Privacy on Facebook

David Lee King wrote a thought-provoking post about this subject. He makes valid points about how much is already public about you. But he clearly has more info on him out there in cyberland than I have on me. I, for ex, don't have an online resume. I actually no longer have a resume. I haven't updated it (hardcopy, backup file on a no-longer-usable 5 1/2 floppy -- or maybe I moved it to a 3 1/4 disk, but I can't remember) it in uh, over a decade, maybe closer to 2 decades. So, you won't be finding that info on me anytime soon online.

Here's my take on the rest of it. Some points, I agree with him, some I agree with reservations. Some I don't agree.

Basic info:

• Name: I know people use fake names as their display names. I understand the paranoia. When I was younger, I was like that. But I use FB to reconnect with people, so I need my name on my account. And I need it visible.
• Gender: So folks know I'm female. I think I can survive that being public.
• Birthday: I had the whole thing public, but have since removed my birth year. I worry about identity theft and a full birthdate makes it a bit easier. I don't reveal other info, like pet's name, etc, that are used in banking and other areas as an ID check, for this same reason.
• Relationship Status: I'm married and proud of it. But I can see if you put single, you could worry about being hit on. But that can happen if you're married, too. Keep it private if you don't want people knowing.
• Current city: It's a big city. Not something that bothers me to reveal.
• Hometown: I am a bit cagey on this, but then, my name isn't all that common, either.
• Religious and Political views: Subjective decision here. Tell people if you want them to know; don't if you prefer to avoid political discussions.

Work and education:

• I took off the specific location for my big urban library system because too many weirdos I've encountered on message boards over the years have caused problems for people if they can track them down. So, personal decision whether or not to reveal or how much to reveal.

Likes and interests: stuff like music, movies, etc.

• I don't care if folks know this, but I took out all my interests and likes because now so many go to blank "community pages" that FB seems to want folks to use and fill in. Most of my interests went to pages with nothing there. I have pages in my Likes and I put generalities in my bio, so that should suffice. I hate useless linking.

Contact info:While I want people to contact me, they can do it through FB if they're on FB. Which is sufficient. I don't want my email filled up and I rarely IM. I can chat in FB, too. So I made this viewable to Friends Only, minus one group of folks I don't want to have it.

• email: The main email I use is not under my legal name. I try to keep my blogging persona separate from my real life. So, no email addy listed. At least, not publicly.
• Mobile phone number: I rarely use it or even have it on, so I didn't list it.
• AIM, GTalk, etc IM: I can be contacted on FB. So, I made this viewable to friends only minus the group I don't want to see everything about me.
• Website URL: I did put it on, with the same restrictions as the IM info.

Your friends list:

• I can see reasons for this being public (makes it easier to know if someone with a common name is the person I really know and makes it easier to find other friends) vs not wanting certain people knowing you're friends with their sworn enemies or ex-spouses (is that redundant?), etc.

So, basically, while I see his points, I think King's imagination and / or paranoia aren't as developed as mine to allow him to see how troublesome this can be. But I truly feel there'd be less animosity toward FB if they announced things well in advance, explained them, then made them opt in rather than opt out. Good public relations work ahead of time can go a long way toward reassuring one's fan base.


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Coming in for a Landing

Just saw this on Lifehacker: Personal Landing Pages. You can use one of these sites as a starting point for your online presence, using them to link to your social media profiles and other online sites. I'll stick with my info blog, but this could be useful.

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Don't Close the Book on Libraries

For anyone who lives in NYC or who uses NYPL, either in person, or online. The New York Public Library is facing the largest budget cut in its history. You can help by donating and/or by contacting your Council members and tell them why libraries are so important.



And for everyone else, maybe your library system needs help, too, in this economically tough times.

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Don't Close the Book on Libraries

The libraries of New York City are facing severe budget cuts for the fiscal year beginning on July 1st. The New York Public Library and Tillman the Skateboarding Dog collaborated on what is possibly the best plea I've ever seen for library funding. If you live in NYC or use one of the 3 NYC library systems (NYPL, Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Library), write to your Council member. If you're not in NYC or a NYC library user, do what you can to support your own libraries. They're too valuable to our rights and freedoms to be shortchanged.

I tried to embed the video, but even the smallest size is too wide for this template. So watch it over on YouTube: News on the Bark.
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