Description: Viral wall posting / Rumor
Circulating since: 2011 (various versions)
Status: False (see details below)
See also: Facebook "Copyright Notice" Is a Hoax
Text example #1:
As posted on Facebook, Sep. 12, 2012:
To all my FB friends, may I request you to please do something for me: 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 need 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" by clicking on it. By doing this, my activity amongst my friends and my family will no longer become public. Many thanks! Paste this on your wall so your contacts would follow suit too, that is, if you care about your privacy.
Text example #2:
As posted on Facebook, Sep. 11, 2012:
To all my contacts, friends, I request from you, that with the recent changes in FB, now anyone can see things from people who are not in your contacts list. Just because a contact of yours makes a comment or "likes" in some activity of that person. I do not want people to contact me, and would like that they do not read and see all my comments and stuff, but I can not change this myself because facebook has configured it this way. But you can do it for me. PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (do not click), a window will appear and move the mouse on "Friends" (also without clicking), then down to "Settings", click here and a list will appear. Click "Comments and Like" and it would thereby remove the CHECK. By doing this my activity amongst my friends and my family does not become public. A Thousand Thanks! Paste this on your wall for your contacts, if you care about your privacy!
Text example #3:
As posted on Facebook, Jan. 12, 2012:
I would like to keep my FB private except to those I am friends with. So if you all would do this I'd appreciate it. With the new FB timeline on its way this week for EVERYONE, please do both of us a favor: Hover over my name above. In a few seconds, you'll see a box that says "Subscribed". Hover over that, then go to "Comments and Likes" and unclick it. That will stop my posts and yours to me from showing up on the side bar for everyone to see, but most importantly, it limits hackers from invading our profiles. If you repost this, I will do the same for you. You'll know I've acknowledged you because if you tell me that you've done it, I'll "like" it.
Analysis: Beware of "helpful" wall postings purporting to explain how you can protect your privacy, avoid scams, hackers, or viruses, or otherwise enhance your Facebook security. All too often the recommendations contained therein are flat-out wrong, and the opposite of helpful.
Consider, for example, the instructions below, which will supposedly cause all your comments and likes to be hidden from public view:
PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (do not click), a window will appear and move the mouse on "Friends" (also without clicking), then down to "Settings", click here and a list will appear. Click "Comments and Like" and it would thereby remove the CHECK. By doing this my activity amongst my friends and my family does not become public.
I tried this. It didn't hide my comments or likes. What it did do was remove my friends' comments and likes from my timeline! Depending on my friends' privacy settings, people I don't know could still see my comments or likes via my friends' pages. In other words, I pretty much accomplished the opposite of what I set out to do!
The reality is that if you want to stop your comments and likes from being seen by the general public, you have to ask your friends to change their privacy settings accordingly. And you should do the same. See Sophos.com for detailed instructions.
Related: Facebook Copyright Notice wall postings purport to protect members' ownership of the content they post on Facebook.
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Sources and further reading:
Facebook Privacy Settings Tutorial
About.com: Social MediaThree Simple Settings to Make Facebook Private and Protect Your Personal Info
About.com: Social Media[Hoax Alert] To All My FB Friends...I Want to Stay PRIVATELY Connected
FaceCrooks.com, 10 September 2012Facebook's Ticker Privacy Scare, and What You Should Do About It
Sophos Naked Security, 26 September 2011
Last updated 11/27/12
