David Bridges
Facebook has just re-released chronological timelines, meaning users can see their friends and family’s most recent posts instead those that Facebook deems “most relevant.” With other features such as birthday reminders, location tracking, and personalized advertising, the social network is becoming smarter every year.
However, there may be some users who are uneasy with how much Facebook knows and sees about them. Users may not like the constant advertising or annoying notifications and with the settings located deep within a menu within another menu they can be tricky to find.
10 Two-Factor Authentication
As years go on, people are becoming more aware of the importance of protecting passwords and securing their accounts. Especially since information such as where users work, live and date of birth can be visible for everyone to see. Luckily two-factor authentication can help give users an extra layer of protection.
To activate TFA, go to Settings > Security > Log In. Usually, TFA will involve downloading another app or getting a code sent by text to a user’s phone, but it’s likely worth it to give important details an extra layer of armor against potential hackers.
9 Disable Location History
Users might be expected to wonder how Facebook is able to serve them ads based on the places they have visited on holiday or bars that they have frequently visited with friends. This is due to Facebook’s location tracking.
GPS is one of the iPhone’s biggest improvements over the years, however, for Facebook users, people are becoming increasingly uneasy about how often their iPhone seems to know where they are or even where they were at a specific date and time. To disable Facebook’s tracking, go into Settings & Privacy > Privacy > Location > Location Access and users can turn this off.
8 Stop Videos From Auto-Playing
Some users find themselves scrolling through Facebook while listening to apps like Spotify or perhaps sitting with their family and all of a sudden the phone, at full volume, automatically plays a video. This is due to the ‘Auto-Play’ setting on Facebook which can be disabled easily, meaning videos only play when users want them to.
Simply, go to Settings > Videos and turn the ‘Auto play Videos’ setting to off. By turning off this setting, users have complete control over what videos play and disrupt any Spotify listening.
7 See How Long You Spend On Facebook
All forms of social media can be addictive and users looking at their watch to discover they’ve been scrolling through Facebook for 4 hours can be unsettling. Well now, anyone can see exactly how long they have spent on the app and set some limits if they feel it’s impacting their life.
Simply go to Settings & Privacy > Your Time On Facebook and there will be a time dictating just how long users have spent scrolling. Users can even then set quiet times and reminders to log off after certain durations.
6 Edit What Ads You See
People don’t like being advertised to. While users might click on a product or a great video game advert they see every so often, the fact is that users having to scroll through loads of ads to get to the posts of the people they actually choose to follow can be irritating.
Luckily, ads can be controlled a bit more, go to Settings > Ad Settings > Ads. Users will be able to see a list of advertisers that they are currently seeing ads for, which can be hidden one by one to enhance the Facebook scrolling experience.
5 Download All Of Your Facebook Data
While a user’s profile is a list of all posts, activity, likes, comments, and more, sometimes it can be a pain to scroll back through everything to cringe at what user’s younger selves posted, referring to the best and newest Facebook memes at the time, posting embarrassing comments or uploading embarrassing photos.
Users can download all their Facebook data to double-check what they have previously shared. Click on Settings > Your Facebook Information > Download All Your Information and users can download a file that will tell them whatever they have selected to download.
4 See Restrictions On Your Account
If users are worried that they might have overstepped the mark or had a notification from Facebook that some of their access or functions have been revoked, they can now see any actions that Facebook has placed on their account as a safeguard to make sure they aren’t restricted.
Users can click on the three dots and then Account Status to see any actions placed against their account as well as the necessary steps, if applicable, to undo them.
3 Save posts
If users like saving great cooking recipes, hilarious memes or educational videos to show their friends or family, they don’t have to remember the name of the page that posted the original content anymore.
Simply by pressing the three dots in the top right corner of the post and then clicking Save Link, can enable them to return to them later. Users can then navigate to their Saved Posts and relive the magic or follow the recipe at dinner time.
2 Set a Post-Mortem Individual To Access Your Account
While not a nice time to think about, Facebook has a feature that lets users decide who can access their account when they pass away. This person can post on the original user’s profile, update images, download their data, and view their messages.
On desktop, this can be found in Settings > General > Memorialization Settings > Edit. On mobile, this can be found in Settings > Personal Information > Manage Account. If a family member had died and has not turned on this setting, their friends and family can fill out a form that will send a report to Facebook that they wish to take control of their account. The information will be verified by their team and then access will be granted.
1 Notification Settings
If users looked at the number of friends they had on Facebook, then the number that they actually speak to, and then the number that they would wish Happy Birthday to, it would probably be a very small list once narrowed down.
Now Facebook has put all of its notification settings into one place to help users manage what makes a phone buzz and what doesn’t. Users can click Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications and there will be a list of options to deselect that will make users’ lives a lot easier and their phones a lot quieter.
Maya Kensington
Tessa Everly
