If you’ve got a Facebook account you use to stay in touch with your friends and family, good for you. If you’ve got a Facebook account you use to market your ADR business, good for you again (assuming that’s where your market hangs out). But if you use the same Facebook account for both, maybe not so good for you.

Facebook blunders that can hurt your career or business aren’t just the purview of teenagers. When your best high school buddy from 25 years ago posts an, um, let’s say inelegant photo of you from your wilder days, well, prospective clients you’ve befriended will see it too. Unless, of course, you’ve tweaked your privacy settings properly.

In 5 Easy Steps to Stay Safe (and Private!) on Facebook, the New York Times says,

Unbeknownst to most mainstream Facebook users, the social network actually offers a slew of privacy controls and security features which can help you batten down the hatches, so to speak. If used properly, you’ll never have to worry about whether you should friend the boss and your mom. You can friend anyone you want while comfortable in the knowledge that not everyone gets to see everything you post.

The problem in implementing these privacy options is that they’re just too confusing for most non-tech savvy people to handle. And often, folks don’t want to bother to take the time to learn. To simplify the process, we’re offering five easy steps you can take today to help make your Facebook experience safer, more secure, and more private.

Read the full article at 5 Easy Steps to Stay Safe (and Private!) on Facebook, then go implement those steps.

Making Mediation Your Day Job by Tammy Lenski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at MakingMediationYourDayJob.Lenski.com.