Finding and adding neighbors is one of the fastest ways to level up in Farmville. You need 50 friends to obtain the Local Celebrity blue ribbon which gives you 10,000 coin and 100xp. However, having plenty of Farmville neighbors has many other advantages as well. The more neighbors you have the more gifts you can receive, the more you will benefit by getting a bonus when they receive awards, and the more opportunities you will have to help your neighbors toward the Good Samartian ribbons. Plus, having friends in the game is just fun!
Unfortunately, adding people you don't know in Facebook also exposes your personal information, your profile, and your status updates. It wouldn't be very difficult for someone to pretend to play the game, get added as your friend, and steal all of your personal information and invade your privacy.
You should strongly consider following my 10 easy steps for protecting your Facebook profile before you add a single person you don't know:
1. From your Facebook main page, click on the "Account" button in the upper right-hand side of the page and select "Edit Friends" in the dropdown box.
2. Select the "+Create" link on the bottom left-hand side of the page below Lists. If you don't see the "+Create" link, click on the "All Connections" link on the upper left-hand side and you will see a link for "Create New List" in the upper-middle area. If neither of these work for you, go here for more directions on how to create a list.
3. You should see a new window. Title your new list, "Farmville friends", "Farmville neighbors" or whatever you want to call it. Select "Create List".
4. After you have created your new list, click on the "Account" button again in the upper right-hand side of the page and select the dropdown for "Privacy Settings".
5. Now you should see the Privacy Settings page. Select "Profile Information".
6. Select the dropdown box for each option and select "Custom".
7. Once you have selected "Custom" you should see a new window. At the bottom it should read, "Hide this from". In the box in this window type the name of the list you created in Step 3 and select the list.
8. Repeat this process for every option on the page EXCEPT "Posts by Me" or your Farmville neighbors will not be able to see your updates when you share your awards, ribbons, lost animals, etc.
9. Once you have customized every option on the Profile Information page, click "Back to Privacy" on the upper left-hand side to return to the Privacy Settings page.
10. Now select the link for "Contact Information" and repeat steps 6-8 for every option on the Contact Information page.
Congratulations, you are finished! Very Important: Whenever you add a new friend for Farmville before you confirm them, select the "Add To List..." dropdown and select the name of your list (chosen in Step 3). You must put them on this list for this to work!
If you want to test and make sure it works, click on the "Preview My Profile..." link on the upper right-hand side of the Privacy Settings>Profile Information or Contact Information pages.
UPDATED 2/10/2010 TO REFLECT THE LATEST CHANGES TO THE FACEBOOK LAYOUT.
Friday, December 10, 2010
