Are you afraid of Facebook? You’re not alone; the recent tech news has been full of concerns about privacy issues with the world’s largest social networking platform. Horror stories abound!
The fact that Facebook has about 400 million current users is testimony to the notion that we want to share stuff with others; but how safe is it and how can we control what’s being looked at and by whom?
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, addressed some of these concerns in his May 16 blog. He described how Facebook evolved from a share site for some college students to what it is today and how privacy concerns were addressed piecemeal as new features were added to the point where things got a little complicated.
While announcing new privacy settings, Zuckerberg says that the new system is much simpler; 15 options instead of 50 for example. Is Facebook serious about simplicity? Here’s what Zuckerberg says: “The number one thing we’ve heard is that there just needs to be a simpler way to control your information. We’ve always offered a lot of controls, but if you find them too hard to use then you won’t feel like you have control. Unless you feel in control, then you won’t be comfortable sharing and our service will be less useful for you. We agree we need to improve this.”
Zuckerberg also promised that the routine and frequent adjustments to Facebook’s privacy policy, which caused considerable confusion in the past, will be greatly reduced in the future. Is it simple enough for the casual user? Maybe so; it’s a lot simpler than the recent health care reform bill passed by Congress. It is not however a one page or one button solution. The features of Facebook are just too broad and diverse to be addressed by a one size fits all solution.
Having said that, I still recommend you join Facebook and then wade through the new privacy settings to customize them to your comfort level. The new privacy controls were designed not for geeks, but for the casual user. By the way, the new settings are being rolled out to users over the next few weeks and you’ll get a prompt from Facebook when it is your turn to address them. You should take a few minutes on that day and answer each prompt thoughtfully.
Here are a few of the improvements. You can opt out of applications, which means you can block all those inane games that have been cluttering up your Facebook pages. You can hide your Friends list if you choose, even from Googlers. You can hide information from the past; you’ll be able to “unshare” info that you had previously shared. That’s kind of like a do-over!
In conclusion, are the new Facebook privacy settings perfect? No, but they give users more control and they are much simpler. You really want to employ them as soon as they are released for your profile.
