Facebook

[veremchuka]

Wastebook IMO.

Unfortunately several years ago I set up an account and used my real name, nothing is out there about me but the fact my real name is bothers me. Is it possible to change my real name to say John Smith?

If yes how. FB confuses me to the point of anger. I have gone through all different things relative to my account on and off over the years and I seldom feel like I know what I am doing or what I am changing or looking at. Just did it again.

I'm going to make supper so I'll check back later.

TIA.

 

[Dimsumkid]

There's an option under Account Settings, General Account Settings. It says I can change my name 4 more times. Icon looks like a motor cog in the upper right hand corner of the page.

 

[braumeister]

Despite their claim that fictitious names are not allowed, there are so many accounts that Facebook is unable to really police this policy very well.

I have a friend who set up his account years ago using a fictitious name and it is still active.He used one that a human would catch instantly but a machine would not, so that's probably the key.

 

[veremchuka]

There's an option under Account Settings, General Account Settings. It says I can change my name 4 more times. Icon looks like a motor cog in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Thanks, I was there earlier but FB gets me so frustrated I didn't realize I could change my name at that point. Done and done! For some reason the entire layout and functionality of FB I find hard to grasp. I seldom ever use it, once a year would be a lot.

Thanks!

 

[easysurfer]

I consider FB a necessary evil. Well, maybe not necessary, but got prodded to join to keep in the loop with family and friend information.

I've been honest as far as what I post but am tempted to put stuff like "I hate football" then "I love football" for example, to through the data collectors off track

 

[HFWR]

The good is reconnecting with lots of old friends. That's also the bad...

I keep my account settings for friends only, but I don't post anything particularly controversial or personal.

 

[H2ODude]

Still never been on it. Seeing businesses post "Like us on FB" makes me ill. I do realize there are certain things I cannot access without it, but my circle of friends and family is small enough I can still resist. Neither DD or DS, in their mid thirties, use it either.

 

[Keim]

41 here. I use it and enjoy it.

Privacy is a pain to set-up. Intentionally so, I am sure as they want to sell info to advertisers. I don't post anything of great importance. Have enjoyed catching up with old friends.

 

[Al in Ohio]

What is the point of having a Facebook account if you aren't using your real name? It's social media and all about your friends connecting with you. No one wants to connect with fake people, hence the rules do not allow it. Anyone with a fake account is almost always up to no good.

 

[donheff]

I can't imagine why you would want a FB account if you don't want to use your real name. FB is all about communicating with people you know in real life, not posting anonymous rants. If you want to hide why not just cancel your FB account?

 

[W2R]

I have a facebook page with my real name. Otherwise I gave it no more information than was absolutely required, other than my photo. I have the tightest possible security settings and only use it to communicate with my daughter, period. Nobody else is welcome. My three Facebook "friends" are my daughter, her husband, and my oldest brother (who has not been on facebook for years, due to a series of disabling strokes, but I like seeing his old photo).

Somehow, I don't think my usage of Facebook is what Facebook intended.

 

[ChiliPepr]

I am one of those "bad people"... I have two accounts, one that I use to connect with friends and one that is fictitious.

I use the fictitious one to log into all those news sites that use a facebook login for access.

I do like facebook as a way to stay in contact with my friends that live in different parts of the country and I probably would lose complete touch with if not for facebook. But, I am an extrovert.

 

[ohyes]

I just opened a new FB account a couple months back. Deleted my old account a year ago because the privacy thing was a bother. Seems like every other day some newspaper article was addressing how info gathered by FB is used. Then, some dear friends suddenly moved and I am as lazy as most when it comes to picking up the phone and calling....or even emailing. So, i opened a new FB account basically to keep up with them, but it is nice to be back in touch with some old friends and in-laws.

I do the block feed for everybody who posts lots of grand baby photos and for the political [-]pundits[/-] pains.

Some folks use fake accounts to LIKE products to get free samples. A FB friend from college always had "Bev ****** likes Metamucil" up in the right hand corner of her page. Cracked me up...and made me be more careful.

 

[GrayHare]

Fadbook's horrible UI has kept me away, which is probably as they intended.

 

[veremchuka]

What is the point of having a Facebook account if you aren't using your real name? It's social media and all about your friends connecting with you. No one wants to connect with fake people, hence the rules do not allow it. Anyone with a fake account is almost always up to no good.

I can't imagine why you would want a FB account if you don't want to use your real name. FB is all about communicating with people you know in real life, not posting anonymous rants. If you want to hide why not just cancel your FB account?

So maybe I don't want people connecting with me ergo I don't want my real name being used! It's bad enough you can find me (address, phone #, see my yard, get directions to my house ) by Googling my name. If I want to talk to you then you have my phone number and email otherwise I don't want to be bothered by you. Seems pretty obvious to me and no I don't have any nefarious intentions, I have better things to waste my time on than BSing/spoofing/ranting FB and FB people! I did try to delete my account a couple of years ago but as usual I couldn't figure out how, I just hate the GD thing. I decided to keep it, back then, because in 2 rare occasions I actually needed it to reach 2 people but that was then I have almost no reason to do so again.

Some people are private and we don't want attention or associations, people wear me out. ISTJ 89 12 100 56, I think that sums it up succinctly!

 

[REWahoo]

It's bad enough you can find me (address, phone #, see my yard, get directions to my house ) by Googling my name.

That makes 'giving up privacy' by using your real name on Facebook moot, no?

 

[MichaelB]

I did try to delete my account a couple of years ago but as usual I couldn't figure out how, I just hate the GD thing. I decided to keep it, back then, because in 2 rare occasions I actually needed it to reach 2 people but that was then I have almost no reason to do so again.

You might have better luck the second time. https://www.facebook.com/help/www/224562897555674

If you don't think you'll use Facebook again, you can request to have your account permanently deleted. Please keep in mind that you won't be able to reactivate your account or retrieve anything you've added. Before you do this, you may want to download a copy of your info from Facebook. Then, if you'd like your account permanently deleted with no option for recovery, log into your account and fill out this form.

 

[Walt34]

DW has an account there solely to keep in touch with friends/family that she knows since often that's the only channel of information she has to stay in touch. She very rarely posts anything and then not much.

My position is that they can't be bothered to call or e-mail, perhaps we don't need to stay in touch.

 

[veremchuka]

That makes 'giving up privacy' by using your real name on Facebook moot, no?

No IMO it's just 1 less place my name is out there. I kept the account and just changed my name so if I had to use it I can but it would be a rare.

 

[audreyh1]

What is the point of having a Facebook account if you aren't using your real name? It's social media and all about your friends connecting with you. No one wants to connect with fake people, hence the rules do not allow it. Anyone with a fake account is almost always up to no good.

Plenty of point. We use a Facebook pseudonym. We aren't there to find friends and family. We use it to interact with other nature enthusiasts and the nature parks in our area. People who already know us figure out who we are fairly quickly on Facebook. We don't share any personal or family photos and information on Facebook, just nature photos and announcements. It works great.

We have no interest in connecting with people from the past.

 

[jollystomper]

I have Facebook because, in addition to our kids, we have a large number of nieces and nephews age mid teens to mid-thirties who do not communicate any other way... they are good kids but that has become "normal" communication for them.

I post maybe once every couple of weeks so that they know I'm alive and always something generic. Beyond family only folks whom I know in real life at a personal level do I become friends with on Facebook. I just get amused seeing folks with hundreds or thousands of "Friends".

 

[Moscyn]

FB is basically a social media. I am comfortable with the privacy settings I have and avoid posting anything too personal or controversial. I don't have my personal info like date of birth as info even to my friends. It's a great tool to keep in touch as long as you exercise caution and common courtesy and respect in your postings and comments. If I find any of my friends do not post at all, then I limit their access to view my postings. I know some people just maintain their FB account to read others' postings and don't post at all. That defeats the purpose of having a FB account. I have a relative who moved to China and does not have easy access to FB. We keep in touch via What's App though FB is certainly a better tool.

 

[audreyh1]

I have no problem with people who have a FB account just to read other's postings. I'll probably set up an account for my Dad for precisely that. He doesn't want to be friended or post at all, but he'll enjoy following our page and those of his other children. Seems like a good enough purpose to me.

 

[aim-high]

If people think anything they post online anywhere (here or on Facebook) is private and cannot be tied back to them or connected with other information they have posted elsewhere they are kidding themselves.

 

[Sarah in SC]

If people think anything they post online anywhere (here or on Facebook) is private and cannot be tied back to them or connected with other information they have posted elsewhere they are kidding themselves.

Damn, that means everyone is going to know how much I liked those Cranberry muffins I wrote about on Facebook this morning!