Saving Face

Facebook is a fun tool that more and more adults are using to connect with friends and family, but it is not without its dangers. As web 2.0 guru John Herman advises, "never put anything on the web that you wouldn't want a three-year-old or your grandmother to see." That's great advice, but how can you control what other people put out there about you?

Facebook's default privacy settings allow friends of friends to have pretty liberal access to your profile. This is why, as a teacher, I will not allow students to friend me, nor will I accept friend request from colleagues who have students as their friends. I think that schools need to look at this issue and make sure they have policies in place, but until they do, it's up to the individuals to assess the boundaries of those that they friend.

The tutorial below shows how someone else's poor judgment in posting and tagging photos in Facebook can result in embarrassment for others. I hope you'll take a moment to watch and then visit your FB privacy settings and friend list to make any adjustments you may need in order to feel comfortable.



You can see a full-screen version of Saving Face here.