Students react to controversial new Facebook privacy policy

By: Cole Landfried
Edited by: Sarah Lundgren

Students are beginning to realize that data on their Facebook pages that used to be private— like that embarrassing picture from last night’s party— is now openly visible on the web, thanks to new privacy settings that Facebook unveiled in December.

The popular social networking site's new settings allow photos, “wall posts,” and other personal information to appear on search engines like Google unless the user specifies otherwise. Content like photos, wall posts, and personal information are all public under Facebook's new default setting. Users can make most of that information private again by adjusting their personal settings, but the new controls can be confusing, and many students are unaware that they can opt out of the new default setting.

Valerie Joyce, a sophomore early childhood education major at the University of Georgia, is one of many students unsure of the new privacy policy.

“I thought my Facebook was as safe as possible, but now I don't really know who can see the stuff on my profile, and it's kind of scary,” said Joyce. “I definitely feel like they betrayed my trust a little.”

The changes come at a time when almost 70 million users over the age of 25 are logging onto Facebook, according to data pulled from the site's Social Ads system. Companies everywhere are also beginning to use the site to screen job applicants. Thanks to Facebook's policy change, content that previously required users' permission to access can now be seen—and judged—by family members and potential employers.

Some, like Caitlin Taber, a 22-year-old UGA graduate, are taking the changes in stride.

“I think as long as you know how to change the settings, it's not a big deal,” said Taber.

“You're already choosing to put yourself out there by taking part in something like Facebook. You can't trust the company to act on your behalf. We don't pay for it, so I really don't feel like we have any rights.”

When she took a job with a lobbying group after graduation, Taber said she soon found herself adjusting her Facebook habits.

“I made it more professional looking after I became friends with other professionals,” said Taber. “I'm really careful about what I say, and everything is set as private as possible.”

According to Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and CEO of Facebook, the changes are for the benefit of the site's users.

Zuckerberg explained in a December blog entry that Facebook's old method of controlling content based on school, community, and regional networks is outdated now that these networks have millions of members. According to Facebook, the site now has over 350 million active users.

“This is no longer the best way to control your privacy,” said Zuckerberg.

The changes have sparked a minor uproar. Journalists, bloggers, and ordinary users alike are calling the move a blatant ploy for more advertising revenue. The new settings position Facebook to compete with other social media sites like Twitter, which openly shows its users' content in search engines. By becoming more like Twitter, experts say that Facebook may hope to divert web traffic from the popular micro-blogging site.

And more web traffic means more profit.

“There is the potential for more people to be there to see the ads, so they [Facebook] can charge the advertisers more,” said Wendy Macias, an associate advertising professor at the University of Georgia.

These changes come in addition to Facebook’s controversial 2007 decision to allow third party advertisers access to users’ personal information.

“The ads are generally targeted to the interests of the individual, which is good because you get ads that you are interested in,” Marcias said, “but you want to make sure that when you share your information with a company that they use it responsibly.”

Some experts, like Laura Buffardi, a social psychology graduate student whose research has focused on Facebook, say that social networking sites have made people more comfortable with sharing their personal information.

“You have to think about everyone online who can see your information,” she said. “It's not just your group of friends.”

For those still not comfortable sharing their personal information with anyone who wants it, Facebook's new policy can actually offer more privacy than the old one. If users take the time to utilize new features like friend lists, they can create different privacy settings for different groups of people. Users can make certain content available to family and other content available to coworkers. They can even decide who gets access on an individual basis.

But even those that take the time to privatize their pages are not completely safe from the occasional awkward Facebook moment.

“The other day I set a quote from “Catcher in the Rye” as my status, and it was pretty dark,” said Taber, “and my third grade teacher saw it and thought I was being suicidal. She commented on it...tried to give me a pep talk. It was very awkward.”

The solution?

“She is now restricted from everything,” said Taber.