New Facebook privacy tools tune up your page
We followed guidelines that other agencies have set. We look for and welcome responses to the items that we post, but it's not an open forum. We have our page set so that we can introduce a topic, but others can't. It allows us to have a Facebook presence without having to worry about somebody introducing topics of their own.
- Chuck Smith, Public information officer for Sutter County
Even if you are my friend on my Facebook, you would only see mutual friends. And I'll customize it for people to not see my relationship status.
-Jade Miramontes, Marysville
When I have an event, I pull up my group of people who are Yuba City-Marysville folks and send stuff to them. I have learned to make it work for me. The thing that people are surprised at is that I don't read their posts. I have over 4,600 Facebook friends, so I'm really looking at stuff, mainly, like my daughter's page and certain friends and family.
- Angel Diaz, Yuba City
Editor's Note: This is the first of two-parts on how you can take back control of your Facebook page through the use of new privacy tools offered on Facebook accounts.
NEW YORK — A woman I haven't spoken to in six years is pregnant with her second son. Another college acquaintance reads the Bible a lot. A high school classmate likes to rant about politics. A college dormmate thinks he works too much.
On Facebook, I'm connected to a lot of people who are not my friends. Over the years, as my Facebook friend list grows, it's made me increasingly uncomfortable that I seem to know so much about people that I don't actually know.
So as the new year approached, I decided to review my Facebook life. I took a four-week break — a "Facebook Fast" — from the world's biggest online social network. The break this fall spanned the presidential campaign and election, Superstorm Sandy, fighting in the Middle East and my college's homecoming weekend — all events I cared about. These were all reasons for me to crave Facebook as a way to check the zeitgeist.
What did I learn? Sure, there are sleazy and annoying aspects to Facebook. It connects us to each other like tabloids connect readers to celebrities, and it compels us to gossip. It often makes us voyeurs accidentally immersed in the intimate lives of people we barely know.
But after eight years on the network, I rely on it for pictures and news of faraway friends and relatives. I can't quit. Like it or not, Facebook is an important part of my life.
Facebook Inc. is in the midst of trying to make its privacy policies more intuitive for users. It has added a little padlock icon at the top right of the website. When you click on it, Facebook walks you through how to change who sees what you post, who can contact you and how to review what others are writing about you.
But if you're trying to curate your Facebook life, there are more steps you need to take. Here are some tips for remaking the network so it's less a tabloid feed of unwanted updates and more a warmer, personal space that better reflects your real-life social circle.
CUT BACK ON TOTAL TIME SPENT
I used to keep Facebook open on my work computer, checking in periodically throughout the day. I relied on the Facebook app on my phone to entertain me whenever I was waiting in line or riding in a taxi. I would also log in at home.
It was overkill. I check Facebook less often now. The goal: Read less and write more.
First, I disabled the app on my phone.
I also enabled email notifications for whenever someone sends me a message, tags me in a photo, or posts on my profile or in one of my groups. If someone's trying to get in touch with me, I still want to know and be able to respond. Because I get the notifications, I don't need to keep Facebook open at work or check on it constantly at home.
Here's how to get those notifications: Click on the wheel icon at the top right corner of Facebook and choose "privacy settings" on the menu that pops up. Then click on "notifications" on the left. Then, you can edit what Facebook sends you over email — as well as via texts and phone alerts.
