Introduction to Facebook – Lesson 2 – Don’t be stupid

Facebook newbs (i.e. People who are new to facebook)! You need to learn what is seen by everyone, and what is seen by your friends, and what is seen by your networks. Stop being such a rookie.

Recently, my wife saw some posts on the wall of some “not-so-nice” relatives, who were obvious newbs to the facebook world. Follow this rule… Don’t post anything if you dont want *everyone* to see it. The only thing you should rely on being private is a message (which is really like an email). And even then, treat that with a bit of caution. Your trusted friend might walk away from their computer and leave themselves logged into facebook one day, at the mercy of their roomate or sibling. Hijacked!

Your wall on facebook is PUBLIC. People in your network (sometimes this means city) can see your wall. This means that you shouldn’t write wall posts about how many donuts your Aunt Sally ate this weekend. When she finds and friends you (and she will find and friend you), you’ll regret it. Be the smart one. Wait until Aunt Sally joins Facebook, friends you, and then go read her wall posts. I guarantee there will be some good stuff up there if she hasn’t read this yet

P.S. Facebook’s help is really great. I recommend you read Facebook’s help privacy section.