When it comes to posting personal photos, there are two types of Facebookers in the world.
The first type are the ones who upload every picture, embarrassing or otherwise, and regret it later when they are fired because they posted photos of themselves at a bachelor party in Vegas when they told their boss they were home sick with swine flu.
The second are those who know better, and keep everything personal off the Internet. They make lengthy justifications about this, but you can sense their sadness, like the neighborhood kid whose mom won’t let him play in the rain with everyone else because he might catch cold.
What you may not know is that it’s possible to have your cake and post pictures of yourself eating it, too. Below are two easy steps to creating an added level of privacy on your Facebook account. Once you’ve done them, you’ll be able to allow your real friends to view personal photos, while blocking other contacts from seeing them (work friends, high school ex-boyfriends, etc.).
First, a disclaimer: Don’t be an idiot. There are some things that just shouldn’t go on the Internet, period. You know what they are. (We don’t care how well you protect them, shots of you bathing in the sink at work should stay on your hard drive. Or preferably, be erased from it altogether.)
Ready? Here we go:
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Step 1: Create a “Preferred Friends” List
1. From your homepage, click “Friends” in the navigation.
2. On the left under “Lists,” click “+Create.”
3. Create a name for your list such as “Preferred Friends,” or “Personal Friends.”
4. Select a group of Facebook contacts you trust. You know, the ones you actually want seeing those photos of you doing a drunken handstand in the subway.
A word of warning: Add co-workers to this list very, very carefully. Just because you didn’t put your boss on the list doesn’t mean your office mate (who, incidentally, is best friends with your boss) won’t take a screen cap of you in a tutu and email it around. Consider this cautionary tale.
5. Click “Create list.”

Step 2: Set Your Permissions
1. From your homepage, click “Profile” in the navigation.
2. Click the “Photos” tab.
3. Click an existing album, click “Edit Photos,” then “Edit Info.”
4. Under “Privacy: Who Can See This?” you’ll want to select “Custom,” then “Edit Custom Settings.”
5. Click “Some Friends” and type in the name of the list you just created. (“Preferred Friends,” etc.) Click “Okay.”
You’re done! Repeat the 5 points above for every personal photo album you want to protect.

Questions You May Have at This Juncture
Q. Should I protect all my photo albums this way?
A. We recommend leaving a couple albums public — the one where you went on that business trip, the one of you and your wife playing with the puppy in the yard, etc. This way, when an old high school friend or a current colleague finds and requests you on Facebook, you can give them the thrill of accepting their friend request (and they’ll think they’re seeing your whole profile) – while still protecting the good stuff.
Q. This tells me how to protect existing albums. How do I protect a new album I create?
A. It’s easy: just customize the privacy settings on the first screen to allow only your “Personal Friends” list.
Q. Can I protect other information (not just photos) in this way too?
A. Yep. If you click “Settings,” then “Privacy,” you will have the ability to allow that preferred list of yours to only see certain elements of your profile. Perhaps you don’t mind all your friends seeing what your birthday is, but you’d rather only certain people know your phone number. It’s all possible now that you have a list of “safe” friends.
Q. How to I add and remove friends from my “preferred” list?
A. Simple: if you’ve just added a new friend you want to give access to, go to your “Recently Added” friends and, next to their name, click “Add to List” and select the preferred list. If someone ticks you off and you want to pull their access, you can do that too.
We hope this helps! Now have at it – go upload some fun photos and share them with your friends. (You know, as long as we’re on the list.)

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