1. Everyone can see everything.  These people are often so paranoid they don’t use it for work at all or seriously under utilise it
2. No one can see anything.  These people are naive at best and often end up putting something on they shouldn’t

So the first question, really, has to be – who can see what?

Well, in the old days it was very different.  But, since facebook brought in privacy settings, the answer is entirely up to you.  So, I’ll deal with the defaults, then I’ll look at how you change them.

• NETWORKS:  If you join a network (eg Leeds or University of Wolverhampton) everyone else who is on these networks can see large chunks of your profile by default.  Even after you have set privacy settings, any new item you set privacy for will, by default, be available to your networks.
• PHOTOS:  Only your friends and networks can see photos you can upload.  However, if a photo is tagged of you, even if you don’t tag it, your friends will automatically be able to see it and will be informed you’ve been tagged in their feeds.  You can remove the tag and, at that time, your friends can no longer see it.  However, if they have already seen it and saved it, obviously, the damage may be done
• PROFILE PHOTO:  Everyone will be able to see a thumbnail of your profile pic
• STATUS:  All your friends and networks will be able to see this
• PROFILE:  Your networks and friends can see everything you put in your profile.  This includes any pages you are a fan of and groups you are members of.  So, if you join “I vote Nazi” they can all see that!
• FRIENDS:  Anyone at all will be able to see your list of friends.  The only people they will not see are people who have fully hidden their profile.
• SEARCH:  Anyone who searches for your name will find your profile, though they will only be able to see your list of friends.  This “Public Search” will also appear if someone Googles your name
• MESSAGES:  If someone sends you a message and you reply they can see a limited amount of your profile, including your status, for two weeks
• CHAT (using the live chat box at the bottom of the page) This is private between you and the other person chatting
• WALL Vs MESSAGE:  Messages are best posted by clicking INBOX at the top. These are confidential (but can open privacy loopholes, see ‘messages’ above) Clicking on a persons page and sending a message may mean you posdt to their wall.  This is open.  You can restrict who can see YOUR wall but not who can see your posts on friends walls.
• APPLICATIONS:  Many applications post things regardless.  Be aware of SuperWall and FunWall which initially seem fun but are often used to send messages that may not look professional.  Feel free to not add/block these applications.

To change who can see what, you first need to group your friends.  This is where the search in part 1 comes in.  Go to your main facebook page (by clicking on the facebook logo NB:  This is NOT your profile page) and click FRIENDS at the top and ALL FRIENDS.  On the left hand side you will see “FRIENDS LIST” and below that “MAKE NEW LIST”.  Make these lists and add your friends to appropriate groups.

Next, go back to the main facebook page (click on the logo again) and click on SETTINGS at the top right (see picture) and select PRIVACY.  Now, you can work your way through various options, switching off networks and, by clicking on CUSTOMISE selecting the only people you DO or DO NOT want to see this, by individuals or group.

A more comprehensive guide to privacy settings is found here.

There are still some things to consider:

• PHOTOS:  Even if you remove a tag and have set up your priovacy so peopel don’t know that you’ve been tagged, if friends of yours are also friends with the person who uploaded the photos, they can still see it.  There is nothign you can do about this.
• PUBLIC SEARCH:  It’s very tempting to remove yourself from search engines.  However, facebook is a social network.  if no one can see you, or add you, is there much point really?
• There are a few do’s and don’ts to think about.  The first one, whether you use it for work or not, is what you say about work.  People have lost their jobs for slagging off work online.  And why not?  It’s easy to say you have the right to do so in private.  However, if your boss can find it, it’s not really private.
• Don’t join groups that could be a conflict of interest with your work.

I said in part one that this wasn’t about using facebook AT work but FOR work.  However, if you’ve been told you can’t use it AT work but are, be aware of the time stamp on wall postings and status changes.  Can you justify them?

Remember to stick to your rules.  For example, you may add colleagues but not customers.  You may had managers but not staff you manage.  You may add everyone, and filter.  Whatever you do, be aware that, if you like the wrong button or forget to tweek a privacy setting, it could all become public very very quickly.   If you’ve got to do things you don’t want work seeing – stick to things like private messages etc – or use a different network.

There’s more tips on “How to use facebook and not loose your job” here.

So, that’s the scare tactics out the way.  Next, it’s time to look at the positives.  Why would you use this for work, how would you build a work network and, more importantly, what would you do with it?

That’s all Part 3, Coming Soon……

The most definite way to separate work and play on facebook is to have two profiles.  I know people who do this.  They have their work profile, with their work friends and their social profile with their old and new friends.  Initially, this seems like a great idea…but there are drawbacks.

1. Social Networking is concept that crosses boundaries.  Most of us socialise, at least to a point, with the people we work with and sometimes the people we have worked with in the past.  Anyone who works in a role that requires networking will also know that you don’t entirely switch off when you’re socialising.  If someone says they work in your field, you’re quickly getting their number.  So, which category to these people go into?  Work profile?  Social Profile?  Both?  There are times when you might even want this cross-over
2. It’s pretty likely that, unless all your work and social contacts never ever meet, your two profiles would collide.  For example, you get married and invite some colleagues.  They tag you in a photo under one profile (see part 2) and your friends in another.  The two both become viable and someone adds the “wrong” you.
3. Logging In – It’s hard enough to remember you passwords and emails for the accounts you do have – imagine remembering what account you’re logged in as as well.  It would be very easy to be logged in as personal and add a work contact and vise versa.

It’s worth noting that, if you have added anyone who is senior to you, anyone who has been into your shop, or someone who was your service user you’ve already crossed the line into using facebook for work.  So play it safe and think the whole thing through.

Assuming you d0n’t have two profiles, these are the stages I think for planning to make use of facebook professionally:

1. Think about how you are going to use your profile professionally.  Are you going to use it to network, or are you going to add customers / service users too?  Make your rules and stick with them.
2. Decide on some categories, which will later be used for setting privacy levels.  Would you, for example, want colleagues to be able to see some things that wider work colleagues could not?  For each setting, you will need to be able to group people.  Bare in mind that your needs may change.  For example, you may not have an issue with your boss seeing your whole facebook page…but what if things change?  You could create a new category then, but it’s probably easier to have the categories set up from the start.  I currently have 17 different categories on my facebook.
3. Check with your work about a social networking policy.  If they don’t have one,  do not assume you’re OK.  If they have one, read it and learn it.  If you think it’s unfair, bring it up with your manager, but don’t flout it.  If there is no policy try and get your manager to draw up some clear, written, guidance about social networking.  At least that way you know where you stand.  If you don’t, you run the risk that some other clause in your contract, normally one about disrepute, may be used against you.
4. Don’t assume that, because it is in your own time, your work do not have a right to say what happens.  You are interacting with colleagues, customers and potential customers in a very public way.  If you declared your work was boring on the shop floor you would be disciplined.  The same is true on facebook.  You can prevent certain people from seeing certain things (see part 2) but if it is findable through a way you’ve not thought of and it is found, expect consequences.  This story is a good example.
5. Look at your role and think about conflicts of interest.  Go through any groups, pages and anything else that could associate you with topics of people you don’t want to be associated with.  For example, if you work in local government, groups criticizing the council might not be a good idea, along with political groups.

After that bout of paranoia, it’s time to move onto setting the privacy control to make sure the right people see the right things.  That’s Part 2….coming soon.

When I started using facebook nearly three years ago, I had no idea I’d ever use it for work. However, I’ve found more and more use for it both socially AND professionally and, it’s fair to say, the two are not always mutually exclusive.  I now use facebook both as a social and a professional tool.  The groups I access are mainly work,  my time on facebook is fairly evenly split and almost exactly 25% of my 325 “friends” are work related.  I’ve used facebook to meet new work contacts, establish new professional relationships and keep abreast of the latest news and good practice.

I also spend a fair amount of time ensuring my professional and personal presence on facebook don’t run into conflict.   So, I thought I’d write a blog with some instructions on why and how to use facebook for work and some of the dangers involved in this. The resulting posts will then be published on my site as a downloadable file, along with any comments that come up along the way.

It should be noted that this guide will shos the use of facebook FOR work, not the issue of using facebook AT work.  While we’ll look at the issue of separating personal and professional content and not doing your personal contact at work, you might well find that your organisation doesn’t see a need for you to use the web socially at work.

Personally, I think that organisations with appropriate systems should let you, during your breaks (ie outside paid work time), access websites that are not against company interests and do not cost them additionally for you to access, as I think they should let you use telephones at your own expense.

However, there are many reasons both good and bad why many places of work don’t and, not being an expert on employment law and rights, it’s a minefield I don’t want to get into.  Increasingly, workplaces are seeing a key need for a professional use of social networking and are allowing those who make a business case for its use use it.  If you think you can do this, go for it!

Even if you can’t use it at all at work or from a mobile device, you may well still,  in your own time, till use facebook as a professional tool and there are things you may need to know and think about.

Finally, please note that I’m writing this about facebook because that’s the tool I use.  There are other social networks and Web2.0 tools that some of these rules apply to and others that they don’t.

Cue “working with facebook”

Part 1 – Mix’n'Match – Separating Professional & Personal

Part 2 – Privacy Issues – Who can see what and what’s not to see

Part 3 – Who you know – Building a facebook professional network