The New Facebook Profile – Are You Protecting Your Interests?

Regular users of Facebook can’t fail to have noticed the new-look profile page and the changes to some of the site’s features.  For jobseekers and those keen to maintain a professional online image, two of the most noteworthy changes are the loss of the bio beneath the profile picture and the appearance of the new block of five photographs at the top of the page.

In some ways the disappearance of the bio from the profile page isn’t such a great loss, as the About Me section can still be found under the Info tab and Facebook has now improved the way that users can display information about education and work.  Specific work projects and study classes can now be detailed, and there is even the option to tag other Facebook contacts that you are involved with professionally, which is a huge bonus if your colleagues are well-known in their field. 

The new photo section is more worrying, as this automatically displays the last five photos in which the site member was tagged, thus leaving users with little control over what appears.  If you go to Privacy Settings and then select “Edit your settings” under Apps and Websites at the foot of the page, however, you can then choose which information is accessible through your friends.  Just deselect “Photos and videos I’m tagged in” and you shouldn’t have to worry about inappropriate content appearing without your knowledge or consent.