Apologies to the BitchBuzz readers over the pond who have been checking-in for a while now, but the highly anticipated location based feature of Facebook, Facebook Places, has only recently been introduced in the UK.
I’ve never really used location based social networks before, I checked into FourSquare a few times but kept forgetting and got a little concerned strangers could keep track of my whereabouts. But for some reason I’m willing to give Facebook places a go – mainly for the fact that many of my close friends use it, so it’d be good if checking-in somewhere meant I’d see more of them.
However, I’ve already witnessed an annoying amount of people checking-in at local supermarkets and then a worrying amount at their ‘home’ having inputted their exact addresses.
Many of us are used to keeping things private online, but as Facebook has many younger and older users who may not be so ‘socially savvy’ it’s important that we remember a few key points when using Facebook Places – and please add any extra thoughts or suggestions in the comments below:
Go and review your privacy settings
As you’d imagine, now we have the Facebook Places feature, we also have a few new privacy settings about our location updates and mine had already been changed to allow ‘everyone’ to view them by the people at Facebook. Check that everything hasn’t been set to default and change it accordingly.
I’d also suggest un-checking the box about recording you as someone who has previously checked-in at a location – this is totally down to personal preference of course, where you are, if you’re networking, etc – but I personally only want this feature to be used amongst my friends, not anyone else who happens to walk into the same bar as me.
Review who you’re friends with
If you’re going to be revealing much more information about where you are, it might be worth having a quick review of your ‘friends’. If you have someone in your list who you know through a friend of a friend of a friend and have never met, they might not be the best person to share your day with. If you don’t want to go as far as deleting someone, sort your friends into lists and then amend your privacy settings accordingly.
Don’t check-in at home
If you input your exact address, people will know exactly where you are when you’re at home – until you check-in somewhere else, meaning your house is empty and anyone who can view your status will know that.
Keep in mind what your friends think of Facebook Places
OK, so this one may just be out of courtesy, but if someone seems a little obsessed with privacy – like I seem to be – stop tagging them. They have to accept your tags before they’re checked-in anywhere, but it’s just annoying if they keep getting alerted every time you do something together.
I’ve always been a little concerned about who’s watching what I do online, but I think there shouldn’t be such a preoccupation with whether things are “safe” and “private” with everything we do on the internet.
If you sort your privacy settings out right from the start, there shouldn’t be any problems with sharing your updates with your friends. Use your common sense, regularly review your privacy settings and then check-in to you heart’s content.