Top Tips For Locking Down Privacy Settings On Your Facebook Account

Facebook does not have the best track record when it comes to its privacy. However, there are a few things you can do as a user which can help protect your account and personal information from other users.

Social media apps have become the hub where people go to connect to both old and new friends alike. Being able to log into an app and view what is going on with family and friends at a quick glance has made platforms like Facebook incredibly popular. But with sharing all that personal information on the world wide web there does come a risk of outside players trying to take advantage of all that data that is being shared.

With that in mind, there are some steps you can take that will help secure your personal information and account. By taking all, or even some, of these suggestions, you can make it much more difficult for prying eyes to take advantage of your data sharing on Facebook.

Inline Audience Selector

One of the easiest ways to to help secure your information on Facebook is with its inline audience selector. Each time you create a post, you can click or tap on the drop-down box beneath your name and choose between Friends or Public. You can also choose to restrict access to certain users, which can be very useful if you feel you are being stalked or watched by someone. There is also an option of "Only me", which can be an ideal way of hiding a post you plan on posting in the future and want the ability to do so when you want and edit before as well.
By choosing your audience, you are only allowing people you want to see the post to view it. You can set the default preference by going to your Facebook Privacy settings under Settings > Privacy and selecting which one you prefer to be used so you don't accidentally share something publicly in the future.

Review Your Friends' List

Another useful tip is to do a periodical review of who you have on your friend's list. As the old saying goes, friends come and go, and sometimes not on good terms. By reviewing your friend's list, you can make sure someone you have had a falling out with is no longer on the list. If you do not want to completely remove them, you can choose to place them on your Restricted list so they cannot view what you are posting.
Most people that use Facebook choose to use their real name. Some will even include their maiden name as their middle name, so that people searching for them can find them easier. However, this can also make it easier for anyone else to find you as well. With that being said, you can choose not to use your actual name. For anyone that is worried about their privacy, being stalked, or any number of other scenarios, you can choose to use a nickname as your first or middle name as long as it is a variation of your authentic name.

Facebook's name policy states "the name on your profile should be the name that your friends call you in everyday life" and that it should "also appear on a form of ID or document from our ID list."

Privacy Checkup Tool 

The Privacy Checkup tool available through Facebook can be used to walk you through common privacy settings you might want to alter. This can include your password, how people can find you, and how your data is managed. It is a good tool to use in order to find new features or settings that may get added without you realizing it.
If you ever reach the point with your Facebook account where you are no longer sure you want to keep your profile, you can choose to lock your profile. By locking your profile, users can effectively limit everything to those on their friend's list until they deactivate the setting. This includes all posts, profile picture, and Facebook Stories. It can also be utilized if you are just wanting to take a break from social media altogether, making it easier to simply pick up where you left off when you are ready to return.

Disable Active Status On Messenger

A final tip is to disable active status on Messenger. By default your online status is shared with friends and family whenever you login to Facebook. If you are they type that does not want your mom and others knowing you are catching up on the latest, you can choose to appear offline by default. This will keep anyone from seeing you are online and trying to start a conversation with you when you are in a rush.

How you choose to use social media is completely up to you. You have the option to share pretty much anything and everything about your life you so choose to. However, if you want to limit how many eyes can see that information, then following the tips above can be very useful.

Top Image Courtesy of Simon from Pixabay