Facebook changes default to ‘friends only’ for new users

Social media juggernaut Facebook has changed its default sharing setting to “friends only” from “public,” saying more people who use the platform prefer to share things with a smaller group.

"We recognize that it is much worse for someone to accidentally share with everyone when they actually meant to share just with friends, compared with the reverse,” the company said in the announcement posted on its newsroom blog.

The default will only be set that way for new users

For existing users, the company said it will roll out a “privacy checkup” tool in the coming weeks that will guide users through their sharing settings, giving them an opportunity to reset their defaults, as well as refresh and edit the list of third-party apps connected to their accounts.

According to a February report from the Pew Research Center, Facebook is already used by 57 percent of American adults and 73 percent of American kids between 12 and 17 years old.