Facebook Making Changes to Simplify Privacy Settings

Facebook has announced an overhaul of privacy controls and sharing tools. Gone are the days of hidden privacy menus and Googling outdated Facebook privacy guides. Thanks to the threat of Google+, Mark Zuckerberg is finally backtracking from his “The age of privacy is over” schtick—at least for now. From The Washington Post:

A new drop-down menu will appear next to individual status updates and pieces of profile information (see above), enabling users to select the “audiences,” groups, and friend lists who can see those bits of their personal lives. The View Profile As tool will now reside at the top of your profile page rather than deep in the privacy settings, making it painless to preview what your mom will see before approving her friend request.

Other changes include the ability to approve or deny photo tags, and control over who sees your status updates. The changes should start appearing by tomorrow. More details are available on the Facebook Blog.