Customizing Your Facebook Privacy Settings

On December 9th, 2009, Facebook updated their Privacy Settings (again). When you logged in, you were greeted by a letter giving you a treetops view of the changes and then prompted to change your settings with Facebook's guidance. Being uber-curious about any changes to my account information on Facebook, I did go in and update my settings right then and there. As I travel around to your offices, I am hearing that many of you did not.

So, don't hit the "skip" on this one kids, let's get those Privacy Settings updated now!

The "transition tool" as Facebook is calling it, along with TONS of other information can be found here.

So, let's do this thing ... go to Settings > Privacy Settings (upper right on blue bar)

Here, you can control the privacy settings for your profile, contact info, applications & websites, search and your block list.

Click on Profile Information ... this layout should look different to you. First of all, the Preview My Profile is front and center (well, right and center) and allows you to see how different friends will see your information.

Also, on the right, each section of information on your profile can have customized privacy settings. This was always the case, but Facebook has broken out more of the sections to allow you even more control.

Your friend lists are super important here - if you haven't broken your Facebook friends into lists yet, go and do that now ... go to Friends (upper left blue bar) > click on Friends (again) > click Create New List. Creating lists like: bests, family, colleagues, etc. can really help you simplify your Privacy Settings.

When you click on the boxes to the right of each category (shown below) you can select Everyone, Friends of Friends, Only Friends or Customize to lock out or allow certain groups with just a few clicks.

If you are going to Customize, you can really drill down into your privacy - use your friend lists or individual names here.

Don't forget to Save Settings when you're done!

I've only covered a tiny snippet of the new Privacy Settings layout, so please dive in and keep updating your settings! It's so important to know and control what you have out there :)