Facebook has released a new feature this past week – connections.

Facebook released this feature to enable its users to make more connections, without the hard work of having to search for them. Details of the new features and how they will work with your profile are available at the Facebook blog – if you are a Facebook user, you have to check it out.

The overwhelming response on the rest of the Internet, from what I have seen, seems to have been far less positive, with the eroding of privacy and losing control of your personal information being the biggest concerns. (maybe similar to the Google Buzz release – where its an opt out situation, rather than an opt in)

For those who are against this latest enhancement, a positive to come out of it has been the wealth of articles on how to customise your Facebook profile – particularly in regards to how much of your personal information you will allow to be shared.

If you want to protect your information more fully, (we can’t do it totally, we are after all talking about the Internet) then I recommend you check out these helpful posts:

• How to: clean up your Facebook Profile – Mashable

• Your Mum’s Guide to those Facebook changes and how to block them – GigaOm

• How to Opt Out of Facebook’s Instant Personalization – Electronic Frontiers Foundation

Like anything that can get cluttered in our lives, periodically we need to have a cleanout. Regardless of whether you want to fully engage with these new Facebook features, now is probably an opportune time to ‘spring-clean’ your profile and get it closer to what you would ideally like it to be.

Electronif