Any Facebook savvy people on here?

Firstly, let me say, I don't have a Facebook account, I don't want a Facebook account. I have attempted to erase all knowledge of Facebook's existence from my memory through invasive surgery. I'm a one man crusader attempting, with increasing futility, to protect what's left of my privacy and the mere mention of Facebook causes my tinfoil hat to vibrate and glow alarmingly!

OK, a little exaggeration there (except for the hat, which I find quite fetching).

Anyhow, I received this e-mail (see pic) from a friend who has just set up a Facebook account. Fair enough, he's a good, long-time pal of mine who travels a lot and for him maybe a Facebook account is a good idea.

My problem with this e-mail and the source of my irritation is the listing of "Other people you may know on Facebook". This really got the old hat twirling!

1. There are six names there, all of whom I know. How on earth does Facebook know that I know these people?
2. My friend will know only two of these people and these two will probably know each other as well as my friend. The rest have, with absolute certainty, no connection to or knowledge of the existence of any of the others in what I, perhaps naively, still refer to as the real world.

Is it merely that these twerps have got my e-mail address listed somewhere on Facebook? Is it really that simple?

On the other hand, I don't know whether to be happy or sad that my suspicious and paranoid nature (or as I like to call it gregarious and friendly) has only garnered me six friends. Just call me Billy No-Mates!

It happens from a few things.

If people hav searched for you before, to add you, FB remembers so it can link you up when you do join.

It also bases knowledge on who you are connected to, and likely friends, and things like school, workplaces etc. if it has that information.

Thanks for an extremely entertaining and beautifully written piece, Bob. I have similar experiences to your good self. Unwittingly, I joined FB in order to be able to log in to a comment facility on The Telegraph newspaper in the UK. Your tale of woe is identical to mine.
Saludos a Billy,
Bob.

All of these so-called social network sites use something similar. And some, and this may be the clue, ask you to give them access to your e-mail address book so they can be helpful and search for more people you might know.

My wife was on Facebook for a week and said, this really sucks, and removed her account.

Privacy? What the heck is that?

Splendid rant though.

hi,
Yes I was on facebook...and started getting all these invites from various game thingy's facebookers play...got annoyinng.. so I cancelled...or thought I cancelled..but apparently facebook keeps..you account stuff...(for how long I don't know)...so if you view something posted..your account is activated again with all the **** you don't want...I even have gone in and set my privacy to block out everything except friends and ralatives..
JiMM

As I found out there's "Delete Account" and there's "Completely delete your account" or words to that effect. So have a look for that. Still, I got one of those "people you know" mails and I agree with Gary, it's people allowing Facebook access to their contacts list in Gmail, Yahoo, or whatever.

Ah ha! I am not alone (note to self: buy new locks for the doors).

Paranoid ravings aside, this is really irritating. My friend and I have known each other for over twenty years. I was his best man, for pity's sake and I don't want to ignore him on this. But, I'm not going to join Zuckerberg's disciples. I'm quite happy being a good, old fashioned, Internet user and have no desire to become product, for that is surely what Facebook members are.

Don't get me wrong, I can (just about) see the appeal to the odd 400 million people here and there. My daughter wanted me to get a Facebook account so we could keep in touch. She lives five minutes away and I see her two or three times a week. I wasn't aware that lunacy ran in my family.

She also mentioned that she wanted more interesting Facebook friends, so I advised her to post a cellphone pic of her boobs which would undoubtedly attract plenty of interesting friends, many with amusing outstanding arrest warrants.

Anyway, back to the subject. Can't my pal just send me a link to his photos or whatever, do I really have to join just to see his stuff?

My online privacy is likely a figment of my imagination, but I see no reason to accelerate it's demise.

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Originally Posted by stratocast

Ah ha! I am not alone (note to self: buy new locks for the doors).

Paranoid ravings aside, this is really irritating.

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Hi Stratocast,

If you shared a house with ten students in university they would probably talk about you from time to time.

"Remember Bob? We shared a place back in the day. Do you know his friend Mary?”

Everyone talks about who they know. :cool:

Hi Bob,

I agree with you about Facebook.

Since places like that and others make money by selling the member's information, they should be required to pay the members 90% of any money they make. ;)

Think I'll suggest that to my congress persons and representatives. :D

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Originally Posted by James Allen

Hi Stratocast,

If you shared a house with ten students in university they would probably talk about you from time to time.

"Remember Bob? We shared a place back in the day. Do you know his friend Mary?”

Everyone talks about who they know. :cool:

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You make a good point and I agree with you. However, chats between room mates at Uni, something that I have not had the privilege to experience, are local and confined to the group, but once disseminated on the Internets it's a different thing, at least to me.

You undoubtedly have a more laissez faire attitude and I genuinely applaud this. It's still a shock to me when I find that Carlos Fandango from Chile has some knowledge, no matter how tenuous, of my existence. You would probably take this in your stride and not give it a second thought.

Disclaimer:
As you have probably guessed, I am not a young person and therefore I am not to be trusted. I feel I have earned my right to be insufferably grumpy and to profess total ignorance when it suits me. I'm also selectively deaf and an inveterate liar.

All or none of the above may be true.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Soquili

Think I'll suggest that to my congress persons and representatives. :D

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As a fascinated follower of US politics, good luck with that. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Soquili

Since places like that and others make money by selling the member's information, they should be required to pay the members 90% of any money they make.

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Wow ;))

Celebs will be happy - imagine how much the newspapers will have to pay them. :D :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stratocast

You make a good point and I agree with you. However, chats between room mates at Uni, something that I have not had the privilege to experience, are local and confined to the group, but once disseminated on the Internets it's a different thing, at least to me.

You undoubtedly have a more laissez faire attitude and I genuinely applaud this. It's still a shock to me when I find that Carlos Fandango from Chile has some knowledge, no matter how tenuous, of my existence. You would probably take this in your stride and not give it a second thought.

Disclaimer:
As you have probably guessed, I am not a young person and therefore I am not to be trusted. I feel I have earned my right to be insufferably grumpy and to profess total ignorance when it suits me. I'm also selectively deaf and an inveterate liar.
All or none of the above may be true.

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=D>

Good points there stratocast, and I support anyone protecting their privacy. Legally though, I think gossipmongers reign supreme. :D

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Originally Posted by James Allen

=D>...I think gossipmongers reign supreme. :D

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Sadly, you are correct.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stratocast

I'm quite happy being a good, old fashioned, Internet user and have no desire to become product, for that is surely what Facebook members are.

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Yep that is why I have this signature, 'be aware not to become a ware.' ;)
So face book is actually the human ware-house.
And I hate those competitions now, from al sorts of campanies, that are almost forcing you to join
facebook or you can`t enter the competition. So I don`t. No free stuff for me, well, I never won anyway ;)

To present the other side of the argument, Facebook is not unlike TalkGraphics. It is a virtual community. I know a lot of people who spend a lot of time on Facebook. I spend about 5 minutes a week when I am really involved. For the most part I stay away.

But when I occasionally stray into some of the other TG forums, I am always amazed to see many of the same people as those who hang out in the forums I am directly involved with. It is a community and a method of connecting with other persons.

Personally, I would rather spend my time being creative.

As the old and long forgotten rock and roll song used to say, Different Strokes for Different Folks.

Bob, I know it's a really frustrating subject ... there is no such thing as privacy anymore. However, I've got to say how enjoyable it is to read your rants. Thanks for the laughs.

Mickie

I kinda wish that we had like buttons here... that would save some reply's, as well show the obvious... people like what has been posted :)

You know you don't actually lose that much privacy, except if you have very liberal settings.... It also all depends on what you upload to a social network site....I dont really see it as a threat or problem.

You can knock it but you cannot deny that an obscene amount of people are on facebook, and around 15% of our business sales come from people having viewed our facebook page. Think about it, you can have 500 friends on facebook, and each of them has 500 friends on facebook, even with some mutual friends that is a lot of references, and they are good references because you are usually dealing with a friend or friend of a friend.

Like a little village situation.

Kash

Just another thought, we sometimes worry about our privacy, but most supermarkets hold more information on us then the government does, the government does'nt know that I like to watch star trek whilst drinking a gin and tonic with my copy of dummies guide to klingon (I really don't by the way) If you want privacy move to the amazon rain forest (actually even then - national geographic)

A friend of mine sent me this facebook email to view her photos so, like the gentle and sympathetic person I aspire to be, I said "give me your login details because I don't do facebook". So she did. And I saw the photos of her and her family which were very nice and then I disconnected and retreated comfortably into my facebookless life.

Remember kids - don't do this at home! :rolleyes: