Regarding Facebook Places
There seems to be a general misunderstanding of how Facebook Places works, and of the privacy settings associated with it. I’ve seen a number of people repost a message recently, saying, “Facebook Launched Facebook Places yesterday. Anyone can find out where you are when you are logged in. It gives the actual address & map location of where you are as you use Facebook. Make sure your kids know.” The message than gives incorrect instructions for how to disable Places.
Facebook Places knows nothing about your location, unless you or a friend actively checks you in on a mobile device. If you don’t plan on using Places, you don’t need to worry about it. And there’s a privacy setting to keep your friends from checking you in…
Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Custom -> Customize settings -> Friends can check me in to Places
If you do plan on using Places, and check yourself in to a location, then yes, you should be aware of the security settings associated with the service…
Privacy Settings -> Sharing on Facebook -> Custom -> Customize settings -> Places I check in toandInclude me in "People Here Now" after I check inPrivacy Settings -> Applications and Websites -> Edit your settings -> Info accessible through your friends -> Places I check in to
The former determines who can see your location, while the latter determines whether your location can be gleaned from your friends’ accounts, when your friends visit Facebook-enabled, third-party web sites.
Further, you should also consider the privacy of the people you’re with. If you wouldn’t want a friend tagging your location without permission, ask before tagging theirs. And if you wouldn’t want a friend tagging the location of your house when visiting, don’t tag theirs.
The funny thing is, the instructions given in the reposted message say nothing about privacy, and instead tell the reader to disable notifications letting them know when someone has tagged their location. For reference…
Account Settings -> Notifications
Right at the top of the page, you’re informed that Facebook notifies you whenever actions are taken on Facebook that involve you.
The reposted message tells the user to scroll down to the Places section, and uncheck the boxes for Tags me at a Place and Comments on my visits to Places. These fragments are a continuation of another sentence at the top of the page, saying, “Send email notifications to <your_email> when someone…”
In other words, “Don’t tell me when someone has tagged me.”
Personally, I’d want to know.
Back
After an extended period of saying little to nothing on my blog, and paying a ridiculously high monthly fee to do so, I decided to move my site to a new web host. In addition to costing considerably less, the new host also provides me with a WordPress option.
This is the result.
The site will be changing fairly frequently over the next few weeks, as I’m still playing with themes and learning how WordPress works. So far, I’m pleased. It is both more complex, and much easier to use, than Blogger — which is what I’d been using on the old host.
Rather than blog, I’ve been tweeting. A lot. Tweeting is micro-blogging, for the attention impaired. Eventually, I’ll figure out how to put a Twitter feed on my blog. In the meantime I’ll just tweet potentially interesting blog entries, and pretend people are actually interested in reading them.
