Making Facebook Stalker-Proof
By Dave Taylor
The Question: I don’t know what to do, Dave. My ex-girlfriend is a nut-job and somehow whenever I try to use Facebook she sees what I’m doing and emails me about it. One time she showed up when I was on a date and was very unpleasant. How is she seeing what I’m doing, and how can I stop her? Needless to say, we’re not friends.
Dave’s Answer:
With the rise of the digital age and social media we’ve also seen amazing new tools for stalkers, creeps, weirdos and, yes, crazy ex’s. Whether it’s mobile apps that report where you are or something as innocuous as a Facebook Wall post, there’s a lot more information out there than ever used to be the case for those of us that have dove into the digital age. Heck, did you know the original code name for Twitter? “We struggled with a codename and a product name. “It’s FriendStalker!” joked @Crystal”.
One thing about Facebook that most people don’t realize is that if your updates, photos, etc are marked for “public” access, that means people who aren’t actually your friends can see them and, in some cases, even comment on them. Could be an issue with your ex. It’s all too easy to forget that and wonder how people who you don’t know are aware of your activities.
To change that, make sure that when you post things, they’re marked for “friends”. Even “Friends of friends” could be problematic if any of your friends is also a friend with your ex, right? Yeah, a drag.
Fortunately you can change that on a per-posting basis, as shown here:
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This post is excerpted with permission from Dave Taylor.
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