How To Avoid Linking Your Facebook Profile To Pages And KEEP Your Profile Information
Apr 30 2010 
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I ran into a problem with Facebook left a nasty taste in mouth: Facebook forcing users to linking their profiles to pages. What’s the big deal? Facebook’s privacy concerns is the big deal. What’s at stake is reputation, trust, and private networks that people are building for themselves. Elements that others don’t want available to the public much less to brand pages. So how do you avoid it?
The Consequences of Not Linking
Facebook gives you a one-time pass on initially linking to Pages, but if you still wish to pass Facebook forcse you to do so in the future by threatening to remove the following information from your profile:
- Work and Education
- Current City
- Hometown
- Likes and Interests
It’s rather interesting that Facebook doesn’t block the interactions necessary for you to continue using the site. If this information is removed, you can still keep chatting and posting away. What’s taken away is the discovery mechanisms built into Facebook. It can become a lot harder for people to find you. On one hand, this might prove to be a boost in the usage of vanity URLS (custom links for your facebook profile). On the other, it’s a catch-22 for us.
Exit Facebook
When you see the following:
exit the page immediately (tip: CTRL+W will exit a tab in Firefox and Google Chrome)! In doing so, when you return to your profile all of your information will still be in tact. That’s not to say you won’t see this pop-up again in the future. Facebook may continue to explore new ways to force you to link to Pages, so keep an eye out for any changes.
I’d love to hear how do you really feel about the actions Facebook is taking:
- Have you thought about deleting your Facebook profile thanks to these new changes?
- How do you feel about the latest changes?
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That's not really a “keep” but an “avoid,” isn't it?
yea, they tried to get me like that too. it's come up twice so far. facebook is trying to be slick.
I don't like the new link feature. My info page is now rather bare on FB because I don't want all that auto linking anf got tired of the prompts from FB.
My experience with this workaround is mentioned briefly here http://uptownuncorked.com/2010/05/05/so-about-t.... I started writing a comment here, and it turned into a long, rambly blog post there instead. Oops!
arr i hate it i wish i hadnt clicked it is there any way i can change it back? :(
I wish I had seen this before my profile changed. I very much dislike the changes. the things that showed our real personality are gone now. I hope they change it back.
I hear you Pat. You should be able to refill that information after linking to a page.
Unfortunately, once it's done, it's done. :(
Make sure your privacy settings are also correctly set for others to find you. The settings can be found in the “Account” section of Facebook.
I hear you Nora. My FB profile is looking the same. Shame on Facebook.
I too wish I'd seen this before. I am annoyed by this, and am now considering leaving facebook. People like to personalise their facebook profiles; It's offensive to be pressurised into including links you haven't chosen to include.
You could do what I did, and add all the pages to a list, and then just block everyone on that list from seeing any information.