According to this article, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently said that “privacy was no longer a ‘social norm”’.   This convenient point of view comes less than a month after Facebook changed the way it organizes user information.  Under the old system, people had the option of being  placed into regional networks like “North Jersey”, while the new system removes this distinction so that your information can be visible to any Facebook user and not just those in your network.   

As well, the new “Everyone” setting doesn’t just limit your page to Facebook users – it allows access to everyone on the Internet, including Google , Yahoo! and any other search engine spiders.  In other words, if you use the Facebook default settings – which many new users do – you will end up posting to anyone with online access and you may now also end up on a search engine results page.  LinkedIn has been doing this for years now.  This increase in exposure is obviously the goal behind the recent Facebook changes.  In other words, Facebook will be able to grow it’s user base beyond its already staggering 350 million users.

There is obviously a simple solution:  Limit your visability to those who are friends and curtail what you post on your page that is made visible to non-friends.  Go to this site for detailed information on how to set your Facebook privacy settings.  Privacy is not dead – unless you choose to let it die.