GLAAD, as a member of Facebook's Network of Support, regularly works with the company to offer information and resources to address issues that are important to the LGBT community. A new feature that LGBT Facebook users need to understand is Graph Search.
This month Facebook announced the beta launch of Graph Search, a new search feature intended to make information people have already shared with each other more useful in a way that respects peoples' privacy settings. With Graph Search, you can look up anything shared with you on Facebook, and others can find things you've shared with them, including content set to "public."
What does Graph Search mean for LGBT Facebook users?
While Graph Search doesn't change the privacy settings held by each individual piece of content, its launch is a reminder that Facebook's LGBT users should be informed about how to control their privacy settings. Facebook users' privacy settings can be adjusted so that information is not shared more widely than they want, and it is important that users know how to modify privacy settings for current city, relationship status, timeline photos and other content.
Here are some Graph Search tips and resources from Facebook:
- You can find people based on things they've shared with you, including their interests and profile info. You'll see results for friends who share their city with you, people whose city is set to "public," and suggested results based on info shared with you. Try searching for "People who live in my city" in English (US).
- To control who can see your current city, edit this setting in your About tab on your timeline, or watch this video to learn how to edit this setting.
- You can find photos you and your friends have posted or been tagged in.
- Others will see any photos they can see on Facebook, including photos hidden from timeline. Try searching for "Photos of me" in English (US).
- You can review photos you've shared or have been tagged in. Watch this video to learn how to report or remove photo tags of you. Photos that are untagged but not deleted can still be discovered by others on Facebook.
- Try searching for "Restaurants my friends have been to" in English (US).
- To review or remove location tags of you at any time, go to the Posts You're Tagged In section of your Activity Log.
- You can learn more about Graph Search and privacy here: www.facebook.com/about/graphsearch/privacy
Other questions and links to answers from Facebook's Help Center:
- Who can see my photos and photos I'm tagged in?
- Who can see what I've liked on Facebook?
- Who can search for me?
- How do I see what others can search about me?
- How does Graph Search work for minors?
If you haven't reviewed your privacy settings lately, you can visit Facebook's Privacy Settings or Privacy Help Center. You can also check out "The Always Up-to-Date Guide to Managing Your Facebook Privacy" (via Lifehacker) and "The Privacy Guide to Facebook's New Graph Search" (via The Atlantic). GLAAD encourages all LGBT Facebook users to learn about their privacy settings and make informed decisions about what to share.
GLAAD has worked with Facebook over the years on a variety of LGBT inclusion efforts. GLAAD worked with Facebook to remove hateful comments and images posted to a Spirit Day event page in 2010. GLAAD and other groups worked with Facebook to add 'In a Civil Union' and 'In a Domestic Partnership' options to user profiles in 2011. In 2012, Facebook became the first social media company to be receive a GLAAD Media Award. Also in 2012 Facebook added same-sex icons for married couples.