Does Facebook Offer Privacy?

[easysurfer]

Thanks for the info. Guess it's a double edge sword. The good and bad is that info travels so freely.

For example, I might not want all my friends too see something like a family member saying.."remember when you were 5 years old and ..... ..... ...."

I just got a write on my wall from my sister who said, "We'll it's about time you joined Facebook..." I didn't like the tone (in my mind, there's still many advantages to keep incognito) so I removed from the wall and responded to her directly in a message.

 

[W2R]

I was concerned about similar things, easysurfer. I tightened up my Facebook security as much as I could, but in the end I was only happy when I limited my Facebook friends to my daughter and my brother. (My brother had a very severe stroke and never goes to Facebook any more, so really it is just my daughter.)

Since my objective in being on Facebook is simply to use it as another way to keep up with my daughter's day to day life, that works for me. I have dozens of "friends requests" from people I have known online, former co-workers, and even my cousins, but I just ignore them all. I know my limits.

 

[easysurfer]

I think for me, at the moment it's new, so I'm kind of watching every single tick. But I bet eventually, I'll probably too use it as just another place to keep in the loop.

If my "Wall" gets too controversal, there are ways to lock it down

Before this Facebook thing, I was quite content just emailing (though I read today that the class of 2014 regard email as obsolete) and content with the simplicity of bulletin boards like this.

 

[Katsmeow]

You can through privacy control a lot of the wall stuff.

You can limit who can post comments.

You can also limit who can see Wall posts of your friends. For example, on Facebook I do have certain people who aren't allowed to see the wall posts that my friends make.

 

[easysurfer]

I wish FB had virtual walls. That is, a wall for each friend group (similar to in Windows XP, each user has their own desktop). But I think the saving grace is unless there is something really really "juicy" posted on the wall, I bet the majority of people just give others' walls a passing glance.

Nice to know there is the option to control who's allowed to see the wall, if that enforcement is needed.

 

[powerplay]

I've had a FB account for about a year and seldom log in even though I periodically receive invites to Friend someone. Well, I finally realized it is the only way to keep up with some of my family. They use the phone or e-mail only rarely and yet type up a storm on FB. Go figure I guess I will be on there more often to keep up with family activities.

 

[Milton]

Here you go.

Seriously, Facebook is great. Insurance firms and their lawyers frequently use it to find nice happy snaps of "disabled" plaintiffs performing vigorous activities, or "depressed, socially withdrawn" plaintiffs enjoying themselves in various social settings (parties, bars, sunlit beaches, etc.).

I haven't been on the Facebook bandwagon, but several friends want me to join to stay "in the loop."

If they are close friends, why can't they telephone, or use email? If they are not close friends, you have obviously been "out of the loop" for some time, and have managed to survive.

 

[kumquat]

I [-]couldn't[/-] didn't go back to any of the posts, just the original title "does facebook offer privacy"

As a former IT Security guy, my answer is "YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING, RIGHT??" If you want any more info, PM me (or not).

 

[HFWR]

You mean I shouldn't post my passwords and account numbers on Facebook?

Seriously, though, I only allow friends to view my stuff, and nothing of much import is located there.

 

[rescueme]

Facebook feeds narcissism, survey says - CNN.com

Not a security problem (probably brought on by insecurity).

I'm not young; I'm not on FB ...

 

[M Paquette]

Facebook? Privacy?

The founder of facebook is a big believer in sharing everything. Facebook's business model is built on that, mining the graph of information relating facebook users.

While facebook has 'privacy settings,' I wouldn't count on the settings to:
1) Work
2) Continue working
3) Not be reset every time Mark Zuckerberg has a Better Idea.

"People have really gotten comfortable not only sharing more information and different kinds, but more openly and with more people. We view it as our role in the system to constantly be innovating and be updating what our system is to reflect what the current social norms are." -- Mark Zuckerberg

Disclaimer: I don't have a Facebook account. I'm not the person that owns the account pretending to be me. I also have never trusted Zuckerberg. Maybe there's a good reason for that, or maybe not.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Okay, made me look. This is a hot topic on my Facebook page. It could be but it didn't inspire me to go shopping. I want to adopt the one called, "Buzz."

YouTube - Herding Cats

 

[Nords]

Since my objective in being on Facebook is simply to use it as another way to keep up with my daughter's day to day life, that works for me.

Sometimes I wonder if our kid knows how to screen her FB posts so that her parents can't read all of them.

Then I wonder if she really is screening them after all...

 

[Khan]

I'm an old fart; on friendfeed, twitter, facebook, and 5 different personae.

No I won't tell what they are.

 

[Moemg]

My SO was reading something the other day and up popped this is recommended by ( My name ) .When he clicked on it my face book picture showed up with a link to my face book account . I guess this shows there is no privacy on face book .

 

[Automatika]

Its been a great way to reconnect with people I haven't seen in 30+ years.... also a good way to network with people with similar interests. I live in Nashville and have managed to meet lots of musicians I wouldn't have met otherwise.

 

[easysurfer]

So, in facebook can you put a friend on a "hide" list? I don't mean to block out someone from being a friend, but so that other friends of me can't read her "wall". It's my 20 year old niece, I don't want to drop her out as a friend, but in some of her comments she's being a potty mouth

I guess she's practicing doing things at 20 years old that she'll be embarrassed about at 30 years old. Been there myself

 

[harley]

So, in facebook can you put a friend on a "hide" list? I don't mean to block out someone from being a friend, but so that other friends of me can't read her "wall". It's my 20 year old niece, I don't want to drop her out as a friend, but in some of her comments she's being a potty mouth

I guess she's practicing doing things at 20 years old that she'll be embarrassed about at 30 years old. Been there myself

I read an article a short while back where the author said that a fairly large number of kids/ younger adults are going to probably be legally changing their names in the future as the only way to get away from their youthful stupidities. A little extreme, but not beyond possibility.

I consider myself lucky that most of my early activities were witnessed only by others who I have something on too. They are only dragged back out on rare ocassions when we are in private, semi-intoxicated (or better), and reminiscing. In the internet age, I suspect I'd have been unable to find a responsible job.

 

[Orchidflower]

Does anyone know how in the world a distance cousin of mine somehow knows I was sneaking and looking at her Facebook page where she posts a blog of her activities? I know she knows I have been looking at her information cause she sent me a message when I haven't heard from her in ages, and, no, it wasn't coincidence.
Being no computer pro, is there a way to tell who has been looking at your Facebook page, Facebookers?

 

[harley]

AFAIK, there isn't any legal way to do this. I've seen a few apps that supposedly let you know, but they are against FBs TOS and get removed pretty qiuckly. Of course, FB is fairly hackable, and if your friend is geeky she might be able to do it. But if she's just an average user I suspect it really might have been a coincidence. I've played around with some, but most don't do what they say, and nothing has worked for long. Zuckerberg is a mean SOB.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Orchidflower, almost assuredly a coincidence if you checked her out on Facebook only. If you went to her blog hosted somewhere else, then she could track you, maybe.

Oh, and while we're talking about Facebook--Early-Retirement.org does have a fan page if you'd like to "LIKE" it!

 

[Orchidflower]

Thanks for the heads up. Now I see it was her blog...dang! and that's where all the juicy gossip is, too..

 

[Sarah in SC]

Well, frankly, if she puts it out on the street, then there should be no harm in your reading it! These kids have no idea how much their TMI culture might come back to haunt them!

 

[Nords]

These kids have no idea how much their TMI culture might come back to haunt them!

Nah, it'll just become the new "normal".

Who knows, it might even offer substantial evidence to employers that their employees actually have a life outside of the workplace.

And finally, if I ever become a grandparent, I plan to exploit the whole system as a force for good. Just imagine the deterrent power of someday being able to bring my misbehaving 15-year-old grandson Nords III over to the computer to show him what Mom was posting on her Facebook account in 2010...

 

[MichaelB]

Well, frankly, if she puts it out on the street, then there should be no harm in your reading it! These kids have no idea how much their TMI culture might come back to haunt them!

I have a close friend who owns a recruiting business that specializes in highly technical searches. She says that Facebook and Linked are now key tools for agencies and recruiters in the hiring process - to systematically eliminate older applicants without ever having to consider them just by first doing facebook and linked checks - thus avoiding age discrimination complaints. Showing friends, peers, personal networks & college associations is as good as posting your age. She now believes that recruiting companies are being selected based on their ability to use social networking tools in the recruiting process - "code talk" for age based filtering.