Google Plus, Part Three—Privacy Settings

Today we’ll continue with our exploration of Google+. If you’ve missed the either of the first two posts, you can click here or here and catch up.

One of the biggest complaints I hear about Social Networks is confusion about privacy settings. Frequently this confusion can leave users exposed without even knowing it. Google+ gives the user the opportunity to customize many settings in a straight forward manner and bypass the confusion.

To begin, go to your Google+ home page (click on the HOME icon).

Now, click on your name. It’s in the upper right of the screen – on the black menu bar. This will activate a drop-down menu. The bottom choice on the menu is PRIVACY. Click on this.

Now you’re in the privacy settings page.

The first tab you want to consider is your visibility to search engines. On the right side of the screen you’ll see a light gray box with EDIT VISIBILITY ON PROFILE written in it. Click on this and it will take you to your profile page.

At the bottom of the page you’ll see, PROFILE DISCOVERY, after that, you’ll see one of two things:

PROFILE VISIBLE IN SEARCH

Or PROFILE NOT VISIBLE IN SEARCH

For writers, I recommend you make certain your profile is visible in search.

Privacy and Circles

With the circles in Google+ you have the option of different circles, family, friends, acquaintances, etc. There may be times when it’s appropriate to share things with family or close friends, that you don’t want shared with business associates or acquaintances. You manage that setting every time you post information (a picture, link, post, etc). This may seem like a lot of work, but it’s actually a really good fail safe for your privacy. Each time you post, you can decide who you want to see what you’ve written.

SPECIAL NOTE: There is an automatic default with this setting. When you post something to your stream (your feed) and you designate who can see the post, Google+ will remember this setting and default to it when you post again unless you change it.

It is possible to set your privacy settings to let the friends in your circles be visible only to other friends or to the entire web. To do this, click on the gray box that says, EDIT NETWORK VISIBILITY.

This will take you to your profile page. Once there, the entire screen will gray out and an active box will pop up on the left hand side of your screen.

The first option on the box is IN YOUR CIRCLES.

You’ll see the heading, SHOW PEOPLE IN, and you can check this box and decide which (or all) circles to show.

Below that is WHO CAN SEE THIS.

You have the option to either check,

ANYONE ON THE WEB

Or YOUR CIRCLES

I recommend you only choose YOUR CIRCLES.

Below that is the option to make yourself invisible in someone else’s profile. Unless you’re a celebrity, I recommend you do NOT make yourself invisible. Showing up in someone else’s profile is a great way to network and make new contacts.

SPECIAL NOTE: Remember, with Google+ only you know the specific names of your circles and who you’ve added to each one.  

There are other settings you can tweak on this page, but these are the major settings you need to be concerned with. Now it’s your turn, what questions do you have?

And don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings

Edie

Facebook—Personal Page or Fan Page—Choose the Right Facebook Options

Sometimes it seems that Facebook changes almost weekly. Nowadays there are almost as many options as there are Facebook users. But the question I hear the most from writers is:

“Should I have a personal page or a fan page?”

Today I’ll highlight some of the main differences between these two options and help you find the best choice for your situation.

Personal Page:

A personal page is foundational for your Facebook membership. To have any other kind of page you MUST have a personal one. (There is an exception if you open a business page, but this really isn’t applicable for writers)

Note: I’ve seen several posts lately on email loops, advocating opening multiple Facebook pages under different email addresses/names, to manage family and work contacts separately. You should know this is violation of the Facebook guidelines and will get you banned from Facebook.

Why Stick With a Personal Page?

• It’s probably where the majority of your friends are located.
• For some reason, many people will accept a FRIEND offer, but won’t LIKE a page.
• It’s personal and feels more like a friendship and less like a business relationship.
• You have less than 5000 friends. Although, I have over 600 friends and I’m finding that a personal page is becoming unwieldy to manage. 

Fan Page:

• These pages offer you the option of a landing screen before a reader clicks the LIKE button.
• These pages offer you the option of a reward page after a reader clicks the LIKE button. This allows you to offer a free eBook or other incentive for Liking your page.
• If you have more than 5000 friends, Facebook requires you to move to a Fan Page.

Privacy Concerns:

If you haven’t joined Facebook yet, I encourage you to take the plunge. There have been many warnings about Facebook and the way it violates privacy.

Here is my personal opinion about Facebook

It’s a tool—not a good tool or a bad tool—just a tool.

When used correctly it can be a great thing. It connects people and brings a lot of good.

When used wrong, it can do great damage.

But it isn’t inherently good or bad.

That said, there are some privacy settings you probably should enable. You find these under the Account Settings, under Privacy. 

• You should limit all your posting visibility to FRIENDS only, not FRIENDS OF FRIENDS.
• I keep my contact information public because I want to be found. As a writer, I want people to know my name.
• I also keep all my LOCATION settings turned off. I can’t think of any reason I’d want someone to know the location of where I’m posting from. If I do, I can mention it in the post. 

With these privacy settings and a strong password, you should find yourself with a safe and manageable Facebook account.

Next week I’ll be answering some random questions about Facebook. So if you have any, be sure to post them in the comments section so I’ll cover them.

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie