If you’ve signed on to Facebook lately, you probably saw a message pop-up about your privacy settings.  When it appeared on my screen I didn’t think much of it, and I chose to return to my original settings, which I’d already set fairly high.  A few days later I was speaking to my mother and she began informing me about Facebook’s changes.  She had received a warning about Facebook’s online security from her company IT department (she always passes on these warnings) and wanted to make sure I was “being smart with my settings.”

A recent NYT blog post, “The New Facebook Privacy Settings:  A How-to”, explains the notification, which Facebook is dubbing their ‘Transition Tool.’  ” Some changes, especially some lame efforts to steer people toward greater sharing of information, are being hotly challenged by privacy advocates. But one thing seems clear: Facebook’s message and cleaned up interface will probably lead many people who have heretofore thought little about privacy on Facebook — or on the Internet, for that matter — to make more active decisions about what they share and with whom. That could save quite a few poor souls from making major faux pas, like say posting an ill-considered workplace gripe or drunken photo for the world (a k a bosses and job recruiters) to see.”

The author notes that in response to the pop-up, she went through her privacy settings, making a few adjustments.  Oddly, however, many of her setting choices failed to save, reverting to the settings that Facebook suggested.  This prompted her to go through all her preferences to ensure they were set as she wanted — not a bad idea in general, especially for those of us whose frineds include a mix of college buddies, coworkers, family members and who knows what else!  I’ve heard of people setting up Facebook pages for their pets!  Not that Fluffy would judge you if she saw an end-of-the-night picture of you after one too many margaritas, but still… probably not the best material to have up for the world to see, especially as more and more employers seem to be conducting Facebook searches when considering perspective hires.

So, for all you Facebook users out there, take another look at your settings.  If the settings failed to implement for the article author, they could have failed to implement for you too!  It’s always good to be aware of what’s out there on the web about you, and to control it when you can.