

Facebook Settings Every User Should Check - mshafrir
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2010/01/20/20readwriteweb-the-3-facebook-settings-every-user-should-c-29287.html?em

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natrius
Am I the only one who doesn't think what Facebook did was deceptive at all?
They think the site will work better with less restrictions on what people can
see. They asked people if they could change their settings, and clearly stated
that it would be a change from their old settings.

For a refresher, here's the dialog:
[http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=184142&page=1&zoomIdx...](http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=184142&page=1&zoomIdx=2)

I think the selected radio button depended on whether you had changed any
privacy settings in the past for each item, so that's not a completely
accurate picture of what each user saw, but you get the point. It is not
confusing, and most users probably aren't bothered by the changes.

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larrywright
This is reasonable advice, but the most important thing is left unsaid: there
is no such thing as privacy on the internet. Even if only your friends can see
your photos and updates, there's nothing to stop them from taking them and
making them public.

The only sound advice is this: if you're worried that what you're about to say
might embarrass you if it were made public, leave it unsaid. If you are
worried that the picture you're about to post would be problematic if a
potential employer saw it, don't post it.

Articles like this give people a false sense of security.

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RK
I'm not a "real" facebook user, except for a fake account to try out some
features. It's been interesting looking around recently at people I know,
because many of them haven't locked down their profiles yet. It's like the old
myspace days. (I never had a real account there either.)

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pmichaud
The problem, of course, is that we who read this sort of thing via HN are the
people who least need to read this sort of thing.

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jhancock
I'm guessing the number that saw this in the NYT outnumber those that saw it
on HN...I could be wrong. Otherwise, its useful in two ways:

1 - I can go through this article and make changes quickly trusting the NYT is
giving me better settings than Facebook defaults.

2 - I can post this link to my friends and family on Facebook. This enables
less tech savvy and non-HN readers to know about it and follow the simple
instructions.

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akkartik
Correct URL:
[http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_3_facebook_settings...](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_3_facebook_settings_every_user_should_check_now.php)

Link jacking by the nytimes is still link jacking.

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pavs
I don't think you understand that this is not a link jacking in the
traditional sense of linkjacking with partial information.

This is the exact copy and paste of the article - word by word - to NYtimes
obviously with permission from RWW. Same author. They even say it right on
top. NYT do similar cross posting partnership with other bloggers.

~~~
akkartik
I see, I apologize for calling it link-jacking. Yeah they're within their
rights.

I still prefer to see the original link here, though.

