Facebook Privacy Improved; Stop Facebook Indexing; Angelina's Folly; Salahi Boast

On December 1, 2009, Facebook Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg posted an open letter that reveals important changes to his social network. The main points are- 1. With over 350 million users worldwide, Facebook is an empire. Once used mainly by students, Facebook is used by corporations, celebrities, professionals, and everyone else. Thus, the social network giant has dropped its simplistic regional networking system and has expanded the user's privacy control of his content. 2. Facebook indexing will index all Facebook content left visible by a Facebook user in his privacy control settings. Thus, Google, Bing, and other search engines can access far more than just a Facebook profile picture and link to the Facebook user. However, Privacy Settings can be changed and Facebook indexing can be stopped. Visit this important Facebook link to understand Facebook's new privacy settings.

How to stop Facebook indexing. To stop the indexing of your content, carry out the following procedure- Log in to Facebook. In the Menu (blue bar at the top), click on Settings. Scan down the list to Privacy. To the right of Privacy, click on Manage. Then, click on Search (fourth down the list). Where you see Public search results, CLICK to un-check the box 'Allow Indexing'. Facebook automatically saves the change.

How to change Facebook Search Results setting. While still in the Privacy Settings, observe Facebook Search Results. The box to the right likely says Everyone. If you don't want everyone to see your search result on Facebook, you have two other options. Click on the box (its arrow indicates a drop-down menu). This menu offers two other options- Friends of Friends and Friends Only. Select the one you want. The option of Friends Only gives the most privacy. A good example of someone who did not adjust the new Privacy Settings, for whatever reason, is actress Angelina Jolie.

Angelina Jolie Facebook Folly: Angelina Jolie did not change her Facebook privacy settings after the December. All of a sudden, her personal content was public and exposed her famous friends. To avoid this public exposure for yourself, carry out the two actions earlier explained- indexing and search results. Next, review all Facebook Privacy Settings; alter them to suit your privacy needs- where to find them is coming up soon. Five options exist for the viewing audience of a Facebook user's content.

Facebook's Five Viewing Options. Five viewing options dictate who can view a Facebook user's content. They range from the most public to most private. Four of the five are as follows- Everyone, Friends of Friends, Friends Only, or Customize. To customize means choosing certain friends to view certain content. The Facebook user must consider these four options when adding content. The fifth viewing option, which is only available for photo content, is Me Only. Finding Facebook Privacy Settings can seem akin to searching out hidden rooms in a haunted house. But a Facebook user's patient diligence applied for a few minutes will remove any mystery.

Facebook Privacy Settings and the Salahis. On Tuesday November 24, 2009, Virginia couple Michaele and Tareq Salahi, owners of a winery and aspirers to reality TV show The Real Housewives of DC, party-crashed The White House State Dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Secret Service screened them for weapons but did not check to see if the couple was on the guest list. The Salahis met President Obama and many other dignitaries. Later, they boasted online of their attendance and posted party photos on Mrs. Salahi's Facebook. The Secret Service got wind of the boasts and photos. They have since announced that criminal charges may be brought against the Salahis. The ranking Republican on the House Homeland Security committee, U.S. Representative Peter T. King, has called for an investigation.

Where to find Privacy Settings. Privacy Settings show up whenever you create a Photo Album. But your central control is the Settings link, to the right in the blue menu bar. The Settings link gives a drop-down menu with four settings- Account; Privacy; Applications; Help. The direct way to Privacy Settings is to click on Privacy Settings. Yet, for full access to all privacy settings, bypass the Privacy Settings link and instead click on Account Settings. You will be able to access the Privacy Settings link there and the links to all other types of privacy settings.

Account Settings. In the Settings tab, you can change your Name, User Name, E-mail, Password, and Linked Accounts. You can also deactivate your account. And you can manage your Privacy. After clicking on Privacy, you'll see five more links- Profile Information, Contact Information, Applications and Websites, Search, and Block List. It's imperative that you explore them all. The Block List enables you to block people with whom you do not want to interact. We earlier visited Search to uncheck Allow Indexing and to change Facebook Search Results. In Applications and Websites, click on Edit Settings and you'll see a long list of Privacy Settings. Also check out the other links there. Profile Information and Contact Information each has a long list of Privacy Settings.

In Account Settings, you will see six other tabs in addition to the Settings tab. Click on the third one, Notifications. Here, you can choose the activities about which you want to be notified. You might wanted to check them all so that you'll receive e-mails every time something new happens: for example, whenever another Facebook user tags you in a photo (identifies you by name)- this can really spread you around the Internet. You'll then get an idea of the amount of Facebook exposure you're getting.

Facebook History of Public Search Listings (PSL). In September 2007, Facebook announced its creation of a PSL in order to enable people to search for a Facebook user's name and to see a link to his Facebook profile. Users had a month to set up their privacy setting to block the indexing before the PSL would take effect. Profiles of Facebook users under eighteen were exempt from the change. However, the profile picture of So You Think You Can Dance contestant Nathan Trasoras, 18, was found in Google images when he was seventeen. His profile link was also found on Google. In fact, some Facebook profiles were long since indexed by Google- perhaps because the Facebook users posted their Facebook badges to other sites.

Summary. Remember to explore your Facebook account. Periodically review all of your Facebook Privacy Settings. As with MySpace, those settings can magically change. And they might not be what you expect.

For the open letter by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, whose own FB photos recently were exposed, click here.

_{Sources: nowpublic.com; mashable.com; dscriber.com; gawker.com; newsnidea.com; en.wikipedia.org; huffingtonpost.com; cbsnews.com}