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It's been awhile since I had a Facebook privacy scandal to write about...let's see about three months? (Oh, and speaking of Don't Use Friend-Finder, Facebook is STILL telling your friends you used that insidious feature, whether you did or not.)
So, what's up, now? Well, remember how I told you that Facebook was going all Foursquare? At the time, it didn't seem there would be a major privacy issue, because it was (still is) an opt-in (aka "check in") feature. The problem new users are running into is that once they check in, they are not always aware that ALL of their friends can see where they are.
For some people this is not a problem, but it can take others off-guard. They may not even realize their profile could be poppling up on the phones of people they had forgotten were on their friends' lists (say...parents, children, significant others, exes, secret stalkers...). The default is set to "friends only," and "yes" on the "people here now," info. You have to opt-out of the second one - and this includes if your friends have tagged you as being "here" (wherever "here" is). Please note, there are two boxes review and check for Facebook places, as shown below. To get to this box, click on "account," in the top-right of your screen, then "privacy." then "customize settings."
This is one of those features that can be a lot of fun to use - IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. If you don't, you might get caught in an awkward situation, so educate yourself.
Jennifer Pointer (e-mail) is in Tulsa, OK. She promotes a simple, a low-tech approach to effective online profile management, search engine optimization and social networking.
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