Facebook to no longer let you opt-out of being found via search
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Click for Larry Magid’s 1-minute CBS News & CNET segment about Facebook dropping the search setting
Facebook has eliminated a setting called “Who can look up your Timeline by name?,” which controlled whether you could be found when people typed your name into the Facebook search bar.
In a blog post, Facebook’s chief privacy officer Michael Richter said that the setting was “created when Facebook was a simple directory of profiles and it was very limited.” The feature also created a false sense of security because it gave some people the sense that they were hiding just because they couldn’t be found in search. Not true. There are many ways that people can find you on Facebook including links from other people’s profiles.
If you block someone, they can’t find you via search or any other way on the service.
Protecting what you post
You can control the audience for each post
While it may be hard to hide on Facebook, you can protect the privacy of your content. Every time you post you have the option to determine the audience. It can be everyone (Public), Friends, Friends of Friends or limited to a smaller group of people or even “just me.”
For more, here is Facebook’s privacy settings help page
Facebook’s blog post about the change
Disclosure: Facebook provides financial support to ConnectSafely and co-directors Larry Magid and Anne Collier serve on Facebook’s Safety Advisory Board.