Create a low profile Facebook account?

[exnavynuke]

I have a "spam" email account I use for signing up for things that require an email address that I don't care to get emails from (pretty much anything that might put me on a "list". Use something like that and sign up for facebook without putting any of your info public and without uploading pics. As long as you don't indicate the account is owned by a female, you'll rarely see anything from the facebook account.

Also, plenty of people have fake FB accounts and FB pretty much doesn't do anything about it. I know plenty of people with 2 or more accounts of their own.

[broadway]

I used to have a Facebook account with the name Nofirst Nolast.
Facebook finally caught up with me and shut it down.
Well, they didn't shut it down precisely but demanded identity proof.
That was that.

I started fresh with an account with a name that sounds plausbile.
I almost never post on my Timeline.
I do post on other FB pages.

I went in to all the FB settings and restricted everything.
There may be 1 or 2 things I missed, but I tried.

[CaliKid]

Use one of your extra email addresses to sign up (not one that you give out to friends), call yourself John Smith and set all settings to private. Nobody on earth will care and I do not think the Facebook police will come after you.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I've avoided Facebook. DW has an account, it is nice for keeping up with friends and family, but there is just too much chaff among the wheat for me. But lately, there have been more and more things I am interested in.... -ERD50

Oh, what you really want is to create a facebook account to spy on others without them knowing? Just kidding .

Once an account is created, you make the settings as private as possible (for example, only you can see your posts, and others can't see your "likes").

But Facebook is a slippery slope. Once you start, if you do a Like get ready for newsfeeds filling up, and who knows, in the middle of the night you might be joining in the social conversation with a picture of you doing shots at a New Years Eve party. You've been warned .

Have fun.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Oh, what you really want is to create a facebook account to spy on others without them knowing? Just kidding .

That's why I unfriend people like that.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Oh, what you really want is to create a facebook account to spy on others without them knowing? Just kidding . Once an account is created, you make the settings as private as possible (for example, only you can see your posts, and others can't see your "likes"). But Facebook is a slippery slope. Once you start, if you do a Like get ready for newsfeeds filling up, and who knows, in the middle of the night you might be joining in the social conversation with a picture of you doing shots at a New Years Eve party. You've been warned . Have fun.

I'll be careful! Fortunately, no one would be alarmed or surprised by pictures of me doing shots. It's hard to blackmail a guy like me, my skeletons are out of the closet

Nothing sneaky, I just want to follow certain businesses, maybe a few 'lifestyle', news and hobby postings, without having to go 'all in' and get a lot of unwanted stuff that I would have trouble ignoring.

-ERD50

[Midpack]

I know people who have FB accounts with made up names, not sure how FB would know. And obviously thousands/millions of businesses have FB accounts, with no conventional person's name.

I login thru a FB page I used to manage with none of my personal info, but I may have to establish a low profile FB account one day too. From what little I know, I'll use a fake name and a real email address.

[Which Roger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by folivier But your Facebook page will have "likes" from friends that haven't actually liked those ads. And other ads, more ads, and even more ads. It's getting difficult to see what is relevant to your friends with all of the ads.

The FB Purity browser add-on will let you customize facebook in many ways, including making all the ads disappear.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh That's why I unfriend people like that.

I just started to unfriend a few folks as couldn't put up with the constant posting of topics I didn't care about. Wish I don't that sooner as sure does make FB a bit quieter.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I'll be careful! Fortunately, no one would be alarmed or surprised by pictures of me doing shots. It's hard to blackmail a guy like me, my skeletons are out of the closet Nothing sneaky, I just want to follow certain businesses, maybe a few 'lifestyle', news and hobby postings, without having to go 'all in' and get a lot of unwanted stuff that I would have trouble ignoring. -ERD50

That's how trouble starts, when saying "I have nothing to hide" .

I flip back and forth of deciding should I set my FB open to all visitors or only friends. So far, the latter wins out.

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack I know people who have FB accounts with made up names, not sure how FB would know. And obviously thousands/millions of businesses have FB accounts, with no conventional person's name. I login thru a FB page I used to manage with none of my personal info, but I may have to establish a low profile FB account one day too. From what little I know, I'll use a fake name and a real email address.

I suspect, like vanity license plates, as long as the names don't sound offensive or totally fake, maybe they go under the radar and don't get scrutinized.

[braumeister]

I deleted my primary FB account last week, although it takes two weeks for the deletion to become "official".

Meanwhile, I have another account I opened years ago under an assumed name. It's a tiny account, with only three (real) friends, and I'll continue using it just for the purpose outlined here.

In my other (real name) account, I had well over 100 "friends", some of whom I barely knew. Probably 10% of them were using assumed names. One got caught and had to change his ridiculous assumed name to something less ridiculous but then just continued with it.

[COcheesehead]

At first I thought the title of this thread was create a low life profile Facebook account.

[Marita40]

I was curious about FB some years ago and opened an account. I "friended" two people before I realized what it was all about. I reduced everything to just the "shell" and have never friended anyone else. I keep it mainly to look at other's sites occasionally.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack I know people who have FB accounts with made up names, not sure how FB would know. And obviously thousands/millions of businesses have FB accounts, with no conventional person's name. I login thru a FB page I used to manage with none of my personal info, but I may have to establish a low profile FB account one day too. From what little I know, I'll use a fake name and a real email address.

I have a few fake FB accounts, I don't like how intrusive FB is about knowing you.
For example, I would never let it read my email address book...

I rarely ever go there, as I don't want to brag too much about stupid stuff, and everyone updating is really a broadcast of their action which they don't tell you directly because you are not important enough. IMHO it's just a fake intimacy.

[Ally]

I use all the privacy features so no one can really find me to ask to be my friend. I have a few friends, very few on FB. Only "friends of friends" can ask to be my friend and so I get few requests. Most of those I ignore. If one of my FB friends posts too much, I stop following them, but remain their friend.

[Ronstar]

First set up a new email account. And never use it to contact anyone. Use this email account with a quirky name different than any online name that you are now using when you set up Facebook. Then search for sites that interest you and like or follow them. Don't friend anyone. That should get you what you want out of FB.

The key to low profile is not to give FB anything that it can use to cross link you to anyone else. If you provide an email address that you use, your account will then show up as a possible friend for people that you've emailed with.

And keep your setup as private as possible by toggling the most restrictive privacy options when you set up FB. Don't publish Birthday, etc

[nvestysly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronstar First set up a new email account. And never use it to contact anyone. Use this email account with a quirky name different than any online name that you are now using when you set up Facebook. Then search for sites that interest you and like or follow them. Don't friend anyone. That should get you what you want out of FB. The key to low profile is not to give FB anything that it can use to cross link you to anyone else. If you provide an email address that you use, your account will then show up as a possible friend for people that you've emailed with. And keep your setup as private as possible by toggling the most restrictive privacy options when you set up FB. Don't publish Birthday, etc

+1 on using an alternate email account - create a free email with some provider and don't use it for anything excepts Facebook. Don't ever give it to anyone and don't make it anything that resembles your name.

Then use some variant of your real name when you register for Facebook. There's no need to lie, just use a name that nobody would be searching for. The alternate email address seems to be the key to avoid cross-linking to other people, more so than a name variant.

If anyone ever asks to friend you just ignore the request.

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 Well, that's why I'm asking. As I said, I really know nothing about setting up an account. It sounds like you get one shot at it, so I want to do it right the first time.

Not at all. Tying it to a throwaway email is a good idea. If you are spamming people or have an obvious fake name you might get the account closed, but I've seen some pretty obvious fake names stay open. I have a friend who used to use her full name, and when she went through a divorce she either closed that and opened a new one, or renamed her old one to something like "Running Jane" and it's all fine. Facebook is approaching 2 billion users, they aren't going to track down someone who just wants a stealth account. Use a variation of your name or just John Smith, and turn all the privacy settings on, and don't use a profile picture.

[donheff]

I didn't read the whole thread but in case nobody explained it, I recommend that you set up a page and make everything private - set it so only friends can see it. Then ignore it and don't accept any friend requests. You won't see much of anything except a few "recommended" pages based on your profile and activity on FB. If you want to see the stuff your wife, kids and close friends post then friend them.