Understanding Facebook Privacy Settings

This has been on my mind for a bit I have been noticing that people tend to share my Facebook posts fairly freely without taking note of my privacy settings. This isn't so much a problem for me, as it could be for them when they share and others are unable to see what they've actually posted. So ...

I'd like to start off by stating clearly that if you are on a Facebook page, those posts are completely shareable. In fact, that's what the page host (blogger, brand, business owner) WANTS you to do. The more shares the more exposure. The more exposure - the better a chance that someone finds their blog or business and decides to like or follow their FB page. And the more people doing that? The better their insights and visibility - and possibly revenue - if they're that kind of business, brand or blogger.

What I'd like to touch upon here is the Facebook setting aspect of posts that most of us see and want to share. The ones on the walls of our friends and family members.

Facebook has privacy settings, however minimal they may be, for good reasons. They're set up with the best of intentions.

And granted, we often see the posts our friends comment on. EVEN if they are not public.

It makes no sense at all, really. Why does FB let our friends and connections see what we say on the posts of our other friends and connections?

Pages? Certainly. That's how they do.

You comment on my Good Girl Gone Redneck Facebook Page and I WANT your friends to see that. Because maybe it will interest them and maybe they'll toss me a like or even better, engage with me and we'll make a connection!

But if you comment on my personal page I will never really understand why your friends might see that. And for the most part, they don't, but still, it's so weird.

But now - back to sharing - if I, Andrea, share a post that someone else has shared? Or an image that someone else has shared? And their privacy settings are open to the public? You will see their entire post. The link. The photo. Their commentary before-hand. You can even click through to their post and see the comments people have made on it. Although, trust me, beware when you do this. It's not always a fun place to find yourself.

BUT.

If I. Andrea. Write up a post of my own. Share a link on my own. An article I found important or interesting. Or share a piece I've written just for my Facebook peeps?

You can't really share that. There are some breakdowns for what you can pass along - so I'm going to walk you through those here.

Five Things You Need To Know So You're Not Talking To Yourself On Facebook

1. I share a photo of my family. 

You're not tagged in the photo, it's just me and my child. This is set to private. To friends only. You cannot actually share this. Not even if you're the child's grandparent. You can share it to your wall, but the only people who will see it are people who are friends with me. So if we share mutual friends? They'll be able to see it and like/comment. But if you're wondering why nobody is liking our beautiful girl's photo? It's because it says something like "attachment unavailable" when they look at it. They don't know what my photo looks like and most people are too embarrassed to say so, because they think it's their fault or something. It's not. It's my fault. I set it up that way.

2. I share a photo and I tag you in it. 

Depending on your own privacy settings, it may or may not show up on your wall. If you have things set up the way I do, you have to approve the post before your friends can see it, too. Smart move. You may have those friends who tag you on everything. That one extra step is no biggie. Now, there is no real need to share this pic again. I've already tagged you - and if you approve it your peeps can see it, too. But should you decide to share - they'll see it again. I guess.

3. Link sharing. 

I've read an important article and I think you should read it, too, so I share it on my wall. Links will always be shared on Facebook. You can take that post and share it to your wall or your page, or both. BUT. My commentary will not be included with it when you do share. So saying something like: "I agree, Andrea" and including the link -will only have your intro and the link to the piece. The only way that's not the case is if I change my settings to public. It's super easy to tell what the piece you want to share is set to. Just look up at the top of the post. If the little circular globe is there as a privacy setting, it's public! Share away.

4. Image sharing from other sites/people. 

If I share an image that I find hilariously entertaining or extremely important, it's likely I've done so from a public page. In which case you can share that same image w.o any issues. However, like with links, if I've set it to private you will not share my words that introduce the image. This is FB's way of making you do the work. ;)

5. Sharing from groups. 

More often than not you will not be able to do this. If you're in a public group? Go for it. The content is available for any- and everyone to see. If you find a post shared in the group that comes from a public page? Click to the original post and share from there. That will work, too. But if someone shares an image or a link in a group and you try to share directly? It's not going to work. Many groups are set to closed or secret, and that's so the content shared and the discussions that take place are only seen by those participating in the group. It's a setting to protect the privacy of group members. So you cannot share that content. If an article is shared in a group you're in and you really like it and want to share on your own wall? Go grab the URL from the article directly. Or click the website's FB share button. And take it from there. It's a guaranteed share!

So - there you go. Five things you need to know so you're not talking to yourself on the book-of-face. I hope this has been helpful. If you think it has - would you consider sharing it with your friends? On Facebook, perhaps? All you need to do is copy this link right here:

http://www.goodgirlgoneredneck.com/2016/11/understanding-facebook-privacy-settings.html

And paste it into a new post/status update on Facebook. Write your own intro and hit publish. And thanks in advance.

Any questions? Please leave them in the comments.

Tweet