Recently, Facebook added several features. Some are interesting, but most are either annoying or hurt your privacy. These Facebook settings are entirely optional, but Facebook turns them on by default.
The point of course is that Facebook makes its money selling your data to advertisers. The more it knows and the more advertiser-friendly tools it has, the more it makes.
Considering Facebook is free to use, that seems like a fair trade-off to a point. Here are some Facebook settings and features you might not know you can change but probably should.
1. Autoplaying videos
Facebook now automatically plays them hoping to attract your attention. If you don’t like that, you can easily turn it off! Click the arrow on the far-right of the screen. Then click the “Settings” button. Click the “Videos” link in the left column. From there, click the drop-down next to “Auto-Play Videos” and set it to “Off.”
2. Clear searches
How much searching do you do looking up old flames, classmates, business associates and long lost relatives on Facebook? Whatever you’re searching, know Facebook saves all your searches. Anyone who gets access to your account can see them.
Fortunately, Facebook lets you clear your search history. First, in your profile click the down arrow in the upper right corner and then the “Settings” option to navigate to your settings page.
Click the “Privacy” tab on the left-hand menu. Then, under “Who can see my stuff?” click “Use Activity Log” to get to where Facebook hides all of the data that it’s been tracking since day one.
You may also want to look around your activity log in general for any other information you don’t want to be sitting around in your Facebook account forever.
3. Unwanted notifications
If you’re hearing more notification sounds than ever before, that’s because Facebook has added more things to notify you about. You can get rid of the notification sounds with this helpful tip.
If you don’t want to hear certain notifications anymore, then read on.
Get on over to the settings screen again by clicking the upside-down triangle in the upper-right corner of the screen and then the “Settings” button.
From there, click the “Notifications” tab on the left and you should see a list of every possible notification you could be receiving. Start by choosing how you get notified. Turning off sounds is a good start.
What are some of the newest Facebook settings driving you the most nuts? Tell us about them in the comments!