want to see your post will be able to by adjusting your security settings.

To adjust your Facebook privacy settings, you will want to click on the gear icon on the upper-right hand corner of the screen and then go to Privacy Settings. You will see two security categories: Who can see my stuff? and Who can look me up?

Who Can See My Stuff?
One of the first steps towards better online privacy that you will want to do is to filter your posts so that only your friends can see them. If your menu is set to Public, then you will want to click Edit. You will now see a text box that says Public, click on the box and a drop down menu will appear. Click on Friends and your Facebook stalker will now have to find someone else to creep on.

In this same drop down menu, you will also notice that you can go to Custom to make it so that only certain friends will be able to see your post. Below Custom you will see icons next to people groups, go to See all lists... to view all of your groups, you can select a group so that only the people within these groups can see what you post.

You can use these same filter settings for every single post that you create. In the form box that you use to create a post (the 'What's on your Mind?' box), you will see to the left of the Post button this same drop down menu. This is good way to post an invite to a party on your timeline without some wise guy from 500 miles away commenting, "lol wish i could come, i am 500 miles away :)." Lol. Don't be that guy. If you are that guy, stop.

Who Can Look Me Up?
If you are happy with everyone on your friends list and can't think of anybody significant that will be searching the Internet trying to find you, then you will want to put a limit on who can search for you by going to Who Can Look Me Up? in Privacy Settings. From here, you can block search engines from linking your profile and filter out who can see your phone number and e-mail.

If you are feeling like a hermit, then you can limit search results so that only your Friends will be able to find you when searching specifically for you. Although, it is important to remember that one of the best parts about social networking is being contacted by an old friend that you have forgotten about. To keep this option open then you will want to put your Who can look me up? setting to Friends of Friends.

Timeline and Tagging
There is one more setting that you will want to consider to save face on Facebook and that is the Timeline and Tagging Settings. Located below the Privacy tab, Timeline and Tagging will present you with three questions that will filter who can see post that you or your friends have you tagged in.

Customizing these settings can come in especially handy when you are trying to keep one group of friends from seeing what another group of friends have you tagged in. The most important setting that you will take away from here is Review posts friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline. If you have a friend that is a little too tag-happy, then it would be a good idea to take advantage of this timeline tag filter.

Adjusting these simple settings will go a long way in securing your Facebook profile and keeping your info out of the hands of the wrong people. If you take time to explore the rest of your Account Settings menus, you will find additional settings that you will be able to customize to your liking. If you are looking for additional security settings to keep your social media profiles and your company's computer network safe, then call Directive at 607.433.2200.