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How to Safely Use Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are wonderful tools for staying connected. They allow you to see updates from your family, view photos of grandchildren, and reconnect with old high school or college friends. For many seniors, social media bridges the gap of physical distance.

An active senior smiling while checking Facebook updates on a tablet in a sunny kitchen
Staying connected with family and grandchildren safely on social media.

However, social media is also a goldmine for scammers, hackers, and marketing companies. If your privacy settings are set to "Public," anyone in the world can see your personal photos, know when you are away on vacation, or find out your hometown—information that can be used to guess security questions or target you with scams.

Staying safe on social media does not mean you have to delete your accounts. In this guide, we will show you how to easily adjust your privacy settings, block strangers, and share updates safely on Facebook.

Step 1: Set Your Profile Visibility to "Friends Only"

By default, Facebook often sets your posts to "Public," meaning anyone on the internet can see what you write or upload. You should change this so only people you have explicitly approved (your friends) can see your profile.

How to change your default audience:

  1. Open Facebook and tap the Menu icon (three lines or your profile picture in the corner).
  2. Scroll down and tap Settings & Privacy, then select Settings.
  3. Under the "Audience and visibility" section, tap Posts.
  4. Tap Who can see your future posts? and select Friends (not "Public").
  5. Tap Limit who can see past posts to hide your older public updates from strangers.

Step 2: Hide Your Personal Details (Phone, Email, Birthday)

Scammers search Facebook profiles for personal details to help them commit identity theft or target you with scams.

Protect Your Birth Year: It is nice to receive birthday wishes, but your exact birth year is a key piece of data used by banks to verify your identity. Set your birth year to "Only Me" (private) while leaving your birth day and month visible to friends.

How to hide personal details:

  1. Go to your profile page and tap Edit Profile (or About ➡️ Contact and basic info).
  2. Next to your phone number, email, and birth year, tap the Audience icon (looks like a globe or two people).
  3. Change the setting to Friends or Only Me (completely private).

Step 3: Beware of "Friend Requests" from Strangers

One of the most common scams involves duplicate profiles. A scammer will copy the name and photos of one of your existing friends and send you a new "Friend Request." Once you accept, they will message you asking for money or sharing malware links.

The Duplicate Profile Test: If you receive a friend request from someone you are already friends with on Facebook, do not accept it. Call or text your friend directly and ask: "Did you make a new Facebook account?" In 99% of cases, the request is from a scammer using a fake profile.

Step 4: Hide Your Friend List

Scammers look at your public friend list to identify who your children or grandchildren are, which helps them execute AI voice scams or fake emergency calls.

  1. Go to Settings ➡️ How people find and contact you.
  2. Find the line that says Who can see your friends list?.
  3. Change it to Friends or Only Me. This hides your social circle from strangers.

The Bottom Line

Social media is meant to be fun and connecting. By setting your account to "Friends Only," hiding sensitive details like your birth year and phone number, and being skeptical of duplicate friend requests, you can enjoy checking in on your family without worrying about hackers. Take 5 minutes to audit your settings today, and browse with confidence!

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