Ah, Facebook. The grandfather of all social networks, where we all share
all sorts of weird things without a second thought. Despite its horrible
reputation when it comes to privacy, Facebook still manages to lull us into a
comfortable and safe feeling, in which many of us forget ourselves, the world,
and the fact that absolutely anyone can see what we post on Facebook.
What is it about Facebook that makes it so easy to forget? Ask anyone on
the street if they like Facebook, and most people will answer in a resounding
“no”. They’re tired of the frequent interface changes, they don’t like Mark
Zuckerberg, and they absolutely hate how
it hurts their privacy. No sooner had they said that, will they be posting
something private on Facebook without giving a second thought. And it’s not
only“they” that do that. We all make these mistakes,
at least from time to time.
Although it should be pretty obvious by now what you should or should not
share on Facebook, it never hurts to refresh your memory.
Perhaps you’ve forgotten yourself again in the heat of the moment, or
haven’t quite decided what you want your Facebook account to be about. It’s
time to clean up your act. Follow the tips below, and make sure you’re not
putting your privacy, job, and security in danger.
Decide: Is Your Facebook Private Or
Professional?
This is a very important decision to make, and one you should take the time
to think about. Is your Facebook account a place to stay updated with friends
and family, or is it a professional account you want prospect bosses to see,
and use to interact with colleagues about work? Unless you’re going to be
extremely careful about it, your private life and professional life is going to
clash.
It doesn’t even have to be something obvious like complaining about your
work or boss and having it reach the wrong eyes. It can also be sharing
inappropriate links or photos of yourself, and having them wind up in the wrong
places. In his article about why you
shouldn’t integrate Facebook, Twitter, & LinkedIn, Dave tells all about why you shouldn’t connect all your social accounts,
especially if they’re used for different purposes. Nevertheless, many of us do
that, and have inappropriate links from Facebook wind up on LinkedIn. Awkward.
Since Facebook is geared into sharing with friends, the best thing to do is
to keep work-related things away from it as much as possible. There are other
networks for that. If you must use your Facebook account for work-related
things, or show it at a job interview, make sure toclean it
up first and make it more professional.
Anything Work Related (Unless It’s Positive)
This is an extension of the previous point, but its worth reiterating. Do
NOT use your Facebook account to complain about your work, your salary, your
boss, or even things such as the long drive to work, how tired you feel while
in the office, or how you’d rather not get up from bed today.
Are you supposed to be at work from 9 to 5? Posting five status updates and
4 photos during that time might not be the brightest idea, especially if you
have colleagues (not to mention bosses) in your friends list. People tend to
forget this, but other people can see when
you posted things.
If you must share something about work, you can share interesting job
openings, share your actual work, if possible, and even tell your friends how
much you like your job. Don’t go to far with that one, though, or it might
start to look weird.
I Have A Job Interview/Date/Ultrasound
Tomorrow!!!!!!
Exciting things are fun to share. When something exciting is going to
happen, you want the world to know, even if it’s against your better judgment.
Think twice (or more, if necessary) before posting anything of this nature. Is
this exciting thing going to happen for sure? Is the
outcome necessarily positive? Does everyone really need to know about this
right now?
Being disappointed is bad enough as it is without having to share your
disappointment with the world and explain why it happened. Some job interviews
and dates don’t go that well, and you might not want to share that you’re
pregnant before you’re 100% sure everything is going to be OK. In addition, not
everyone on your friends list should know about these things. Your workplace
might not appreciate you having a job interview tomorrow, for example. Use your
common sense to figure out the rest.
Don’t Make It Too Easy To Break Into Your
Home
Your Facebook profile and account might be hidden from the public (as they
should be), but this doesn’t mean information can’t get out. No
matter who is supposed to see it, you shouldn’t share information
that can put your security at risk. And this is surprisingly easy to do.
Did you share your full address on Facebook? Everyone knows where you live.
Did you just check-in with Foursquare into the mall? Did you just share that
you’re going on a week long vacation? Now everyone knows your house is going to
be empty or is empty right now. No matter how you look at it, this is not good.
It might sound paranoid, but better safe than sorry.
Don’t Make It Too Easy To Break Into Your
Account
This follows the same idea as the previous point. Don’t ever underestimate
people’s ability to connect the dots, when they really want to. Do you use your
child’s or dog’s name as your password? Well, you shouldn’t, but if you do
anyway, it’s not as hard for people to guess as you might think. If you’ve
share password hints on Facebook, or even the passwords themselves in the form
of names or dates, don’t be surprised if someone manages to put 2 and 2
together.
Full Birth Date & Location
This is a no-brainer, but some people still forget about this. Sharing your
full birth date and place on Facebook can lead to privacy breaches, and in
extreme cases, even identity theft. I’m not saying you should become super
paranoid about everything, but this kind of information does not belong on the Web,
where anyone at all can see it. If you’d like to get birthday wishes on
Facebook, a day and a month are enough, a year is not necessary.
Be Graph Search Ready
Have you heard of Graph
Search? Despite the uproar it created, Facebook’s
new search finds nothing you didn’t put there yourself. So don’t click like on
inappropriate things or things you don’t really like. Don’t add random things
to your hobbies as a joke. Don’t add life events that never happened. These
things can backfire badly with Graph Search.
The (Should Be) Obvious: Anything You Don’t
Want The World To See
There are many more things one should never share on Facebook, and they all
fall under this heading. You must get it into your head that anything you share on Facebook can be seen byanyone. Your privacy
settings, while extremely important, will not save
you from embarrassments every time. Don’t post photos if someone should not see
them. Don’t say where you are if someone shouldn’t know. Don’t post photos of
your child with their full name. Don’t complain or gossip. And for crying out
loud, don’t talk negatively about your significant other, even if they don’t
have a Facebook account.
Facebook can be great for keeping up with friends and family, but it can
easily become a potential trouble source if you go too far. Keep it simple and
fun!
Do you have tips of your own? Is there something that should NEVER be
posted to Facebook I didn’t mention? Did sharing on Facebook ever backfire on
you? Share in the comments below.
