Online privacy has been an extremely important topic in recent years, and tech companies have responded to the cries for better privacy measures on social media. A stellar example of online privacy tools is Facebook's settings, which give you a surprising amount of control over what the public sees about you. Here are some of the ways you can limit the information that can be found about you on Facebook:
1. Who should see this?
When posting a status update on Facebook, be it text, image, survey, or anything else, it is possible to limit who sees the post. Facebook creates default filters such as "Friends" (Where only your friends can see the post) and "Public" (Where anyone can see the post), but you can also select specific people to include or exclude out of seeing the post.
2. The About Page
A page where a lot of your basic information can be found, the About section of your profile allows you to pick and choose which details about you should be kept private or public. You can also choose to share those details with specific demographics, including or excluding people as you please. Details such as age and relationship status do not have to be visible on your profile.
3. Limit access to your old posts
Tired of friends commenting and liking embarrassing old posts? Facebook gives you the option to stop other Facebook users from finding posts older than a certain threshold you can set. Much easier than scrolling for 2 hours to delete every single old post!
4. Stop unknown friend requests
If you keep receiving friend requests from people you have never met before, this solution may be for you. Under Facebook's privacy settings, you can limit who can send you friend requests, so that only users who share mutual friends would be able to friend request you. If you have already accepted a lot of people who you no longer want to see your information and posts, then...
5. Unfriend, Block, and Report
When it come to stopping unwanted users in your personal information, these 3 are your best friends. Unfriending users restricts their level of access to your posts and profile, while a block completely hides the existance of your profile and activity from the blocked user, and vice versa. In cases where the specific user violated terms of service, the report function can be used as well to have the user's actions reviewed and potentially reprimanded.
Use these tips to stay private on Facebook! Make sure you fully explore the privacy options that Facebook allows for, as there are many exceptions for types and formats of posts that can be used to further tailor your experience.
Stay Safe. Stay Secure.
