I usually write about Loudoun County, and/or real estate, but today I’m going to digress slightly to write a little bit about technology. If you follow along with my writing here, you are probably aware that I also use Twitter and Facebook in my business as well. I enjoy having social media tools to allow me to interact with friends, colleagues, and clients, but I do take steps to separate my business life from my personal life.
One of the great things about Facebook is that you can set up your privacy settings for your profile page, so that the general public at large only has access to as much information as you are willing to share. For myself, I’m fine with my email address, cell phone number, and business information being readily accessible for someone who is trying to find me. I do own my own business, after all, and people need that information to get in touch with me. I do not, however, let folks I don’t know see my personal pictures and information.
I have two middle school aged children that are now moving into the online realm, and although they do not have Facebook profiles, many of their friends do. I was having a conversation with them about online privacy, and we used the opportunity to browse around Facebook looking at the public profiles of many of their friends. As a parent, I was *horrified* at how many of these kids had photos, phone numbers, friend lists, and the like available to ANYONE who was browsing through Facebook. That is an open invitation for people with ill intent, to say the least.
To edit what anyone searching Facebook can see, click on “Account” in the top right corner and in the drop down menu, choose “Privacy Settings”…Here is the screen that you will see next:
Click on the first link, “Profile Information” to bring up the following screen:
(You can click on those pictures to make them larger, if needed.) From here you can use the drop down settings to change it from “Everyone” to “Only Friends” or whatever you like. You can test how it appears to others by clicking the “Preview My Profile” link at the top right. I highly recommend walking through these settings with your kids, so that you can ensure that they are protected from strangers. And parents, please understand that it is not enough to be ‘friended’ with your kids on Facebook. They can use these privacy settings to specifically block you as easily as they can block the general public…I’d recommend knowing their password, too, in case you think they are hiding anything harmful.
This is just my suggestion; I teach business people how to use Facebook on a regular basis, so if you have any questions on how to use these settings, I’m happy to lend a hand.
Cheers,
Heather
Tags: Facebook, Online Privacy
Is this your first visit to my blog? Welcome! (I’d hold the door open for you, if I had one here..) I’m guessing that a few people will be visiting who haven’t been here before, because I’ve done a little advertising in the newspaper, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.
In any case, hello! This site is here because I wanted to provide a place where you would find a great mix of Loudoun County news, events, and real estate market information, mixed in with my own occasionally witty observations, and some amateur local photography. Hopefully you will find it entertaining and informing. Please feel free to poke around, comment, send me a message or ask a question, or just read and enjoy. Make yourself at home.
Cheers,
Heather
(and for the record, this site is absolutely my voice, but I don’t necessarily discuss myself a whole lot. If you would like to know a little more, here’s the About Heather page.)
Tags: Heather Elias, LoCoMusings
Her senior portrait, a few years ago..
Today is my baby sister’s birthday. The picture above is more than a few years old, but it’s one of my favorites. In case you didn’t know, she’s one of the most important people in my world.
We get along famously!
Happy birthday, sis. I hope you know how very much I love you! Wish I could be with you today to celebrate…raising a glass to you from here!
Lots of love,
Sissy
Tags: family
Proud to announce the newest member of the LoCo Musings family… just launched Western LoCo Stats, for those of you that would like to follow along with real estate market conditions in the western part of the county. (You guys didn’t think you were going to find a baby picture, did you? <grin>…)
It’s only got a couple of posts so far, but look for weekly updates on what’s going on with the market in Hamilton, Purcellville, Round Hill, Lovettsville, and points west.
Cheers,
Heather
Tags: Western LoCo Stats
Snowpocalypse!
Taken at around 8:45 this morning here in Purcellville. I’m glad to see that the plows have been out in my neighborhood overnight…one of the things we pay for in our homeowner’s association is snow removal, and they are very much on top of things with this storm so far!
Please be safe today and stay off the roads if you can. Also, please don’t forget to clear the snow off your exterior HVAC units so that they don’t freeze up!!
Thanks, honey!
Snow in my neighborhood...
Snowy cheers,
Heather
Tags: LoCo Photo
