A recent New York Times article, Flipping the Switches on Facebook’s Privacy Controls, gives a great overview of the most important principles and settings to understand in order to make sure the information you share on Facebook is as protected as possible. This article backs up something that we say around here a lot: as soon as you post something online (whether it be on Facebook, another social media site, blog, etc.) it will always be out there for bosses or potential future employers to see. However, as the article explains, there are steps that you can take to keep your Facebook activity more private.

In the last few years Facebook has changed their settings to put privacy controls next to each piece of information that you post. Key recommendations from the article:

• Choose the audience for every post
• Privacy is controlled by the person who posts the item
• Everything you do on Facebook can be used by marketers 
• When you share something on Facebook, it's no longer truly private

For more detailed information on these tips, read the full article here. The article also includes a link to Facebook's list of 50 frequently asked questions about privacy.

For more information on managing your online brand, check out our article on Online Reputation Management.