Master Social Media Without Sacrificing Your Privacy

Some people have no filter. They’ll conduct the most personal phone conversations at maximum volume on the subway. Or they’ll regale perfect strangers with the excruciating details of their latest medical procedures. Most of us, though, have a better idea of how to maintain privacy for ourselves and our friends. But do you take the same attitude on social media? It’s easy to notice that you’re too loud on the phone in public, but it’s less easy to realize that your settings let any schmo read your social media posts. And yet protecting your privacy on social media is important, in more ways than you may realize.

- NEIL J. RUBENKING

Perhaps you already know this. Perhaps you keep your privacy settings tuned and never overshare on social media. How about your friends? If they’re careless about their own privacy, their heedlessness can slop over and affect you. Show them this article—post it on your virtual walls! Maybe they’ll shape up.

CIRCLES OF FRIENDS

Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are designed to let you share your thoughts, interests, and pictures with your friends. Unless you’re a Kardashian, you don’t want to share your every brain-blip with everyone in the world, so privacy settings are important. Maybe you feel you have nothing to hide: Consider the fact that if you don’t control access to your posts, they’re fully available to advertisers, spammers, cyber-stalkers, and other undesirables.

Unfortunately, your privacy isn’t a priority for social media companies. After all, they make money by selling ads and personal information about their members. Proper privacy can interfere with a social media company’s ability to monetize the time you spend on its site. You need to put yourself in charge of your social media privacy.

You want the “Goldilocks” settings—private enough to keep out the hoi polloi but not so private that you can’t share with friends. Just how you achieve that balance depends on which platform you’re using. And bear in mind that on any platform, the implementation of privacy settings can change. What you need to do is walk through the options offered by the platform and use some common sense.

Unless you’re a Kardashian, you don’t want to share your every brain-blip with everyone in the world.