Facebook Privacy Hoax

Every couple months, there seems to be an influx of people copying and pasting a post about Facebook changing their privacy policies. The original Facebook scam said that Facebook was going to start charging to keep your information private and the most recent one claims that Facebook has all rights to your information and pictures unless you post “its” privacy policy.  This is a hoax.  According to Andrew Noyes from Facebook, “Under our terms you grant Facebook permission to use, distribute, and share the things you post, subject to the terms and applicable privacy settings.” This means you have control of your own privacy settings and Facebook can’t change the initial terms you agreed to when you created your account.

Written By: A. Murphy, TLC Computer Solutions, Las Vegas, NV

5 Important Privacy Settings on Facebook

Most Facebook accounts contain enormous amounts of personal information which can be used to hurt individuals personally, socially, or financially.  Privacy settings can help filter some of this information and make it less accessible to the general public.  Here are a couple settings that may help your information be more secure:

• Post Audience: make sure you know who is able to see your posts, the larger the audience, the greater the danger
• Review Posts: turn on the ability to review posts that others tag you in before they go on your timeline
• Timeline Additions: send all posts about you to be reviewed before being added to your timeline avoiding surprise or embarrassing posts
• Tagging Audience: if you are tagged in someone’s post, limit the audience that can see that tag, don’t allow friends of the tagger to see your tags because they may not have the same security settings
• Blocking: block all unwanted users, apps, and events preventing your information from spreading even further

Simply using a social media platform such as Facebook automatically makes you susceptible to security threats, but changing some settings can significantly reduce the amount of your personal information that appears on the internet.

Written By: A. Murphy, TLC Computer Solutions, Las Vegas, NV

5 Facebook Frustrations Solved

Do you love and hate Facebook at the same time?  Facebook can be the lifeline for keeping up with our friends and family, but it can’t also be a waste of time and source of annoyance and frustration.  Here are five common frustrations and ways to solve them.

1) Annoying Posts from Friends:  Are you tired of hearing about every move someone makes, how they are feeling at every moment or what they are about to eat?  If you have experienced too many of these posts from the same person, hold your curser in the top right corner of one of his/her posts.  This drop down menu will give you several options including the option to “unfollow” this person.  This allows you to remain friends with the person (so you don’t hurt their feelings), but remove their frequent, annoying posts from your feed.

2) Missing Important Posts from Friends:  Have you ever missed an important post like your best friend just had a baby?  Facebook has a “secret” algorithm that chooses what posts go into your news feed. To make sure you see current posts, not someone’s comment from yesterday, go to the word “newsfeed” under your name on the top left side of the screen.  Click to the right and change your option from “top stories” to “most recent”.

3) Getting Group Notifications: Do you get every notification from a group message you were so lucky to be involved in, but care nothing about?  Go into the “more” section on your app and get into the “account settings” and then “notifications”.  Under “notifications”, go to “group posts” and select the group you don’t want to receive notifications from and turn the notifications “off”.

4) Videos Automatically Playing: Are you tired of seeing your data being used up by videos automatically playing while you scroll through your feed?  To stop these videos from using your cellular data, go into “more” on your app and then into “account settings”.  From “settings”, go into “videos and photos” and under “auto-play” check “Wi-Fi only” or “never play videos automatically”.

5) Invited to Play Games: How many friends can possibly ask you to play Candy Crush?  If you are tired of these invites to try different apps, turn it off in your notifications.  Go to your “account settings” and then click on “mobile”.  From here, scroll down to the bottom where is says “application invites” and uncheck the box.

Hope these tips help make your Facebook experience more pleasant than annoying.

Written By: A. Murphy, TLC Computer Solutions, Las Vegas, NV

Fun Facebook Tips and Tricks

 

With about 1.23 billion users, Facebook has changed the way people socialize online.  It has become an integral part of many people’s lives.  You can find people constantly checking their newsfeed or posting status updates from work, tablets, and cell phones.  It is the way many people communicate and share information with friends, family, and coworkers.  Due to its popularity, there have been many extensions and options created to make your Facebook account more fun and more secure.  Check out the following tricks to spruce up your Facebook experience.

1)      Sync Calendar – If you use Google’s calendar, you can export both birthdays and events from Facebook so they appear on your calendar.  To do this, click on “events” on your home page and then click on the “calendar” tab on the top left. Click on the “settings” tab and choose to either export birthdays or events.  Copy  the URL is gives you and then go to your Google calendar. Choose “other calendars” on the left and then “add by URL”.  Paste the URL you copied and click on “add calendar”.

2)      Photo Zoom – Chrome offers an extension that allows you to hover over a status or picture on Facebook and zoom in on it. Go to the Chrome web store and download Photo Zoom for Facebook.  It is a free extension that downloads quickly and works immediately.

3)      Stop Being Tracked – Facebook tracks every “Facebook Connect” website you visit and often shares your browsing information with third parties.  To prevent Facebook from doing this, download the extension called Facebook Disconnect.

4)      Fake Conversation – If you have ever wanted to have a conversion on Facebook with Harry Potter or Batman, you can use the tool called The Wall Machine to do it. If your conversation in exceptionally funny or creative you might find it featured on the website.

5)      Download History – If you want a copy of your Facebook history including statuses and pictures, you simply go into the settings tab on your Facebook page and at the bottom there is a link that says “Download a copy of your Facebook data”.

6)      Log in with Phone Number – If you forget your password, you can log into Facebook using your user name and phone number that you have registered with Facebook in place to the password.

7)      Blur Names and Pics – If you have ever wanted to share a Facebook status but keep the person’s profile picture and name private, you can use a Chrome extension call Status Snapper.  It will blur out the name and profile picture of the status you use.

8)      Join Profile and Cover Photo – If you want to make your profile picture and cover photo look like one picture, you can use the website Tricked Out Timeline and do this or several fun other tricks to make your homepage look unique.

Try out some of these new tricks and surprise your Facebook followers or keep your account safer with some added tools.

Written By: Amy Murphy, TLC Computer Solutions, Las Vegas, NV

 

 

Top Social Media beyond Facebook and Twitter

Social media has become a daily part of life for most people.  Between tweeting what they had for lunch and posting pictures from their vacation, many people spend a great deal of time socializing online. 

Here are some of the most popular social networking sites available:

LinkedIn – This is the leading social network for business professionals.  It allows users to network with other professionals to find a job, get sales leads, and share business information.  You start by making a professional profile and connecting with others.  The goal is not to make friends or share pictures, but to connect in the business world.

Pinterest – This site allows you to share ideas and interests through picture based bulletin boards.  Users register for a profile and then create boards based on interests.  These boards are able to be followed and ideas are able to be shared by repining.  The convenience is the visualization of the ideas.  If you want more information, you can click on the picture to go to the website and get more information.

Google+ – A social media site created by Goolge, Google+ is very similar to Facebook in the way you connect and socialize with others.  The main difference is the ability to use Google services from the site and group your contacts into categories such as huddles, hangouts, and sparks.

Tumblr – This site owned by Yahoo is a social media and microblogging website.  Users are able to post short blogs and follow other users’ blogs.

Instagram – This site is a social networking site for sharing photos and videos.  Users can apply filters to square photos and gain followers. It is an easy way to share lots of pictures and short (up to 15 seconds) videos with friends and family.

Flickr – Flickr, another photo and video sharing site, is owned by Yahoo and allows users to share and store pictures and videos.  Many users upload their photos here to share in blogs and on other sites. These photos and videos are able to be viewed without an account but you cannot upload any media until you register.

Bebo – Another social networking site with a unique interface that is most popular in England is Bebo.  It allows you to find and connect with friends as well as share pictures, etc. In addition to England, you will find most users in other parts of Europe and the United States.

Friendster – This website allows you to find old friends as well as make new ones through common interests. Interacting is done through posts, blogs, games, and apps.

Habbo – This website geared toward 13-18 years olds let users create a cartoon character alter ego.  Users socialize by going to public rooms (restaurants, parks, etc.)or private rooms for selected users.  The site is pretty heavily moderated due to the age group it attracts.

NING – This website is focused on bringing activists and organizers together to inspire action.  Users collaborate online to make things happen with like-minded people in communities all over the world.

Classmates – This website is unique in the fact that you need to pay for more advanced features.  Users are able to create a free profile listing their previous schools and then pay a price to connect with old classmates.

Meetup – This is a social networking website that allows local people with common interests to connect online and meet up in person.  It is free to create a profile and join most groups, but you must pay a fee to host a specific group on the website.

If you didn’t consider yourself social already, these are just some of the hundreds of websites available for anyone to join that are geared toward online socialization.

Written By: Amy Murphy, TLC Computer Solutions, Las Vegas, NV

Staying Safe on Facebook, 10 Tips You Must Know

Do you know all of your “friends”?  This is just one simple step in protecting yourself while using the wildly popular Facebook.  Now, everyone from teens to Grandmas are sharing information online which could be dangerous if users are not careful.

Here are some simple precautions if you have a Facebook account:

1. Do not put too much information on your profile.  There is no reason to share your phone number, home address, or email address.  The people you are sharing with should already have this information. 
2. Familiarize yourself with all of the security settings.  You are able to control how people search for you on Facebook; limit this information so as to not attract strangers.  Also, set your “share settings” to stay within your friends. Don’t broadcast your life to the world.
3. Don’t reveal your location. Whether you post pictures of yourself from the Bahamas or check-in at “Home”, you can be opening up your house for a burglary.  Post pictures of your vacation when you return and don’t tell people where you are at all times.
4. Scrutinize the information you share, don’t overshare. Many Facebook users have become too comfortable and use it as an online diary sharing too much personal information.  If an online diary is what you are looking for, look into starting your own blog on another site.
5. Don’t click on links. Before you click on the link for a video or product one of your friends is promoting, think twice and look at t he address bar.  Make sure it says “facebook.com/”, not something like “facebook33.php”, those are signs of a phisher who will hack your account.
6. Manage photos carefully.  Be careful not to post pictures of yourself in compromising situations and make sure your friends don’t post them either.  Your boss or college admissions officer doesn’t want to see you dancing on the bar.  If a friend posts an unflattering picture of you, untag yourself in the photo so it doesn’t remain in “photos of you” on your account.  Better yet, use the security settings to only allow pictures on your timeline after you have approved them.
7. Change your password once in a while.  Hackers are able to get into Facebook accounts, especially ones with easy passwords.  Create a password with numbers, letters, and symbols, using both upper and lower case letters.  The stronger your password, the less likely it will be compromised.
8. Don’t use Facebook to meet people.  It is not meant to be an online dating service. Opening up your information to the world could be asking for trouble.  Use a dating website that has security measures built in.
9. Choose your friends wisely. Make sure you know and have met in person everyone you friend.  Also, although time consuming, it is very helpful to create friend lists.  You can categorize the people you know so that when you share information, you are able to be more selective about who you share with.
10. Limit your apps.  Many popular games on Facebok like Farmville have been known to sell personal information to outside ad firms. 

Following these tips will give you an advantage to staying safe online, but remember online activity becomes a permanent record, so you can never be too cautious.

Written By Amy Murphy, TLC Computer Solutions, Las Vegas, NV

Facebook Phone Flop

Looking for a great deal?  Well, the HTC First, which many people have deemed the Facebook phone recently dropped from $99 to $0.99.  Although it seems like the greatest cell phone deal to come along in recent years, there are some important reasons why is did not hold its value.

Not for Me – Not everyone is a Facebook junkie and that is the selling point of the phone that ATT poured advertising money into.  The phone dedicated to Facebook Home could not attract a big enough crowd, especially when Facebook is just a click away on most smart phones these days.

Lack of Technology – Each new phone seems to offer some new hardware or technological advance that warrants investing in a new phone.  The HTC First made no such promises.  It has a nice steel design, but where it matters the most, inside the phone, there were not any new innovations.

One Carrier – Exclusive contracts have lost their effectiveness in recent years.  Many companies, including Apple, have found that opening up the phone to different carries s profitable.  The days of a single carrier agreement are not showing the same results as with the launch of the iphone through AT&T many years ago.  Facebook might have been better off marketing under their own name through various carriers instead of AT&T.

Pricey – Many phones are offered for free with a two-year contract.  So, Facebook could have appealed to its users with a lower starting price or free with a special contract.  When, buying a new cell phone, carries have become so competitive in price that buyers are looking for a great deal or an impressive phone.

Timing – The HTC First was launched just before the Samsung Galaxy X4 which also is capable of using Facebook Home and has captured more buyers with its new features. Many companies look for a whole in the market or a specific time period (such as before a holiday).

It doesn’t look like the end of the HTC First, but definitely some changes in marketing and most obviously price.  This was one of the first attempts to use the obsession with social media to sell a phone.  Although it didn’t work this time, there are bound to be many other attempts to make social media a bigger focus on some new smart phones.