In this post, you will find out how to manage social media privacy settings so you can share only information that you want people to know. Social media is an amazing tool, but it’s really the face-to-face interaction that makes a. General privacy tips for using social networks Become familiar with the privacy settings available on any social network you use, and review your privacy settings frequently. On Facebook, for example, you may want to make sure that your default privacy setting is 'Friends Only'.
Lesson 8: Social Media Privacy Basics/en/internetsafety/understanding-browser-tracking/content/ Understanding social media privacySocial media sites like, and have made it easier than ever to share things online. But sharing something on social media is a bit different from other types of online communication. Unlike email or instant messaging, which are relatively private, the things you share on social media are more public, which means they'll usually be seen by lots of other people. Think before you shareWhile social media sites offer privacy tools to help you limit who can see the things you share, it's important to realize that they are fundamentally more open and social than traditional communication tools. Whether or not you realize it, the things you share online also can affect how you're perceived by others. That's why you'll always want to think carefully about what you share over social media.Watch this video from Google to learn more about why it's important to think before you share.
What information are you sharing when you use social networks?The kinds of information that you may be sharing on a social network includes:. Your profile. Most social networks allow users to create detailed online profiles and connect with other users in some way. This may involve users sharing information with other users, such as one’s gender, age, familial information, interests, educational background and employment.
Your status. Most social networks also allow users to post status updates in order to communicate with other users quickly. Though there may be privacy settings to restrict access to status updates, these networks are frequently designed to broadcast information quickly and publicly. Your location. Many social networks are designed to broadcast your real-time location, either as public information or as an update viewable to authorized contacts. This might allow users to “check in” to a local event or business, or share one’s location with contacts within their network. Shared content.
Many social networks encourage users to share content, such as music, photographs, videos and links to other webpages.All of this sharing reveals information about you, including contextual information you may not even be aware of. By sharing this information online you may be providing enough information to allow advertisers to track you or hackers to take advantage of your online identity. Therefore it is important to be aware of the information that you are providing and to be conscious of the choices you can make to protect your privacy.2. How may your social networking information be used and shared?Publicly available information. Every social network allows you to post some information that is completely publicly accessible. This can be anything from your username to individual posts, to your entire account. These kind of “public” posts are not blocked behind any kind of access restriction.
Anyone, including strangers, can view whatever is posted as “public.” However, there may be other data that you share publicly without realizing it, and there are less obvious ways that your information may be treated as public without your permission, including:. Certain information may be publicly visible by default.
In some situations, a user may be able to change the privacy settings to make the information “private” - so that only approved users can view it. Other information must remain public; the user does not have an option to restrict access to it (frequently such information includes your account name). A social network can change its privacy policy at any time without a user’s permission.