Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004. As of May 2012, Facebook has over 900 million active users, more than half of them using mobile devices. Users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics, and categorize their friends into lists such as “People From Work” or “Close Friends”. Facebook allows any users who declare themselves to be at least 13 years old to become registered users of the site. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg.

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How to Navigate Facebook Privacy Settings

It’s no secret that Meta’s Facebook collects, uses, and profits from abundant user data. This data enables Facebook to provide each person with a customized user experience, but it simultaneously influences users to purchase products and…
Watch out for fake news
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How to identify fake news online

A shortcoming of the Internet is the abundance of misinformation that coexists alongside helpful and accurate information. What makes matters worse is that in a matter of seconds, misinformation can spread exponentially through social…
How to see how others see you
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Preserve and repair your online reputation and presence

Whether you use social media and the Internet or not, you and your reputation can be damaged online. As such, even if you’ve intentionally avoided social media and the Internet for one reason or another, you should know if your own information…
Facebook Privacy
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How to boost your Facebook Privacy – 7 tips

If you’re a Facebook user, your pictures, bio, posts, and other activity make up a treasure trove of data about you. Consumers worried that their personal information is vulnerable, according to a recent report from Pew Research, listed hackers…
Privacy Settings
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Facebook’s New Privacy Checkup – Thumbs Up!

When an alligator cartoon offering a Facebook Privacy Checkup popped up while I was using Facebook, I assumed it was fraudulent. Facebook hadn’t seemed concerned about making their privacy settings transparent before and with the unfamiliar…
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Impact of European Privacy Policy on the United States

Recently there was a groundbreaking case in The European Union about the right of an individual to be “forgotten” on the Internet. As anyone who has ever had an embarrassing photo shared on the internet can attest to, nothing is ever really…
Facebook apps
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How apps sneakily steal your privacy

This is a very quick article (with lots of easy illustrations) to remind you that free apps often come with a tradeoff of privacy. Today I clicked on the video below because I figured it must be very good if over 15 million people had viewed…
Seniors as scam victims
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Seniors and Facebook Identity Theft: How to Avoid Being a Target

Seniors have long been targets of scams of one kind or another. And with the rapidly growing number of senior citizens embracing social media, especially Facebook, the opportunity for identity theft has also grown. Why are Seniors More…
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How to Protect your Child on Social Networks

Protecting our children’s privacy on social networks is an ongoing challenge that begins at a young age and continues after they leave home for college or work. Let’s face it, many kids know more about social networks and technology than…
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Do you know when apps are posting or tweeting as if they’re you?

A friend asked me if I could explain how a Facebook post in his name appeared in his wife’s news feed when he had no recollection of typing it. My guess was that he likely gave an app permission to post on his behalf and either forgot about…
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I just became a Phishing Fool

A few days ago I warned readers about phishing scams and today, I became a victim. How utterly embarrassing! Take a quick look at this email. If you're a regular Facebook user, would you question it as a legitimate Facebook notification? At…
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What do people see when they view your Facebook profile?

A reader's question on my last article, Who Sees Your Personal Facebook Posts, made me realize I'd left out a simple tip.  Her question was, "When someone is looking for my personal page they can see all of my cover page pictures. How…