Social Media Privacy Settings
Many of us are concerned about our online privacy, but have you checked the settings of your social media tools, or have you assumed the default settings are ok?
We all know that what we upload to social media is not necessarily secure, but are you really aware of how accessible this information is?
Checking Your Social Media Privacy Settings
If you watched the video (also at the bottom of this article), I'm sure you'll agree it's worth taking the time to check the privacy settings on your social media accounts. The options differ slightly between each social media tool, but luckily most of them have great instructions in their help facility.
To get you started we talk about how to change your privacy settings on 4 common social media tools.
Settings - Privacy. Under Settings there is a Privacy section. Here you can access the Privacy Checkup which looks at who can see your posts, what apps you've used Facebook to log in to, and who can see what information in your profile.
Settings - Timeline & Tagging. In Facebook's Timeline & Tagging section you can control who sees your timeline posts and who can tag your timeline. It's worthwhile making the effort to review what people can see on your timeline by clicking the 'View As' button. If you don't like what they can see click the Limit Past Posts link (Settings - Privacy) and then click the Limit Old Posts button. This will make sure your old posts are only available to friends and anyone who has already interacted with that post.
Also make sure you control who can see your subsequent posts.
If you get stuck, Facebook has a help section dedicated to What Others See About You. Another useful help section is How to Keep Your Account Secure.
Account & Settings - Privacy & Settings. This lists the privacy controls available. The list includes who can see your connections, who can follow your updates and how to block people. It's worth taking a look. For example, you can adjust how you appear to others when you visit their profile.
For more info visit LinkedIn's Help Center.
When you sign up for Twitter, you can protect your Tweets or keep them public. Public Tweets (the default option) are visible to anyone, whether or not they have a Twitter account. Protecting your Tweets requires manual approval of each and every person who may view your Tweets.
For more info, visit Twitter's Help Center.
Edit Settings. In this section you can hide your profile from search engines, see which social networks you are connected to and apps you have approved.
If you want to keep your pins to yourself, create a secret board (at the bottom of your board screen) - the pins on secret boards can not be viewed by other users.
