Facebook Privacy Chain Letter is a Hoax

The following chain letter is circulating through Facebook:
WARNING!!! FACEBOOK HAS CHANGED THEIR PRIVACY SETTINGS ONCE MORE!!! DUE TO THE NEW “GRAPH APP” ANYONE ON FACEBOOK (INCLUDING OTHER COUNTRIES) CAN SEE YOUR PICTURES, LIKES, AND COMMENTS. The next 2 weeks I will be posting this, and please once you have done it please post DONE! Those of you who do not keep my information from going out to the public, I will have to DELETE YOU! I want to stay PRIVATELY connected with you. I post shots of my family that I don't want strangers to have access to!!! This happens when our friends click "like" or "comment"... automatically, their friends would see our posts too. Unfortunately, we cannot change this setting by ourselves because Facebook has configured it that way. PLEASE place your mouse over my name above (DO NOT CLICK), a window will appear, now move the mouse on “FRIENDS" (also without clicking), then down to "Settings", click here and a list will appear. REMOVE the CHECK on "LIFE EVENTS" and "COMMENTS & LIKES" and "PHOTOS". By doing this, my activity among my friends and family will no longer become public. Now, copy and paste this on your wall. Once I see this posted on your page, I will do the same. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

 Facebook users can adjust their privacy settings so that only friends can see pictures that are posted or only close friends. Posts can also be managed this way. 

If the content you share on Facebook is set to private (i.e. "Friends Only") then only the friends of that Facebook user can see it, regardless of if your friends comment or like it. These messages fail to acknowledge that simple fact and instead provide a completely worthless “solution” about unchecking Likes and Comments which prevents all of that friends likes and comments from reaching your newsfeed, which negates the social aspect of Facebook. Non-friends who try to view such a photo get an error message.

The site Botcrawl, which debunks hoaxes, states that there have been no recent changes on Facebook that would allow the public to see activities on any wall. The privacy and sharing controls of the person sharing the item determines the audience. If you follow the instructions in the message,  you will only be unsubscribing from your friend's comments and likes, meaning that you will no longer be able to see what they say on Facebook.

Every time you comment on a friends' post or post on their wall, total strangers can see your post, including people on different continents. Facebook has always been designed as a public forum. However, Facebook allows users to create groups that are private, accomplishing the objective of the chain letter -- only the members of the group can see your posts in that group. For instructions on creating a group, see this blog.