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Keeping your Facebook page private

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlotte's population is roughly 716,000 people. Would you believe more than half of those people are members of the social networking Web site Facebook?

Whether you're already a member or just thinking about joining, there are important measures you can take to keep your private life from becoming an open book.

"My life before facebook?  I don't even remember my life before Facebook," said Lisa Dickinson. "OK, let's just put it this way. I've got my Blackberry, which has a Facebook application and I also have an iPod, which I also have a Facebook application on." 

Dickinson looks forward to seeing her friends' status updates countless times a day, but beyond setting her profile to private so not just anyone can see it, she hasn't done much else to in the way of security.

"I just kind of ignore it and I probably shouldn't," she said. 

We tracked down Facebook expert Nick O'Neill to ask which privacy settings are critical for every Facebook user. He runs the Web site www.allfacebook.com and says start with your friends list. 

"You can actually control what kind of information each of those friend lists have access to," O'Neill said.

To do that, he encourages you to separate your contacts into groups like friends, family or professional.

"So, for instance, I wouldn't want my boss to see all of the photo's I've been tagged in," O'Neill said.

You can also limit what shows up when someone searches for you on Facebook. Go to privacy settings and look under "search visibility."

With Dickinson, we took it a step further and showed her how to prevent her profile from showing up in a wider Internet search.

"Google indexes a section of your profile, which Facebook makes public so that when you search your name your profile shows up in Google," O'Neill said.

To shut that search off go to "search privacy settings" and look for the heading "public search listings."

Something else you may want to control: those embarrassing pictures you forgot you took.

"I think in general photos can tell a lot about the individual," said O'Neill.

Dickinson's seen proof.

"I've seen some things that absolutely floored me," she said.

To make sure a photo posted of you doesn't go public, go to your "profile privacy page" and find "photos tagged of you." Hit customize. From there, you can decide who sees pictures and where your name appears.

"I definitely want my contact information private," Dickinson said.

You can make your address, phone number and e-mail off limits as well. We did that for Dickinson and also showed her how to limit who can leave messages on her wall.

Facebook is a big part of Dickinson's life. Now, she has a little more control over it.

"You know, this is really a great thing because I need to protect myself more than what I've done," she said.

To see more safety advice as well as step-by-step instructions from O'Neill, check out this recent blog on Facebook security at http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy.