Facebook Privacy Settings, How to Change Them

Many of you have asked me how to adjust the privacy settings for your Facebook personal profiles. Facebook tends to make changes to this feature a lot, so it’s good to go in every now and then and make sure your are set the way you want them.

Here’s a Step-By-Step guide to customizing your privacy settings:

Click the Account tab in upper right corner of your page, and select “Privacy Settings.”

Under the Connect on Facebook header, click “View Settings” to view and change what people see when they search for you on Facebook.

Anyone can search for your Facebook page, so it is important you only display appropriate content—your potential employers don’t need to hear about your hangover or see pictures from that weekend in Vegas. And, as Facebook becomes a more prominent tool for business networking, it is a good idea to keep it professional.

Go through each setting and select “Everyone,” “Friends of Friends,” “Friends Only” or “Customize.” The “Customize” option will allow you to adjust your settings to specifically show or hide your activity from certain friends.

To control the settings on what you share on Facebook, click “Back to Privacy” in the upper left corner.

Under the “Things I Share” heading, you can customize who sees what you post on Facebook. This includes photos, videos, status updates and information about your likes, connections and relationships.

“Things Others Share” is where you control who views what friends post and share on your profile—wall posts, pictures and comments.

Lastly, it is also very important that you adjust the Privacy Settings for your “Contact Information.” For example, it is a good idea to make your address and phone number visible to “Friends Only.”

At the bottom of the “Things I Share” section, there is a link that will allow you to change the privacy settings on your existing videos and photo albums.

I suggest keeping your profile picture visible to make it easier for friends and family to find you. The privacy of other albums you share is up to you, but again, remember to keep it professional!

If you have any problems with your privacy settings or have any other questions about Facebook…Just Ask Betsy!

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Privacy, Facebook Privacy Settings

Posted in Facebook | 1 Comment »

June 21st, 2011

Do You Hate Social Media?

As a Social Media expert I am frequently referred to businesses that need my help. I work with large companies, online retailers, and marketing agencies. But I have many clients that fall into the “small but successful”, category, too. And, the majority of these “small but successful” businesses are owned by really smart, really fearless, and really dynamic people.

These really smart, fearless, and dynamic people seem to have one thing in common: They “hate” Social Media!

How do I know they hate Social Media? Because invariably when I first sit down to work with them, they start our conversation in one of these ways:

• “I know we should be “doing” Social Media, but I don’t know why.”
• “I’m really stupid about these things.”
• “I hate Facebook and I hate that my kids spend so much time on it.”
• “My competitors aren’t doing it; why should I?”
• “I am totally confused about Social Media and I don’t like it.”
• “How much does this stuff cost?”

First of all, I want to say that I completely understand why successful business owners in their 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s would hate Social Media. After all, they built their businesses without Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And, if they use Social Media at all, they may use Facebook as a personal tool for keeping up with those people from high school that they hadn’t planned to keep up with in the first place!

However, the reality is that Social Media is in our world, it affects all aspects of our lives, and it has a huge impact on our businesses. We can’t live without it. But instead of approaching it as a drain on resources (time and money), I encourage clients to look at Social Media as a wonderful opportunity.

The opportunity is this: for the first time, you can have a big impact on how your business appears to the public by using Social Media. When you Google the name of your company you should see 1-3 pages full of links to content that conveys your business’ unique value and expertise. Why?

Because research has shown that Search Engine searches are used more often than any other research tool as the primary source of information gathering in preparation for a purchasing decision. And this is true for B2B as well as for B2C.

Social Media activities increase the links to your business on Search Engines and enable you to control what your prospective clients and customers see. That is particularly important if you depend on word-of-mouth to grow your business.

So, if you don’t like what get when you Google your company’s name, give me a call. I’ll teach you how to love Social Media (or maybe just “Like” it.).

Posted in Social Media, Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »

June 15th, 2011