Privacy Changes Coming to a Facebook Near You
Privacy Changes Coming to a Facebook Near You
Are you ready for yet another change in Facebook? With more than 350 million active users worldwide, Facebook is nothing like the social network it was a mere six years ago. In an open letter to Facebook users on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg - Facebook's billionaire founder - stated that "regional networks" were no longer the best way to control privacy and personal data.
Now being implemented is an easier way for individuals to control their personal privacy and the method in which such data is being shared across the Internet. Whether you choose to share your personal data with "friends," "friends of friends" or "everyone," changes are occurring at Facebook that will require you to update your personal settings in coming weeks. The way Facebook makes its recommendations will have a huge impact on the social networking platform. At the moment, most individuals do not share their content using the "everyone" option that Facebook introduced during the summer.
According to Zuckerberg, "Almost 50% of all Facebook users are members of regional networks, so this is an important issue for us. If we can build a better system, then more than 100 million people will have even more control of their information."
The "regional networks" setting - which allows individuals to join a network for a particular city, region, or country - is being phased out. Facebook has concluded that users of the social networking platform were generally unaware of the fact that joining a "regional network" could potentially allow millions of other users of that same network to view an individual's profile. In a reversal of the strategy that made Facebook so popular, Zuckerberg indicated that "regional networks" were initially planned for students and companies but that recent studies concluded that Facebook had grown so fast worldwide that some networks had literally millions of members. The plan they have devised is said to be more user friendly and provides a simpler model for privacy control.
Facebook is changing the privacy model and has created a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone. The social networking giant has something to lose by promoting "everyone" updates. Given the long-standing and private nature of Facebook the new privacy settings could lead to chaos as an individual may inadvertently share more of their personal information than originally intended. This is something to not only think of, but to strongly pay attention to when adapting to the new privacy settings. If you are an individual who believes in personal privacy and do not wish for "everyone" worldwide to view your Facebook profile and contents, the most appropriate privacy setting for you is "friends" on the privacy control panel.
For those that have not noticed, Facebook has started to backpedal from the Twitter-like reconfiguration it launched in March by working an old-style News Feed back into the homepage. Perhaps Facebook has decided to favor privacy concerns over real-time. When Facebook initially announced the privacy changes in July, it sounded like the social networking platform might go in the direction of a Twitter like existence. It appears that a change of heart has been the cause of the delay in a revamping of privacy concerns.
Over the next several weeks, individuals using Facebook will be presented with a revised privacy control panel where they can review and/or update their privacy settings. Individuals will also be given the ability to control who is able to see each piece of content they create or upload, such as photos or videos, as well as groups and events. At that point, they will be able to adjust privacy settings on a per-item basis.
"We've worked hard to build controls that we think will be better for you, but we also understand that everyone's needs are different," wrote Zuckerberg. "We'll suggest settings for you based on your current level of privacy, but the best way for you to find the right settings is to read through all your options and customize them for yourself. I encourage you to do this and consider who you're sharing with online."
Facebook now has more than 350 million users worldwide. In the United States, approximately 105 million people visit the social networking platform every month. On average, individuals spend about 45 minutes on Facebook every day. As of September, 2009, Facebook enjoys a membership that is 52 per cent female and 48 per cent male with the fastest growing demographic of new users being those individuals aged 35 and older. Zuckerberg concluded his letter by stating 2009 had been "a great year for making the world more open and connected."
The impending changes at Facebook follow long-standing criticism by child protection advocates and privacy rights officials worldwide. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (or CEOP) has previously stated that Facebook should adopt Bebo's example by including a button on every page of the website that would enable individuals who have been bullied or targeted online to easily report the abuse and seek assistance. Facebook responded that it did not believe this tactic was the "most effective" solution to solving the problem of online harassment, and was focusing on other possibilities. It now appears that the new privacy settings in store at Facebook are in response to the widespread calls for change.
William E. Lewis, Jr., is a credit repair expert
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