Archive for Facebook
Tips for setting or updating your privacy settings
As social media users, it’s very important to understand the responsibilities and realities of posting to social media websites and to be aware of program updates and changes. Let’s take a look at recent changes to Facebook.
Facebook has introduced a new timeline layout, which will eventually be rolled out to all users. As always, in response to any Facebook changes, you should check your privacy settings to make sure Facebook has not changed your previously-selected privacy settings. You can check your settings by clicking on the arrow next to “Home” and selecting “Privacy Settings” from the drop down menu.
From the “Privacy Settings” menu, select the “Friends” radio button option.
We highly recommend that you set your “How You Connect” privacy settings to “Friends Only.” We’ve noticed that the default setting will be “Everyone” for the last option: Who can see posts by others on your timeline? Make sure you select “Friends” for that option.
Setting your “Privacy Settings” to “Friends of Friends” opens up a new level of concern, possibly making more of your information public than you would like. Setting your privacy to “Public” does not provide you with any safeguards – your information is just that – PUBLIC! Note: “Cover Photos” in the new timeline format are all PUBLIC – no matter what your privacy settings are.
With the above settings, only “Friends” can see your activity on Facebook and not “Friends of Friends” or any other users. By leaving “Everyone” as your selection for friend requests and messages, you are still able to receive friend requests and messages from people you have not currently “friended.”
Common Facebook Questions
Taken from Facebook’s finding, viewing and interacting with Facebook pages website.
How are Pages different from personal profiles (timelines)?
Profiles (timelines) represent individuals and must be held under an individual name, while Pages allow an organization, business, celebrity, or band to maintain a professional presence on Facebook. You may only create Facebook Pages to represent real organizations of which you are an authorized representative.
If I post or comment on a Facebook Page, who can see it?
Facebook Pages for businesses and brands are public spaces. When you post or comment to a public page, a story is published on your Wall and can also be published in News Feeds.
Can a Page see my information if I Like it?
Pages cannot see the profiles (timelines) of people who connect with them, only their profile picture and name. Pages also do not have access to a News Feed with information about the activity of the people who connect with them. Page administrators, however, will be able to see anything you’ve made available as “Public” on your profile (timeline) by visiting your profile (timeline). Pages can communicate with users that like their Page by sending messages. Authenticated Pages may also post status updates, which may appear in the News Feeds of users that like the Page.
What does it mean to “Like” a Page or content off of Facebook?
When you click “Like” on a Facebook Page, in an advertisement, or on content off of Facebook (any website), you are making a connection. A story about your “like” will appear on your Wall (timeline) and may also appear in your News Feed. You may be displayed on the Page you connected to, in advertisements about that Page, or in social plugins next to the content you “like.”
Facebook Pages you “like” may post updates to your News Feed or send you messages. Your connection to the Page may also be shared with Apps on the Facebook Platform. For example, if you go to EGUSD’s website and click on the “follow EGUSD on Facebook” link, you will be prompted to login to Facebook if you haven’t already. Your “Like” will then show up on your Wall (timeline).
To familiarize yourself with more Facebook terminology, click here to visit their glossary.
If you have additional questions about Facebook, please post a comment or send us an email.
Many of the parents we meet during our Internet Safety workshops share with us a common concern: They wish they had a better handle on how to make sure their children are using Facebook in ways they will not sooner or later regret. Parents want a complete guide. Their wish has been granted. Connect Safely has posted a 35-page Parent Guide to Facebook.
Image from ConnectSafely.org
The guide features hands-on, step-by-step instructions and illustrations, as well as parenting points on safety, privacy, and reputation protection. It covers both cellphone- and computer-based use of Facebook and the site’s newest features, including Places, Groups, and the latest privacy updates.
But if you do not have time to download and read through the complete guide, authors Anne Collier and Larry Magid are also providing you with an “at a glance interactive chart” with their recommended privacy settings. A very concise, informative resource!
At a time when school councilors are spending countless hours dealing with issues of cyberbullying, including the current rage of Facebook “burn” pages, we thought readers might find the infographic below of interest. From the Schools.com organization, this infographic unveils ways college admission officers are looking at prospective students’ social media accounts.
Courtesy of: Schools.com
We’d love to hear your ideas on how to use this poster. If any of you shared it with students, what were their reactions? Were they surprised by any of the statistics? Did any voice concerns about their own digital footprints?
One of our favorite sites for parents and teachers is Common Sense Media.
Amid growing concern about how much information students are revealing about themselves in their personal profiles on social networking web sites and other online services, the national child advocacy group Common Sense Media is asking industry, educators, policy makers, parents, and teens to help make a stand for online privacy by demanding that companies provide an “opt-in” feature for sharing the information of all children under the age of 18.
Common Sense Media’s national campaign, called “Do Not Track Kids,” began from what the group considered to be startling statistics about online privacy.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 50 of the most popular U.S. web sites are placing intrusive tracking technology on visitors’ computers—in some cases, more than 100 tracking tools at a time. Fifty sites popular with U.S. teens and children placed more than 4,000 “cookies,” “beacons,” and other tracking technologies on their sites, the Journal reported—and that’s 30 percent more than were found on similar sites aimed at adults.
“Tracking technology scans in real time what people are doing on a web page, then instantly assesses their location, income, shopping interests, and even medical conditions,” explained Common Sense Media. “Individuals’ [personal] profiles are then bought and sold on stock-market-like exchanges that have sprung up in the past 18 months.”
The worst part, says Common Sense Media, is that children over the age of 13 have no say on whether or not their personal information is collected—or their personal profile is shared.
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