Category Archives: Facebook

Adjust Default Privacy Settings, Facebook, Facebook Secrets, Facebook Tricks

Facebook Privacy Settings – Updated, Part 1

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This is Facebook week at Computers Made Simple. We’re going to highlight the various privacy settings that are available to you on Facebook. Stick around and bookmark this page or, better yet, Like us on Facebook to get immediate updates on our posts. Here is the link:  Computers Made Simple on Facebook   This is Part 1 of the series.

Posting Photos or Photo Albums. 

When you post a photo or a whole album, Facebook uses your default privacy settings. What are those settings? Well, they are always the same settings that you used the last time you posted a photo or an album. Let’s say that you haven’t ever adjusted your privacy settings. In that case, Facebook assumes that you want everything you post to be public, available to anyone who happens to visit your profile, no matter if they are a friend or a complete stranger. Read that again if you want.

At this point you are faced with a fork in the privacy road. From now on, you will know how to change the privacy settings for everything you post. What about the things you have posted previously? Well, unfortunately, you’ll have to go back and change the settings for everything that you don’t want the public to see. There is no quick and easy ‘Press This’ button to change those privacy settings. Sorry!

Let’s make a new album and set the privacy to Friends Only.

1. From any page on Facebook, click the Post button if you have the new Facebook look or scroll to the top and click on the Add Photos/Video button.

Photo of Add Photo Album to Facebook 1
Click Add Photos/Video then Create Photo Album.

We’re making a new album so click on Create Photo Album. Read this:

TIP: Facebook has changed its privacy settings for photos that you post to your Timeline. We would strongly suggest that you ONLY put photos in separate albums, NOT simply to your Timeline. We will explain why in a later post. 

2. Choose your photos from a folder on your computer. Usually the default location is Downloads, depending on which browser you use. We use Chrome and you should be using Chrome too.

Photo of Add Photo Album to Facebook 2
The ones with the blue frame are ready, use the CTRL key to select more than one photo.

3. As the photos are uploading, look down to the bottom of the page, just to the left of ‘Post photos’. There will be a gear icon there. This is where you change the privacy settings for you new album.

Photo of Add Photo Album to Facebook 3
We had our settings to Custom but we will change them to Friends.

4. Click on the word that is there. If you haven’t changed this setting in the past, it should read Public. That’s not what we want.

Photo of Add Photo Album to Facebook 4
Here are your selections for privacy for this album. We suggest Friends but it’s up to you.

5. The setting that you choose here will be your current default setting. From now on, whatever you post, even if you just update your status, this setting will control who can see that post or update.

TIP: You can only control the privacy for things that you post. If you comment, like,or share on anything that you didn’t put up on Facebook,  everything will be controlled by the privacy settings of the original poster. Please remember that. If you like a friend’s photo, you can only unlike it, you can’t hide the fact that you liked it.

OK, so this is about posting an album. Next time we’ll describe how to change the privacy settings for your old photo albums. That will be Part 2.

Thanks for reading!

Facebook, Facebook page likes, Facebook Secrets, Facebook Tricks, Hide Facebook Likes

Facebook – Get your Likes back

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Here’s a short post on getting your Facebook Likes back. We’ll show you how to sort out the different sections that appear when someone checks out your profile.

1. Head to your own Timeline and look for the words ‘Update Info’.

Photo of Get Your Likes Back 1
Click on Update Info.

2. Once you click Update Info, look over on the right for the icon of a pencil.

Photo of Get Your Likes Back 2
The word Edit appears when you hover over the icon. Click it.

 

3. Even if you don’t want to edit anything, click the icon and you’ll get this menu. Click ‘Edit Sections’ when you see it:

Photo of Get Your Likes Back 3
Click Edit Sections.

4. Up pops a list of all of the sections that you can choose to show or hide. Notice that three sections can’t be hidden: About, Photos and Friends are all permanent. You can, however, hide parts of these sections as we’ve told you before. You can hide your full Friend list, for instance, but you cannot hide any mutual friends that you might have with someone who sees your profile.

Photo of Get Your Likes Back 4
Pick the ones you want to show or hide.

5. Finally, don’t forget to click Save to make your changes take effect.

Photo of Get Your Likes Back 5
Click Save and you’re done.

 

That’s it. Your list will vary from ours, of course. The main sections will be the same but you won’t have Spotify, probably, but you might have ones that are not on our list.

Thanks for reading! Hey, Like our Facebook page and we’ll like you! Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook.

 

Facebook, Facebook Tricks, iPhone Facebook App Problem, Sneaky Apps

iPhone Facebook Problem – description and a possible fix

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We’ve had many comments about a glitch in the iOS Facebook app. Seems like the problem lies when you like a stranger’s comment or photo. There’s no problem with the actual liking, that works fine. The glitch reveals itself when someone tries to unlike the like or the comment. Have you had this problem? Let us know and, please, let us know if you’ve solved it. Thanks!

There are problems with the iOS app, that’s for sure. Here’s a link that describes some of them : iPhone App Problems

Photo of Facebook Iphone Problem
Looks good, doesn’t work quite so well.

Here’s what we suggest:

1. Make sure you have the latest update. That’s fairly obvious but you might be using a version of the app that is outdated. Head back to the App Store and see if there are any red numbers sitting there. Check that at least once a week, more if you have a great many apps on your device.

2. If the problem is indeed in the app, why not access Facebook from Safari? We’ve tried both and each seems to work well. There doesn’t seem to be any speed issues at all. Actually, we can’t see the point of using the app, except for the fact that it can access much more of your private information, such as your contact list, that Safari can’t. Is that a plus? We don’t think it its.

3. We’ve been unable to duplicate the problem but we have noticed that when we like a stranger’s comment, that activity does not show up on our activity log. Then again, when we like a stranger’s comment when we’re on a normal computer, that doesn’t show up on our Activity Log either.

Our final advice would be to take your time and avoid liking or commenting until you can access Facebook on a computer. Update your status, upload a pic, sure, but stay away from commenting and liking anything that isn’t posted by a friend. If you are using Safari to access Facebook, we’d say you’re safe but take care anyway.

Thanks for reading!

Facebook, Facebook Secrets, Facebook Tricks, Hidden Messages

Facebook’s Hidden Message Box

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We’re quite sure that everyone knows how to send and receive messages on Facebook. Did you know that your Facebook account has two inboxes? We didn’t until yesterday. Here’s the scoop on Facebook’s hidden message box.

When you receive a message from a Facebook friend, you get a notification and you can click the message icon on the top row of any Facebook page to read it. When you reply or comment on something on a stranger’s page, sometimes you get messages from complete strangers. Where do those messages go? It turns out that Facebook, just like any other email service, plunks those messages into your Facebook junk mail folder. Say what? A Facebook junk mail folder? You read that right. Here’s how to find it.

1. Start by checking your regular inbox, the one that’s actually called Inbox:

Photo of Facebook Hidden Inbox 1
Click on the message icon at the top of any Facebook Page.

 

2. Move your mouse just a bit to the right of the word Inbox and click on Other. Yes, it looks like it’s hidden but it’s not:

Photo of Facebook Hidden Inbox 2
Click Other to access your hidden inbox.

 

3. If you haven’t accessed this area of Facebook before, here is the warning message that you will see:

Photo of Facebook Hidden Inbox 3
This explains everything!

 

Now, you may have some messages here or you might not. It depends on how active you are on Facebook. One of our accounts had over 30 messages, another account had only 6. The interesting this is that some messages are complete spam but some were from real Facebook users who had either replied to a comment we made and wanted more info or who were offering us more information on something we had asked in a comment.

WARNING! Please remember this: Once you send a message to a stranger or respond to a message that a stranger sent to you, your whole profile opens up to them, just as if they aren’t a stranger anymore. Read that again. When you get a message in this ‘junk’ box, sometimes that message is a phishing expedition, an attempt to see more of your profile than you would normally allow a stranger to see. Who would do this? Spammers for sure but stalkers send messages on Facebook, too. Don’t let your guard down. Be careful when you send a message or reply to a message from someone you don’t know, someone who is not a Facebook friend.

While you’re at it, why not Like our Facebook page? Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook

As always, thanks for reading!

 

Facebook, Scams

Facebook Translation – something new, something sinister

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Initially, we thought that the new Translation app on Facebook would translate posts and comments from other languages into English. Were we wrong or what? The new Translation feature is for Facebook, not its users. Here’s where you find it on the new Facebook look:

Photo of Facebook Translation Home
On the far left of the new look on Facebook ‘Translation’ appears.

 

Click on Translation and this is what you see:

Photo of Facebook Translation app
Reading this, you’d feel all warm and fuzzy about helping people, wouldn’t you?

 

However, when you click on ‘See Translation App Terms of Service’, Facebook suddenly turns it all around, making it about Facebook, not you. Here are those terms of service:

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The Translate Facebook application collects translations, comments, suggestions, ideas, feedback and other information (“Submissions”) from you and other users in connection with Facebook’s language translation project to provide access to Facebook and applications and websites that use Facebook’s platform in multiple languages (the “Project”).

You understand that your participation in the Project is for the benefit of the Facebook user community as it will allow users whose participation is currently limited by language to participate more fully. You acknowledge that your participation in the Project is entirely voluntary and you understand that no monetary or other compensation will be given to persons, including you, for Submissions. You may provide as much or as little input into the Project as you wish and can cease contributing to the Project at any time.

In consideration of Facebook permitting you to participate in the Project and the benefits to the Facebook user community of which you are a member, you acknowledge and agree that any Submissions that you provide to Facebook will be owned by Facebook. Accordingly, you irrevocably assign to Facebook all right, title and interest, including all intellectual property rights, in and to all Submissions, and Facebook is entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of these Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment, consent or monetary, or other tangible compensation, to you. To the extent that the foregoing assignment is or becomes invalid or unenforceable to any degree or for any reason, you grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, fully-paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and licence, with the right to sublicense, use, reproduce, display, perform, create derivative works of, distribute and otherwise exploit the Submissions in any manner.

Please note: Translate Facebook is subject to and governed by these Additional Terms Applicable to Translate Facebook (the “Additional Terms”) as well as the Facebook Terms of Use. In the event of any conflict between these Additional Terms and the Facebook Terms of Use, these Additional Terms control. Capitalised terms that are not defined in these Additional Terms will have the definitions provided them in the Terms of Use. Facebook reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to change, modify, add or delete portions of these Additional Terms at any time without further notice. If we do this, we will post the changes to these Additional Terms on this page and will indicate at the top of this page the date these terms were last revised. You agree to waive any specific notice of such changes and your continued use and operation of Translate Facebook after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Additional Terms. It is your responsibility to regularly check the Site to determine if there have been changes to these Additional Terms.

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In case you missed it, here’s the sinister part:  you grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, exclusive, fully-paid-up, royalty-free, worldwide right and licence, with the right to sublicense, use, reproduce, display, perform, create derivative works of, distribute and otherwise exploit the Submissions in any manner.

Facebook tells you that the project ‘is for the benefit of the Facebook user community’. Not really. It’s for Facebook. Translating their menus and static pages will allow more users to access the site thus allowing Facebook to pump ads to more people than they can now. Instead of paying translators to do the work, Facebook is reaching out to its users in an attempt to save money to make more money. Our advice? Don’t help. Let the corporate giant that is Facebook spread some money out, paying hard working translators to do the job, not ask for freebies from its users.

Thanks for reading!