When you first join Facebook, it is important to know what you should and should not share. We’ve compiled a list of Facebook profile tips on 10 things you should never share on Facebook.
Why should I not share these items on Facebook?
Before we get to our list of Facebook profile tips on things you should never share on Facebook, let’s quickly talk about why you wouldn’t want to share them.
A lot of people who first join Facebook assume that everything that is shared on Facebook is private. That’s not always the case.
Most of the information is public or it can be copied by your friends and shared without your knowledge.
We know that you want to share important updates with your friends and family. It is importnat though that you follow these Facebook profile tips and to not share this type of information on Facebook. Not only can it compromise your security, but it can also embarrass friends, family and even yourself because of the repercussions that can happen.
Sure, we love being social and sharing what we’re doing with friends and family, but know who it is getting shared with before you share it. What happen’s on Facebook doesn’t always stay on Facebook.
Let’s take a look at this list of Facebook profile tips and the ten items you should never share.
Facebook profile tips and 10 things you should never share
1. Your entire birthday
It’s great to get updates from your friends on your birthday. Just make sure you have your privacy settings set to only display the month and day – here’s a video on how to change this.
Why not share this? When you share your entire birthday, you can compromise your identity. Most banks and credit card companies ask for this information. When you have this information on display on Facebook and it’s not private, anyone can view it.
2. You’re taking a vacation
You’ve finally gotten that time off at work. Yeah! Once you’ve booked your vacation, don’t go blabbing on Facebook about it, even though we know you want to.
Why not share this? When you tell someone you’re going away, you’re inviting them in. It’s easy to search for keywords like “vacation” to find people mentioning this information.
One other thing to avoid doing if you’re going on vacation – sharing photos while you’re on vacation. This information is searchable and in most cases, public to other Facebook users (even those you’re not friends with).
My recommendation is to only share this information once you’re back from your vacation.
3. Family
I know it’s hard not to share anything family related on Facebook. This includes status updates, photos, etc, but this is a Facebook profile tip you’ll want to follow.
Why not share this? When you share information about your family, you never know who could be looking at this information. For example, when you share a photo that contains a family member and the school they are at, this presents a potential security risk.
If you do plan to share any family photos, be sure you know how to set privacy settings on your Facebook photo albums.
4. Your house
You’ve bought a new house and want to share it with your friends and family. Great! Just don’t share it on your Facebook profile.
Why not share this? When you share photos of your house, such as the layout, you provide valuable information about your house. This could invite unwanted visitors such as criminals to your house.
If you do plan to share this information, be sure you limit this information to just your friends.
5. Sharing bad information
One of the things that ruins Facebook is sharing bad information. This includes updates such as the “Facebook Fan Page Verification Program,” which is a hoax.
Why not share this? While you think you’re doing good and sharing important information about Facebook, be sure you’ve done your research first. For starters, how credible is your source? Is it a friend or a bonafide social media marketer?
6. Work-related complaints
If you are not happy with your job, be sure not to share this on your Facebook profile. It could get you in trouble.
Why not share this? As I mentioned earlier, you need to know what your friends, family and even your co-workers can see. Airing your workplace grievances can get you into trouble with your employer. Also, employers are recruiting with Facebook Graph Search more and more. Would you really want someone to come across a status update that you don’t like your job?
If you don’t like your job, don’t complain about it, do something about it! (tweet this)
7. Rants about political or religious beliefs
Jesus, Obama, Mitt Romney are all important figures. Just don’t talk too much about them on Facebook. This includes your Facebook profile and also your Facebook pages.
Why not share this? Facebook isn’t a sounding board to air your political or religious beliefs. In fact, if you’re looking to leverage social networks to network, you’ll most likely push these users away when you constantly talk about politics or religion on Facebook.
8. Your home address
Why not share this? Some things should remain private on Facebook. While sharing your home address, doesn’t seem like a big deal, don’t assume that it isn’t. There are always going to be people who want to create problems. This is one of those no-brainer Facebook profile tips. Don’t give them any opportunity to do this.
9. Your Skype, Yahoo Messenger or other ID’s.
Why not share this? If you maintain certain channels for business, be sure you don’t publicize this information on your Facebook profile. When you publicize this information, you’re inviting in spammers. Not only will this create more work for you to have to clean-up, but if you’re using this for your business, this could give off an unfavorable impression to your clients.
10. Linking Twitter updates to Facebook
Facebook does not support the use of hashtags (at the time of writing this).
Why not share this? Because Facebook does not support hashtags, when you have your Twitter account set to update your Facebook profile, all of the information you send out on Twitter gets shared on Facebook. This includes hashtags. Not only are hashtags in Facebook updates not clickable, but they look ridiculous.
If you have your accounts connected right now, I recommend disconnecting them and being more selective about what gets posted to your Facebook profile and what is shared on Twitter. While it requires a little more time on your part to separate out updates for each network, it makes you look more professional.
Hopefully you found this list of Facebook profile tips helpful. Which of these Facebook profile tips did you find yourself doing and plan to stop immediately?
Question: What other Facebook profile tips can you share? Are there other items you hide on your Facebook Profile? You can leave a comment by clicking here.