Keeping Your Personal and Professional Life Separate on Facebook
Facebook is not only a community to connect with old friends, but also a great way to network professionally. When I created an account, I was shocked at the number of business contacts I had that were already on Facebook. So, I quickly learned how to keep the professional and personal sides of my Facebook account separate.
Here are 4 quick tips to help you:
1. Create Friend Lists: Separate your friends based on how you know them. For example in my profile I have lists like: Friends/Family, Colleagues, High School, College, etc. Just click on the “Friends” tab to edit and Create New List. Name your list and begin selecting those you want to be included by clicking on their photos.
2. When in doubt, let people see a “Limited Profile.” If it’s a business contact, you can customize it so they will not see this year’s Halloween Party photos. Go to “Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile Privacy” to edit and choose who sees what based on your created “lists”.
For example, if I only want those in my “Friends/Family” group to see photos tagged of me, I would “Customize” my “Photos Tagged of Me” section by choosing “Some Friends” and then typing my list named “Friends/Family” in the search bar. This concept can be applied to most of your profile sections.
3. At all future friend requests, you will be prompted to put them in specific list. You can always change the settings at a later date.
4. Finally, you can double check your settings and see how other’s view your profile. Again, from then Settings > Privacy Settings > Profile Privacy you can type in a friend’s name to see how they can view your profile.