How to Keep Your Profile Safe on Facebook

Facebook is probably the most popular social
networking site in the world and with millions of
people logging in and creating their profiles everyday,
real life friends and total strangers alike adding you to
their lists. It's worth mentioning that even though the
website has been up for a number of years, you still
get to hear about hacked profiles and other security
breaches.

It is always better to be safe than sorry and here are
some tips you should keep in mind when using your
Facebook profile or page.

BE CAREFUL ON WHO YOU ADD: Adding new friends is fun
on a social networking site but remember whoever
you do add on your list has access to all your
background information. Sometimes it's better to
trim down the number of friends as you do not want
your private information falling into the wrong
hands. It's always advisable not to add those you
really don't know.

A SMART PASSWORD: Like most websites, you should
really use a smart password. Avoid using your birth
date or name as the password and of course not a
series of numbers like "123456", they are the easiest
to hack. Use a lot of numbers and characters in the
password and make sure you never share it with
anyone.

SIGNING IN FROM WHERE? : A lot of us use
smartphones, tablets and laptops to log onto
Facebook but we must be careful and not click on
the "remember me" option. This should be
especially avoided in case you are using a shared
resource.

NOT THAT SMART A PHONE: A lot of us use
smartphones where a gazillion apps are present.

We naturally use a lot of these apps to automatically
sign in to Facebook and use information present
there to update posts and spread news, it's best to
make sure they do not have access to your
Facebook account if the application isn't a trusted
one.

CHECK YOUR SETTINGS: Facebook has revamped its
privacy settings, giving you more control over what
a friend can and cannot see. It is worth spending
sometime checking out the restrictions and features
of the privacy setting because this can be really
helpful in the long run.

BE CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU PUBLISH:

Whatever you
post on your profile can be seen, shared and posted
again. So please be careful of what you post online
and think twice before posting something you may
regret later on.

BE CAREFUL OF PUBLISHING ACCOUNT: Be careful when
fake messages that seem to originate from
Facebook are sent to you, it may be a trick by
someone to steal your login details.

Remember if
you need to change or reset your password you
should only do it from the settings option on the
Facebook site and not from other websites.

ACT FAST: If your friends complain they are receiving
news feeds or spam from your profile and you are
not aware of it, change your password as soon as
possible. If you can't log into your account, go to the
Help link at the bottom of any Facebook page and
click on Security to notify regarding your account.

Above all, be smart and aware of what you do online
and whom you add into your friend list.

This simple
advice is often the best advice one can use and give.