Edit: I've also found an almost identical post over at Wired which was posted yesterday
which is annoyingly much better than mine, with ace pictures. Ah well ;)
I had some lovely pictures in an older post here... http://brodiesnotes.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-block-facebook-applications.html
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I've no real idea what 'Places' actually is, but I've adopted a policy of blocking every new thing that Facebook comes up with until they learn a bit of respect ;)
I use Facebook as a 'friend management system', or 'FMS' for want of a better phrase, for the people I already know, not to acquire new friends (I'm not saying I've not used it for that purpose but it's not my primary consideration) and this means that I'm reluctant to have my comings and goings displayed too far beyond my chums on Facebook. Just to spite them really as it's all fairly public on Twitter and elsewhere.
If you want to block Places, try this.
1. Click 'Account' (top right hand side of screen) to bring up menu options, choose Privacy Settings.
2. On the settings page scroll to bottom and click 'Customise settings'
3. On the 'Places I check in to' it will probably be set to 'Friends only' - click the arrow next to it and choose 'Customise'.
4. On the 'Custom privacy' window that pops up, next to 'Friends only' click the arrow and choose 'Only me' (or whatever variant you prefer).
5. Click 'Save setting' - that's it, you're done, you don't need to click anything else as it's now saved.
6. While you're at it, do the same for your other settings too :)
Friday, 20 August 2010
11 comments:
Comment policy: I enthusiastically welcome corrections and I entertain polite disagreement ;) Because of the nature of this blog it attracts a LOT - 5 a day at the moment - of spam comments (I write about spam practices,misleading marketing and unevidenced quackery) and so I'm more likely to post a pasted version of your comment, removing any hyperlinks.
Comments written in ALL CAPS LOCK will be deleted and I won't publish any pro-homeopathy comments, that ship has sailed I'm afraid (it's nonsense).
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you still have to scroll further down in privacy settings and disable the option that allows friends to check you in.
ReplyDeleteI found mine to be already unticked but your comment reminds us all to check, so thanks :)
ReplyDeleteYou also need to the Applications and Websites section. There's an additional tick box there, which is probably unticked, but worth checking to make sure that your friends apps can't use any location data as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Phil - Applications and Websites is just below the 'Customise settings' bit on the settings page mentioned in item (2.) above.
ReplyDeleteThere are some hopefully helpful graphics in an earlier post of mine http://brodiesnotes.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-block-facebook-applications.html
if you want to block facebook, maybe you can use this facebook blocker named FB Blocker. you can find it here: http://www.fbblocker.com
ReplyDeleteHi Vanessa
ReplyDeleteI think FB Blocker is there to discourage one from spending time on Facebook rather than acting as a way of blocking the cheeky privacy-shredding opportunities Fb gives itself. Still, anything that clips its wings is fine with me.
Conceptually similar is the rather delightful Kitten Block which is a Firefox add-on that reroutes you if you seem to be in danger of visiting any pages on the Daily Mail website. It scoops you up from the horror and deposits you on a website which is all about tea and kittens ;)
I want to completely block people showing up as checked in on my wall. Not possible and it shits me. FB Places is the WORST app EVER!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how to help with that one Anonymous as few of my friends use Check In. Try hovering over an instance of one of these check in status messages and see if an X appears in the right hand side (or the word delete) - that might open up a set of options which allows you to disable notifications. However it might only let you block ALL updates from that friend, which might not be what you want at all of course.
ReplyDeleteIs it an actual 'app' though? If so, it should be possible to visit its page and block it outright, but I suspect it's something a bit different and that's why it causes problems.
I just want to block it all together :s
ReplyDeletei couldnt give a crap where ppl are, using 'places' and most ppl on my FB use it all the time, its so annoying
hi everyone, i have blocked specific people under the places you check in to, but those people that i want not to see where i check in, still can see me, why?, if i specifically blocked them, this feaure does not work or am i doing something wrong?, thanks...
ReplyDeleteThank you for this. I am getting so fed up of people sending me invites for applications that I have no interest in. I must get about 50 invites to play those farm and cafe games every day!
ReplyDelete