Feeling inquisitive? Facebook’s newest feature has users getting poll-happy with a quick way to survey users.
But what about privacy options? There's only one answer: None.
This week's Poked column talks about Facebook's newest feature, Questions. The link to create one can be found near the status bar. Facebook said it launched the tool as an easier way to gauge opinion by opening up polls to every user. All questions, answers and comments are available for anyone to see, regardless of personal privacy settings.
Obviously that’s a risk for those who care about their online image. If you're wary of sharing personal information, avoid posting questions revealing details that can be used against you by malicious users, such as the city you live in, the school you attend or your kids' names.
A few tips in how to best use Questions:
- After typing your question, click "Add Poll Options." This is where you type choices for others to answer.
- If you check the box marked "Allow anyone to add options," it does two things: Users will be able to vote on more than one option, and they can type in their own option to vote on.
- If you don’t check the box, users can only vote on one item in the list and cannot add a custom voting choice.
So if you’re looking for suggestions on good cheeses to buy, restaurants to visit, movies to rent or vacations to take, check the box. But be aware that someone could add a vulgar answer without you knowing it, unless you go back and check the poll each time someone votes.I go more into that in today's column: Facebook Questions pose problems for private users
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