Consumers’ perceptions of a company include their perception of a company’s executives and employees. Facebook and many other social networks, are built on open sharing and genuine conversations. Although personal profiles are not meant for business purposes, these profiles still influence how a person is perceived online. For those who do not want to mix business with their personal lives, Facebook, in particular, has a series of settings to help you control how open your personal profile is to the world.
Facebook’s privacy policy, user interface and controls have changed a lot in the past year. Here is a quick guide to help you set up your account the way you want it.
- Go to www.facebook.com and log in.
- Click on “Account” (located near the top right corner) and select “Privacy Settings” in the drop down menu. This is the first page of privacy settings you can change.
- Under the “Sharing on Facebook” section, click the “Customize settings” link to customize your settings.
- After customizing your settings, go back to the “Privacy” page.
- Next, under the “Basic Directory Information” section on the “Privacy” page, click on the “View settings” link (located at the end of the paragraph). This page will allow you to customize what information you want to appear on your public directory profile. NOTE: Your name, profile picture, gender and networks are always open to everyone.
- After customizing your settings, go back to the “Privacy” page.
- Next, if you do not want your public profile to appear in search engine listings at all, under the “Applications and Website” section (located near the bottom right of the “Privacy” page), click on the “Edit your settings” link.
- Click the “Edit Settings” button located right of the “Public search” item. Make sure the “Enable public search” item is un-checked.
There you have it. The settings are scattered about on Facebook, but using this guide allows you to control your privacy on Facebook. Well, some of it anyway.
Victor
eMarketing Strategist
Tags: facebook, privacy, settings, Social Media
