Would you believe that in an issue about avoiding mistakes, I made a mistake? Thanks to Eve Kennedy for pointing out the error in this sentence: "I've not used the site, but one of my client's did." It shouldn't be possessive. Rather than fix the grammar, the whole sentence should be rewritten. For example, "I've not used the site, but a client of mine tried it out."

I also heard from Rochelle Seltzer about last month's Web Tips 99Designs. Rochelle is a Boston-based design strategist who advocates for the relationship between great design and great thinking. Rochelle points out that "The input a client puts into [a crowd-sourced design firm's] form is minimal, and there is no opportunity for fact-finding by the designer. There is zero strategy in their approach.

"I urge designers to clearly articulate what they offer and the value of their approaches," she says. "They are real business partners to their clients. When there is research and strategy to guide the optimal design deliverables and attributes, the work they develop moves the needle for their clients."

I've long advocated strategic design and share Rochelle's enthusiasm for the value of professional graphic design.

From time to time, Web Words only has one article. Lots of travel and other activities is the reason this month. But to make up for it, I did a lot of research to bring you an article about Facebook security. It's one of those things that isn't worth the effort until something bad happens. So take a few minutes to read the article and the links. Think of it as insurance.

     

It all began with a hoax. I saw a somewhat inarticulate posting from an acquaintance threatening to unfriend me if I didn't make certain changes on my Facebook (FB) settings that would allegedly impact her privacy. The first comment referenced a Snopes article on the topic that denied the accuracy of the message.

But, in fact, I now understand that the new FB Graphic Search feature does affect user privacy, though not in the way the hoax suggested. I'm going to help you sort it out.

Disclaimer

I don't like Facebook. From what I understand, I'm in the majority. But it seems to be a necessity--like  flossing and seat belts. Of course, the first rule is never post anything unless you're OK with everyone seeing it. Still there might be things you don't want the world to know--like where you live.

I originally signed up on FB years ago to connect with our family who live in the Atlanta metro area. And I greatly enjoy seeing family photos online. We're just back from a visit, and I really do want to use Facebook to share more about our lives. But concerns about privacy have held me back. So between the trip south and the Web Words deadline, I did the research. Here are my findings.

Actually, I like Graphic Search. It allows you to search for intersections of interests and communities. I found all my friends who like skiing. Then I expanded the search to "people who like skiing." This gave me pages and pages of friends of friends who share my love of the sport.

Here's where the privacy thing comes in and why you really need to make the necessary changes. Depending on their settings, I could just see their photo or I could read all their postings. Not so serious, you might think. But friends of friends covers a wide territory including groups you might have joined. Think--the world. Well, not quite, but almost.

By the way, there are 1 billion FB users on the planet. 3 million haven't ever touched their privacy settings. That's only .3% of total users, but 3 million is still more people than live in Chicago. Are you convinced, yet?

Resources

Like everything else about FB, these settings are not obvious. I found three articles: easy, moderate and difficult. Pick the one that suits.

• From USA Today "5 Facebook privacy setting you need to check now" 
           
• From Lifehacker.com "The Always up-to-date guide to managing your Facebook privacy"

• From the Wall Street Journal, a one-page chart that covers everything, but is almost impossible to follow.

I did the first two. Hopefully, I'm now safe from the friends of my friends.

 

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