Facebook’s New Privacy Settings

Facebook & Public Search Results: Think before you click

Facebook is in the middle of their new privacy settings roll-out to all of its 350+ million users. The next time you sign in to Facebook, you’ll be greeted with this screen. Please read this screen and think about what you’re doing before clicking the Save Settings button.

Once you’ve made your selections please do yourself a favor and double check an item labeled Search. It just might keep you from being fired, not being hired or losing your benefits.

On the top blue bar click on Settings > Privacy Settings. You’re now on the Privacy Settings page. Look for the section labeled Search.

search-fb Search

This option controls who can see your search result on Facebook and in search engines. Click this option to see the details and make changes.

Facebook Search Results
I’ve set this to allow only friends that can search for me on Facebook. Remember, if you leave it set to everyone, any member of Facebook (recruiters, your boss, your mom) can view your information. Think, is everything you posted on Facebook PG-13?

Public Search Results
I’ve unchecked the setting Allow Indexing. If this little box is checked everything in your profile that is set to everyone can now be found by people searching on Google, Bing, Yahoo and more. I’m in the process of hiring an SEO Marketing Analyst and I’ll use all of the available online tools to find each candidate’s online profile. Remember, what you say on the internet will be found by someone and will be there for many years to come.

Now you may be wondering why I’m so guarded with my Facebook information. Facebook to me is where I share family photos and status updates with my friends and family. I’m not inappropriate with either, I just feel like it’s only to be shared with family and friends and not the whole world.