14 DAY TRIAL // Facebook is now rolling out the revamped privacy controls and options it's been telling us about for a few months. Last week, Facebook cofounder Mark Zuckerberg announced that the site was close to launching the new features in an open letter spread to all of its 350 million users. In short, the new options will allow users to customize the visibility of every status update or item they post and upload but the overall emphasis will be on more public content.
“Facebook is transforming the world’s ability to control its information online by empowering more than 350 million people to personalize the audience for each piece of content they share,” Elliot Schrage, VP of Communications, Public Policy and Marketing at Facebook, said.
“We’ve always designed Facebook to enable people to control what information they share with whom - it’s the reason our service continues to attract such a broad and diverse group of users from around the world. We’re proud of the latest evolution we’re announcing today and we will continue to innovate to serve users’ changing needs,” he added.
The biggest and most visible changes are the new privacy options now available to all users every time they update their status or upload a photo. The options allow users to select the visibility of the content by choosing among Everyone, Friends, Friends of Friends and Customized. The names pretty much speak for themselves and the three main options are simple to understand but also the most likely to be used. However, users can also customize the entry if they want a deeper level of control over who sees their posts and who doesn't.
Another interesting new tool is the possibility to create Friends lists, to group your friends together depending on what you want to share with them. This enables users to share photos with just their family but also to voice their opinion about the latest gadget to everyone. Finally, Facebook is retiring regional networks, which have become largely useless for a site with 350 million users.