It seems every couple of weeks we get a new round of Facebook posts about FB Privacy.  You know the basic message that reads “please follow these steps to keep Facebook from sharing your…….” , yada yada yada (complete examples below). These messages about FB privacy have been around since Facebook first made changes (around 2012). The following are some examples of messages you will come across and why you should not fall for it…..

Hello contacts on my Facebook. I would like to ask a favor of you…. You may not know that Facebook has changed its privacy configuration once again. Thanks to the new “graphic app”, any person on FB anywhere in the world can see our photos, our “likes” and our “comments”. During the next two weeks, I am going to keep t…his message posted and I ask you to perform the below updates, then comment “DONE” so I know you did it. Those of my friends who do not maintain my private information private will be eliminated from my list of friends, because I want the information I share with you, my friends, to remain among my friends and not be available to the whole world. I want to be able to publish photos of my friends and family without strangers being able to see them, which is what happens now when you choose “like” or “comment”. Unfortunately we cannot change this configuration because FB has made it like this. So please:
1. Place your cursor over my photo that appears in this box (without clicking) and a window will open.
2. Now move the cursor to the word “Friends” towards the bottom, again without clicking, and then click on “Settings”.
3. Un-check “Life Events”, “Photos” and “Comments and Like”. This way my activity with my family and friends will no longer be made public.
4. Now, copy and paste this text on your own wall (do not “share” it!)

Hello to all of you who are on my list of contacts of Facebook. I would like to ask a favor of you…. You may not know that Facebook has changed its privacy configuration once again. Thanks to the new “Graphic app”, any person in Facebook anywhere in the world can see our photos, our “likes” and our “comments”. During the next two weeks, I am going to keep this message posted and I ask you to do the following and comment “DONE”. Those of my friends who do not maintain my information in private will be eliminated from my list of friends, because I want the information I share with you, my friends, to remain among my friends and not be available to the whole world. I want to be able to publish photos of my friends and family without strangers being able to see them which is what happens now when you choose “like” or “comment”.
Unfortunately we cannot change this configuration because Facebook has made it like this. So, please, place your cursor over my photo that appears in this box (without clicking) and a window will open. Now move the cursor to the word “Friends”, again without clicking and then on “Settings”. Uncheck “Life Events” and “Comments and Like”. This way my activity with my family and friends will no longer be made public. Now, copy and paste this text on your own wall (do not “share” it!). Once I see it published on your page, I will un-check the same for you. Thanks so much!”

“To all my FB friends: I want to stay PRIVATELY connected with you. However, with the recent changes in FB, the “public” can now see activities in ANY wall. This happens when our friend hits “like” or “comment” ~ automatically, their friends would see our posts too. Unfortunately, we cannot change this setting by ourselves because Facebook has configured it this way….So I’m asking for your help. …Only you can do this for me. PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (DO NOT CLICK), a window will appear, now move the mouse on “FRIENDS” (also without clicking), then down to “Settings”, click here and a list will appear. REMOVE the CHECK on “COMMENTS & LIKE” and also “PHOTOS” by clicking on each one

These are just a small sample of all the posts that float around Facebook, all of which claim that if you follow some steps or post for a specific amount of time you will be “Safe” from the Facebook changes.

Explanation Of The Facebook Hoax

I think that John Oliver of HBOs Last Week Tonight, has the best explanation on the Facebook hoax. As shown in the following video

Final Thought

Basically, these steps do nothing more than give you a false sense of security, while taking away some of the Facebook’s basic functions, if you follow the changes listed on some of these hoaxes. If you are looking for the steps you take to actually secure your Facebook account, you should visit the How to Lockdown Your Facebook Account For Maximum Privacy and Security from our friends over at Facecrooks. So just remember, if you see one of these Facebook privacy hoaxes, DON’T FALL FOR THEM!

Source(s)

• Facebook Hoax Video – Last Week Tonight (HBO via YouTube)