There’s something wrong with your Facebook, and you probably don’t even realize it.  Your once pristine and secure profile has slowly become an overcrowded, overexposing hodgepodge of content.  If you are like me, you got your Facebook Account while in high school (or sooner) —  Long before the stalker-feed or your apprehension about posting drunk pictures existed.  Now years later, just like a simple sapling can grow to a twisted tree, so too has your Facebook profile grown.  And like any tree, pruning is necessary to maintain its health and beauty.  It’s time for some “Facebook Pruning”.

Why Facebook Prune?

They always say “put your best foot forward”.  The same applies in the digital world.  With years’ worth of content available, your Facebook profile is your most intimate and extensive online identity.  It is therefore in your best interest, both personally and professionally to highlight your qualities while suppressing your vices.  This makes you appear as a more attractive candidate both for that promotion and for that 2nd date. But if you want hard facts, know that 70% of employers now say they have rejected applicants because of online content (mostly Facebook).  See the full article here.  But here’s the even sweeter carrot: 86% of employers said that a good online profile can positively affect an applicant.  Rather than futilely switching up all your privacy settings to hide those drunk photos, why not have your Facebook work for you?

A One-Two Punch

Facebook Pruning uses two tools to help return your profile to a simpler, clearer, and more secure state and stay that way.  The first tool is privacy controls.  Facebook’s recently overhauled profile privacy controls, combined with other Facebook features give you the power over who sees every minutiae of your online identity.  I’ll explain how to do that below.  The second tool is your discretion.  I’ll give you two simple questions before posting any content that ensure your online integrity remains intact. PrivacyEach of the tips will help secure your content or recommend removing some entirely.  However, it’s up to you how much you want to reveal.

  • Friends: It is estimated that you can only have around 150 true friends at a time.  So why do you have over 800 friends on Facebook?  From facebook.com/friends/, you can scroll through your entire friend list and remove the riff raff.  While you probably won’t make it down to 150, it’ll help clear up your news feed and secure your profile.
  • Lists: Don’t want to completely remove a friend, but would rather they don’t see some things?  That’s what lists are for!  I recommend dividing your connections into four groups: close friends, family, work associates, and limited profile.  With your friends and family, you can share more personal content (or not — your choice) while excluding work associates or those people with whom you’re only facebook friends (limited profile).  In fact, over half of my “friends” are on limited profile.
  • Profile Settings: With your lists created, you can fine-tune your profile’s privacy controls here.  Take a look at my screenshot for inspiration.
  • Contact Info: Often overlooked, contact info is something you should safeguard the most.  Particularly be sure only your close friends can see your mobile number.  Beyond that, fine tune based on your preferences.
  • Tagged Photos/Videos: It’s not vain to untag photos & videos. It’s business.  Get rid of every single drunk/questionable picture and video to avoid embarrassment or worse at work.  It’s up to you what you do with the rest.
  • Your Photos/Videos: These are the pictures and videos you personally uploaded to Facebook.  You can now fine-tune every one of your albums’ privacy settings here.  Now you can easily show everyone your pictures from the park while just your close friends can see pictures of last week’s party.  Videos still must be adjusted one-by-one, however.
  • Applications: Everyone’s tried out a Facebook app at one point.  But it’s easy to forget that they still have access to your information.  Click here to find out which applications can still access your information and get rid of those you don’t use.
  • Everything Else: Take a look at your profiles boxes, tabs, groups, pages, notes, and links.  Chances are there is a lot of irrelevant or inappropriate content that you can get rid of.  Clean it up to reduce clutter and highlight more important content.

Discretion

Whenever you’re adding new content, ask yourself two questions: “what will this make people think of me?” and “what would happen if X saw this?” (X could be your boss, partner, or whoever).  If you think the content will put you in a positive light, then that’s great!  If it might not be so flattering, use your privacy controls.  But be willing to accept the consequences if X finds out. Job’s Done With just a couple hours of work, you’ve turned your Facebook into a personal and professional asset.  Congratulations!  Got something to add or some extra thoughts? Comment below and let me know what you think!