Thanks for this, Bill. I have done a few of these in the past, but not all. I'd like to know more about how people really feel about this.
Recently, some of my fellow lawyers who are far more into "social media" than I am have been touting it as a great marketing tool -- and one where solo lawyers like myself can get in a leading position compared to much larger firms. They particularly endorse Facebook.
Frankly, I cannot see the sense of including personal data in such a public place, especially in an era of identity theft. Also, I have one current example of a case in which an adversary (actually a con man who stole money) is attacking one of my clients on public forums (fora?) by using private information that he collected. That guy has a grudge against me too, since we are still after him, so while I have relatively few secrets, I don't want false claims made about me.
Public or professional data is another story. For prospective clients, I am told, availability in places like Facebook can make a positive difference. Opinions?
Norm
If you're ready to move into Facebook stealth mode, follow these simple steps:
http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/111929/stealth-mode-making-yourself-nearly-invisible-on-facebook• Visit Facebook.com, log in to your profile and click 'Account' in the top-right corner. From there, choose 'Privacy Settings.'
• From the 'Privacy Settings' page, click on 'View Settings' to see who can search for you, send messages to your account, see your education and work settings and more. Change all of these drop-down menus to 'Friends Only.'
• Return to the 'Privacy Settings' page and choose 'Customize Settings' near the bottom of the page. This new page will load a number of different privacy options, but you'll want to click through each one and change the setting to 'Only Me' so that nobody else can see your Facebook activity.
• Stay on the 'Customize Settings' page and scroll down to 'Things Others Share.' Here, you'll want to edit and disable settings so that your friends are unable to write on your wall, comment on posts and check you in to places.
• Return to the 'Privacy Settings' page and, under 'Apps and Websites' in the bottom-left corner, select 'Edit Your Settings.' This page shows all of the third-party websites and applications that you have given access to some of your Facebook information. If you see anything on this list that you want to remove, just click to remove it from the list.
• Stay on the 'Apps and Websites' page, scroll down to 'Instant Personalization' and select 'Edit Settings.' Uncheck the box at the bottom of this page to block other websites from accessing your Facebook interests. Select 'Confirm' when a pop-up asks you if you're sure you want to disable this option.
• Return to the 'Apps and Websites' page, scroll down to 'Public Search' and select 'Edit Settings.' To keep search engines from finding your Facebook profile, uncheck the box on this new screen.
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