Does Facebook Offer Privacy?

[easysurfer]

I haven't been on the Facebook bandwagon, but several friends want me to join to stay "in the loop." I know there were some privacy issues with Facebook about it being too open. For those who belong, what do you think of it?

My main thing is if I put something on Facebook and allow a friend to see it, does automatically friends of friends see that too? Or can I easily say, "only the ones I say are first level friends" see it?

[RonBoyd]

I am unsure if you can get to the "Privacy" settings without Joining so here are my "Privacy" settings:

Facebook-1.JPG

Facebook-2.JPG

However, if you are really paranoid and/or have great secrets to hide, you should know that there is nothing ever "private" on the Internet... and if something gets out, it will be there forever.

On the other hand, unless you have a "public" life, nobody cares about you or what you have to say except your friends anyway.

[easysurfer]

Ron,

Thanks for the samples of your settings. That helps me get a feel of what to expect.

Easysurfer

[Carnage]

Yes, never make the assumption that anything is truly private and you'll be fine.

[easysurfer]

I try to view Facebook like "email on steroids" .

I remember reading that to treat email like a postcard. It's out there and viewable to anyone who has access to the postcard.

I think a reason I'm dragging my feet in joining is, having to be cautious on what I put there, to be tactful or else it can come back to bite you and that others can see where you have been, is too much like w*rk

[Katsmeow]

You can also restrict things further. For example you can create groups of particular people such as Office Friends or Family or Family I don't Like or whatever. Then you can restrict what those groups see. So, for example, you can have some people who can see your wall and some who can't. Or you can have some people who can see these photos and those other "friends" can't,

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow You can also restrict things further. For example you can create groups of particular people such as Office Friends or Family or Family I don't Like or whatever. Then you can restrict what those groups see. So, for example, you can have some people who can see your wall and some who can't. Or you can have some people who can see these photos and those other "friends" can't,

This helps too. Of course in the news is always about the Ooops factor, but it looks like the privacy settings can be very open or very restrictive and everything in between. Thanks for the info.

[mickeyd]

I have not opted to join the "social networking" set yet as there seems to be a security problem buried in those groups. This forum is as social as I care to get. Not sure what else facebook, twitter etc offers that I can not get here, with less mess.

[Katsmeow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd Not sure what else facebook, twitter etc offers that I can not get here, with less mess.

Well, it is totally different than this forum. This forum is a special interest forum with people that I most probably don't know in real life.

Facebook (at least for me) is people I know in real life. I have found that it does give me a way to keep in touch with family that live out of town that I don't have that much contact with. This allows me to stay in touch at a level that works well for me. I enjoy seeing what is going on in their lives. I also enjoy seeing things about some people that I used to know well but don't have contact any more mostly because we don't live in the same area.

Personally I don't post much on facebook. On the other hand, when my sons graduated from high school this year it was nice to post a few pics of the graduation and then everyone saw them in a very easy and natural way and without people thinking we were dunning them for presents.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow Personally I don't post much on facebook. On the other hand, when my sons graduated from high school this year it was nice to post a few pics of the graduation and then everyone saw them in a very easy and natural way and without people thinking we were dunning them for presents.

I, too, rarely post anything to Facebook although I do look in everyday. In two years, I have collected around a dozen names on my "Friends" list -- mostly family.

In any event, it is the photographs that make Facebook so valuable (to me).

Now, the point of my post: Have you ever wondered how you can capture those images? (Of course, you have.) Well...

ourbunny

photograbber - Project Hosting on Google Code

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mickeyd I have not opted to join the "social networking" set yet as there seems to be a security problem buried in those groups. This forum is as social as I care to get. Not sure what else facebook, twitter etc offers that I can not get here, with less mess.

I second that motion.
Everyone has their own level of personal security comfort zone. I tend toward the more conservative end of that spectrum. Data mining software tools are very powerful these days.
My rule of thumb is to post minimal information on public sites. That approach has not failed me yet.

[easysurfer]

This discussion has been very helpful for me. I'm thinking that if I do signup with Facebook, I'll start with just a tippy toe in the water and not much more.

I've been trying find an answer on how do emails work with Facebook, but haven't found one yet? For example, currently I have one email for my pal around buddies and one for my family. Facebooks asks for one email when I sign up, so I don't know if Facebooks only routes to one email, or can I assign one email for my pals, and another email just for family? Or do all Facebook emails go to only one email?

[Katsmeow]

Your facebook friends won't know what email you use for facebook (unless you tell them). If they send you a facebook message it is sent to you but they don't see what email it goes to.

Your facebook account has one email assigned to it. Some people actually have more than one facebook account. For example, they might have one account for real life friends and another for people they know online.

[easysurfer]

Okay...now I understand. Thx

[Bimmerbill]

I only add my real life friends and family and set all my settings to "friends only." We all share pics of our kids. job searching (bunch of buddies laid off) and stuff like that. It's good to use to keep in touch with friends who moved away, or usually because we are all so busy we don't get together like we used to.

[harley]

My main reason for being on FB is to give old friends an opportunity to contact me. I don't post anything anymore, and I've got my privacy pretty much locked down. I pretty much never sign on, since I don't care what most of them ate for dinner or found in some game barnyard. But if someone I am friends with sends me an message it comes to my personal email account and I see it, even if they don't know my email address. I have been contacted a couple of times about the death of old friends that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. I think if you use it properly it can be a decent tool, and if you don't spill your guts out there shouldn't be any real privacy issues.

[Sarah in SC]

Yeah, the privacy is pretty much whatever you want it to be.
I love being able to check out people's pictures, I like posting my own, but I don't do anything on FB that I wouldn't do on the street, you know?

[easysurfer]

Well, I took the plunge and joined Facebook. I'm still getting used to how it works but have a few friends on my friend lists.

So, for the sake of privacy, in Facebook, is there a way of separating what friends lists shows up for categorized friends?

I know you can disallow certain people, or only allow certain people, or everyone or friends only or friends of friends.

But lets say you separate your Facebook friend lists categorized as "Family", "W*rk", "Wild and Crazy", I might not want my "Family" or "W*rk" to see the list of "Wild and Crazy" friends. Otherwise it's could be like "Family" or "W*rk" seeing your "little black book" around. (I wonder if the new generation knows what a "little black book" is).

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Yeah, the privacy is pretty much whatever you want it to be. I love being able to check out people's pictures, I like posting my own, but I don't do anything on FB that I wouldn't do on the street, you know?

Like the old saying goes, just don't post something you wouldn't want your mother to see.

Or perhaps more to the point, current and potential future employers...

[easysurfer]

Well, I set up my Facebook page today. A few impressions..

1. The service reminds of the old AOL (personal profiles, able to IM, chat) but more streamlined.

2. There is a bit of voyuerism in Facebook as you can troll around peoples' profiles

3. I did see photos of some old classmates (grade school, high school) that I hadn't seen in ages. This made me feel O-L-D

So far so good..haven't got in trouble....Yet