The upside of Facebook for me is the people from the past that it's put me in touch with, including a long-lost friend from high school, a college roommate, and a number of family members that I only get to see a handful of times a year if I'm lucky.

Facebook's Huge Maze of Privacy Options Mapped Out

The New York Times does the heavy lifting of actually plotting out Facebook's headache-inducing privacy options, helping some of us to navigate 50 settings with 170 options, and the rest of us to shake our heads in disbelief.

It's more than just a snarky scaling of how complex and overwrought Facebook's privacy options have become—though the full-size graphic does point out that the actual policy is longer than the U.S. Constitution at this point. The Times' chart does help you navigate from Facebook's front page down to privacy settings you might not expect to find in certain places. Take particular note of how your friends' ability to share your information is separate from your own personal privacy settings, and Facebook's ability to customize ads based on your information is actually in a whole separate sub-category of privacy settings.

Actual NYT piece: Facebook Privacy: A Bewildering Tangle of Options

Theresa, you have my sincerest commiserations.

But I do like that people from my past can find me

I'm discovering that I don't. If I decide I want to get in touch with someone from my past, I'd rather do it myself.

Ugh, Theresa, I'm sorry and I hope something way better comes your way very soon!

I feel like the Facebook privacy shit should bother me more than it does. And, I don't like how they've changed things up w/out communicating clearly. I think they are shifty and whatnot but I just can't get that worked up about it. Call me a sell out but they make it so freaking easy to fundraise!

Facebook has put photos of me in my Photo Album that it ganked from a friend's page. I don't want them there; they are hideous. But I can't figure out how to get rid of them.

Don't you just have to remove your tag from the photos? Or has that changed.

But they're not my photos; I can't remove the tag.

But they're not my photos; I can't remove the tag.

Yes, you can.

I LOVE this phrase.

Me too. I may try to find ways to interject it into conversation. Weasels in bastard sauce. Makes you feel better to say it.

Thanks to everyone. It's probably the kick in the ass that I needed to seek out new opportunities anyway.

If I decide I want to get in touch with someone from my past, I'd rather do it myself.

Some very random people have found me, people that I have no idea could even track me down. That curiosity still exists, although it's mostly academic, since I'm inactive.

they're not my photos; I can't remove the tag.

Yes, you can. Unless stuff has changed since I took my name off some party photos.

This is why I am so glad I was late adopter of Facebook, and just treated it as if everything I put on there would be public.