Facebook Question
 

Hello, I had a quick facebook question that I did not see previously addressed. I apologize if people have offered responses that I could not find.

I am considering changing my facebook name from First Last to First Middle, for a couple reasons, the largest being the internet creeps me out a little in how many people have access to your information that could be potentially dangerous (not implying this site, I mean the psychos). Do you think it would be MORE dangerous though to do First Middle because it certainly narrows you down more, no? My First Last is not extremely common and I don't think anyone else has it (but who knows) but do you all see what I'm concerned about in terms of the First Middle being more identifying? Just wondering everyone's thoughts. Thanks, I really appreciate it.

First Middle is only more identifying for those who already know your last name anyway.

I agree with AGDee - use your First Middle, especially if your First Last isn't very common. For me, if I search for my First Last there are thousands and thousands of results, so I guess I'm not too concerned.

I probably wouldn't give this advice to everyone, though. Some people might have very unusual middle names which could reveal more than a last name. For example, the kids who grew up in the house behind mine had their mother and grandmother's maiden names as their middle names. While they did sound good as middle names, they were also very different and would probably identify them faster than if they used their last name.

Use your best judgment.

I'll say that I use First/Middle.
Kind of more as a job search thing but also bc there is a girl from my hometown with the same full name as me, and we run in overlapping circles.
Awkward when your boyfriends/friends mix you up when clicking messages if both are listed as "First/Last" I'm not sure if it really helps with job search or whatever, but I do get less friend requests from strangers, mostly because they can't find me unless someone else is friends with me and they search through their friends.

^Agree. And if you want to know how common your name is, Google it. If your first and last name are an uncommon combination you can find out that way.

I personally set my privacy settings so that only "Friends of Friends" can send me a friend request, and so that my FB page doesn't come up in search engine searches. I also limit my friends to people I know personally (with a few exceptions). There is nothing on my FB page that I worry that other people would find out; I just like keeping my circle tight.

If you want to have more control over who finds your FB page, you can try those options to see if it gives you the control you are looking for.

Many of my teacher friends have changed their FB names so their students can't creep on them. One of them changed it to Favorite Perfume First (i.e. she's Chanel Susie). If you're worried about the first middle, try something like that. And as ree said, you can set your privacy settings so no one can find you. The only flaw in that is that people who might be slow to come out of the woodwork can't find you either.

My profile is private, but can still be found in searches. I have an extremely common name, though, so it's not a huge deal.

My mother went with Middle Maiden and it works, so that's another option.

I think if you're going to be on Facebook you're going to have to surrender a certain amount of privacy. A friend of mine gave his name something completely anonymous, but of course as soon as he friends you, that anonymity is gone. A year later he found it just dumb that he didn't use his real name because he wasn't successfully hiding from anyone.

I say have yourself easily findable, but make your page private to only friends or friends of friends. Then high school friends or whoever can find you, but they can't dig through all your pictures and stuff without your permission. And of course, there's no need to share your whole life with the world, even family and friends. Many facebookers suffer from TOO MUCH INFORMATION.

I just have everything on friends only.

I am unsearchable except for friends of friends and all profile content is friends only. Well, I've been told that I come up, but there's no option to friend me or even message me all that shows is a pic and a name (which had always been First FakeMiddle Last for entertainment purposes). Honestly, my first and real middle name are both uncommon so I don't have this dilemma. But I locked down my privacy settings when FB let high schoolers in. I was tired of being poked and messaged by 14yo boys.

that sounds really bad hahaha. I almost read it as "mAssaged by 14yo boys"

It irritates the hell out of me when my friends change their names to something fake. Sometimes I accidentally unfriend them because I can't figure out who they are. Just make your settings really private. Won't it suck if you want someone to friend you and you have to tell them "search for this fake name I go by." My big-big-big took her (extremely distinctive) last name off her profile and I seriously thought she'd deleted me, because when I was trying to check something on her profile I couldn't find her (rather than typing in her extremely common first name, I always find her by typing "Q" and fewer people pop up). I find the practice to be silly. As long as people can't see anything, who cares if they know you have a facebook profile?

I think people overestimate privacy settings on facebook. Sure, be smart about your privacy settings, don't make much (or anything) open to non-friends, but in all actuality nothing you put on the internet is private.

It's a better strategy to be smart about what you post than to try to be sneakily private. If someone wants to find it, they will.