Preview and Change Your Profile

Preview Your Profile to Check Settings: You can check out how your profile looks by choosing Preview My Profile which is located in View Settings, under Privacy Settings. As an added bonus, you can also type in friends names and get a preview as to what your profile looks like to them. It’s a nice way to make sure that everything is set and displayed the way you want it.

Update FB Status via Twitter: If you’re also a Twitter fan then you can integrate your FB pages by installing the Twitter application for FB. This will reproduce all Tweets as FB status updates when you add #fb to them.  (Note: like pretty much all applications, you’ll have to allow the Twitter app some access to portions of you account. It’s up to you whether you’re willing or not, but obviously it needs access to your status feed to operate).

Change Your Language: At the very bottom of your profile page, there will be a hyperlinked language (if you’re reading this, it likely says “English”). Clicking on the link gives you the option to change the language FB appears in – and there are a ton of choices including Pirate and Upside Down. (This is also accessible via the Languages tab in Account Settings).

Shape Your Status, or Hide It

Make Shapes Appear in Your Status: Cut and paste from this site (or just Google "Facebook Symbols") to add tiny scissors, or crowns, or various heart shapes as your status. They do show up pretty damn tiny though, so maybe skip the more intricate ones. Likewise, if you’re digging your upside down FB page, try upside down statuses by cutting and pasting from typeupsidedown.com

Hide Your Status Updates from Certain Friends: Your status updates don’t have to be universally shared – they can be tailored so that only certain friends can view them, or individually tailored so that only one person can see them. Which is a good way to keep your mom safe from hearing about last Friday night, and your boss from hearing about why you really missed work on Saturday morning, while still allowing your inner circle to hear the story about what really happened in that Chilli’s parking lot. While you can edit who is allowed to view every status by hitting Customize under Privacy Settings, the little padlock underneath the status box is a quick and easier shortcut to customize each and every status update. It gives you the option to customize who can see it, and list who it should be hidden from.

Apps to Alter Your Status

Get a Dislike Button: It seems odd that FB gives you the option to like something but not to dislike it…because really, there’s just so much to dislike on FB. If you’re just itching to dislike everything you come across, you can add the option using an app like Magic Updates or Magic Status. But be forewarned, like with pretty much every Facebook app, this one is going to want access to your basic info including name, profile photo, list of friends – AND installing it allows Magic Updates to post messages, notes, photos and video to your Wall.

Busy? Schedule Status Updates for a Later Time: Update your status at a later time using the Later Bro app to schedule when your updates post. You can set 140 character status updates for every fifteen minutes during a 24 hour period, as well as setting them daily, every other day and weekly. And yes, Later Bro pulls basic information from your profile.

Check Statuses from Around the World - a Lesson on Caution:  Need to see what folks are saying about Charlie Sheen, around the world? Scan through public Facebook statuses by keyword on Openbook ; you can filter results by gender of user but it’s also a cautionary tale about letting the world have access to your status updates – just try a search for something like “my new mobile number” or “drinking last night” or any other uncouth activity and see how many very public results you get.

Check Out Your Status Stats:  You can check your own status stats (how many, over how many days, statuses per day, favorite words) by adding the Status Statistics app. It’s interesting to see aggregate information about your posts, and you can always ditch the app after you’ve checked out your info. (Apps can be managed by going to Privacy Settings, then Edit Your Settings in Apps and Websites).

Basic Tips to Protect Your Privacy

Hide Your Personal Info by Editing Privacy Settings: Head over to your good ol’ Privacy Settings tab. At the bottom of the box displaying your current settings is a link to Customize Settings. Once you’ve clicked that you can customize who can view each bit of your information from your posts, your email address, phone number, address, photos, who can comment on your posts. These series of drop down menus on the right are your Privacy Command Center. Each item listed can be edited so that only the people you choose will see your religion or your birthday. Under customize you can even block particular people from viewing say, your relationship status or your family members.

Protect Against Spam and Use a Disposable Email Address: For an extra layer of protection against spam, or in case your email address is accidentally exposed, use a disposable email to set up your account (or change the email on your account to a disposable one). In Account Settings, update your email then choose Notifications and funnel your FB announcements to your disposable email address.  You can check your email for notifications and updates without even having to visit Facebook.