I don’t know about you, but in my corner of the web there has been a growing plague of unwanted Facebook tagging. Usually, it happens like this: Someone’s Facebook friend’s account is phished (their password is stolen) and a third-party tags the hacked account’s friends in a picture or video that is either pornographic or trying to sale some worthless product. The result is, the innocent friend who got tagged in the unwanted media unknowingly shares the unwanted tag on their wall for all of their friends (or more) to see.
This is due to a default Facebook setting that lets “Friends of Friends” (basically everyone you’re friends with and their friends) see pictures and videos of you when someone tags you in them. It automatically shares the tag on your wall (public feed) as if you knowingly endorsed it.
A quick aside: it is wrong to suggest or think that just because you’ve been a tagged in an awful picture or video your account has been hacked. It is possible your account has been hacked if you’re unknowingly tagging other users in photos or videos–but if you’re the victim here, simply changing your password and scanning for viruses won’t do the trick. Your account will be susceptible to this annoying ‘attack’ unless you make changes to a well-hidden setting.
Now I am going to show you how to put an end to this annoying default and hopefully save you from future embarrassment.
We’ll begin from the Facebook home screen. Log into Facebook and follow the instructions below to secure this feature on your account.
1.) From your user menu at the top right, Click the ‘Account’ drop down, then click ‘Privacy Settings’.
2.) On the Privacy settings page, scroll down to the ‘Things others share’ section and click the ‘Edit Settings’ button.
3.) When the edit box appears, click the drop-down box and choose ‘Customize’.
4.) In the ‘Custom Privacy’ box, click the drop-down box again, and this time click the ‘Only Me’ option. Then click the ‘Save Setting’ button.
These four easy steps are all you have to do to turn off automatic tagged media sharing. It is important to note that this won’t prevent other users from tagging you, rather it merely prevents the items they tag from showing up on your public feed (wall).
As always, if you believe your system has been compromised and would like to request service, visit my on-demand services page for pricing information or to request an appointment.