Privacy Tips for Facebook “Friend List”

Is everyone from your boss to your ex-sweetheart friending you on Facebook now? Did you ever want to post something for only specific close friends to see?

Some people, especially anyone who has ever been “stalked,” would also like to be careful about which Facebook friends can access their Profile information. Not everyone needs to know where you work, live, and so on.

                                   

The good news is that there’s a Facebook “Friend List” technique that lets you restrict your most personal news, thoughts, photos, and profile info to a special group of people. You create a Friend List that contains only these people.

Here’s how to create your “inner circle” friends list:

1.    Go to your Facebook page of Friends. (Account > Edit Friends. Under Lists on left, click Friends.)

2.    Click the Create New List button at the top of the page, and then enter a title for your list, like “Inner Circle.”

3.    Add friends to the list by typing their names into the Add to List field or selecting them from the list.

4.    Select Create List to store your changes.

And then, to limit who sees a post you make on Facebook:

Next to the Share button for your post is the little Lock icon. Click it and choose Custom.

In the dialog that pops up, choose Make this visible to > Specific People and enter the name of your “inner circle” Friend List that you want to make your post visible to.

Finally, to limit who sees your Profile Info (photos, contact info, etc.):

Go to your Facebook Privacy Settings (Account > Privacy Settings). Click the "Customize Settings" link.

Select the privacy level you wish to keep for each category. As with your posts, you can choose Make this visible to > Specific Peopleand enter your preferred Friend List.

You also have the option of further customizing, and selecting ‘Only Me’ for items you wish to keep completely private.

Final words to the wise:

Remember the human error factor. The trick is to use and manage your Friend Lists carefully!

By the way, we don’t think you should have data like your home address on Facebook, but the whole question of what info social media sites should have is a topic for another time.

Also, Facebook changes their UI constantly, so bear in mind that some of the above steps may vary over time.

Stay Safe….