How to Keep facebook status, posts, & photos Private, not visible to everyone!

I like the new facebook privacy controls. I don't like the new defaults, or the way they have made the defaults override existing behavior. Its damn rude!

As of today, EVERYTHING you post will be visible to EVERYONE, unless you explicitly change this when you post - using the new padlock menu. Amazing isn't it. All your photos, status updates etc public. I don't want this. Some people will. If you don't, read on about what to do about it.

How to keep your facebook private

To stop EVERYTHING you post (status updates, comments, photos you upload, notes you post) being "visible to everyone" by default, you will need to change the new privacy settings. After you have changed this, you can still override it whenever you post.

I think most people are sharing with friends not "everyone" on facebook! So it makes sense to have the default have a safe setting, and to do what you want most of the time.

To set the default for everything you post, open your facebook profile and follow the instructions here.

How to change default facebook privacy settings

To stop facebook making EVERYTHING you post, status updates, photos, etc. being visible to EVERYONE you now need to do this:

1. Go to your facebook profile page.
2. Menu (top right): Choose, "Settings" and then "Privacy Settings" to get to the Privacy Settings page.
   
3. Scroll down to "Posts by me" and click on the button to the right which says "Everyone"
4. Choose what you want the default for everything you post to be (e.g. Friends, or Friends of Friends etc.)

Note: When you post an item you can override this default with the little padlock menu.

What facebook privacy settings do you recommend? Please share with others by leaving a comment here.

Be safe on facebook! Be happy. Keep updated - follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/markhughes

mark