Posts
519
Joined
5/4/2013
Location
Ontario
CA
Edited Date/Time
2/13/2015 3:59pm
Facebook just scared the crap out of me.
I don't "do" facebook. I think it's silly. I don't need to know that Gwen is feeling tired because she just went to the gym.
However, sometimes you just need to go on there to look at something, so I made a totally anonymous account with it's own email address.
For years I have happily and anonymously checked out something on facebook without having any friends there or pictures or anything.
Today I clicked on a link that took me to fb.
Next thing I knew, it was suggesting people that I might know..... all of whom I DID know.
HOW did facebook identify me (and my friends) given just a fake email address?
Seriously. You make a fake email address, hand it to facebook and it says, "Oh, it YOU! Here you go, here are your real life friends."
I don't "do" facebook. I think it's silly. I don't need to know that Gwen is feeling tired because she just went to the gym.
However, sometimes you just need to go on there to look at something, so I made a totally anonymous account with it's own email address.
For years I have happily and anonymously checked out something on facebook without having any friends there or pictures or anything.
Today I clicked on a link that took me to fb.
Next thing I knew, it was suggesting people that I might know..... all of whom I DID know.
HOW did facebook identify me (and my friends) given just a fake email address?
Seriously. You make a fake email address, hand it to facebook and it says, "Oh, it YOU! Here you go, here are your real life friends."
http://www.ipnow.org/
The Shop
Now that I am friends with a majority of the people I have ever known, the fun is gone. It has become a very negative place where people bitch and bitch. It also divides people for no reason, for instance politics and religion.
Nothing like friending some dude I knew who was a kid and then being exposed to his constant political bitching. Ugh. I really don't give a shit.
If you make a fake email address and send it to me, I don't know how to take that and find out who you really are. Facebook does.
I'm inclined to go with the math teacher's tinfoilhat idea.
I recently went back, but my only friends are people that I actually associate regularly and family....it is kind of my one stop for local news (I follow all the local news outlets)...and the coolest thing is the racing...our local off-road series has a page, each of the M/C's have pages...so the racing/riding discussion is my favorite part. Pictures and videos posted from races, bench racing, etc.
When I have family members friends that are constantly "sharing" stupid things, I can block them (I have a cousin that is always sharing these stupid quotes from this one particular page....I found out that I can block all things from that page, without blocking him...which is sweet.)
You should "do" facebook for real and stop stalking..because stalking is weird
It really does divide people. I liked it better before I knew so much about everyone on my list. I have gay people on there, black people on there, every variety but every time there is a big story in the news you have to watch what you say or the PC police will get you in trouble. That's why I like it better here. It's more anonymous.
MX'r? You bet, let me click 4th and skim the top of these whoops.
Stephanie should have went to a public pc, w/dark glasses and a wig.
Pit Row
Slightly unrelated but I hear the phone companies are no longer allowing you to purchase your phones anymore. You essentially rent them. They're making it more and more compelling to back away from the smart phones lately.
IP address - Lots of info can be done by looking at an IP. (VPN's are cool)
If you clicked around friends profiles, searched for friends, it more than likely made a pattern. It's something I do implement on websites as well and its a lot like how Google knows what ads to serve you based on searches/websites.
I read a book last year called "Breakpoint - Why the web will implode [...]". It says that for amazon, fb, google.... collecting data is their business, and the information about you is their biggest asset. Google and fb in particular are willing to give away services for free in return for your permission to collect data about you. Like Green said above, "it's happening"!
I always tell myself I'm going to switch to one of those Wal mart plans that are so cheap but the At&t network is amazing. I always have service.
My life is definitely better because I know how entertaining cats are.
10 points to Mr. Zuckerberg.
Facebook is clever though, but despite its scary stalker-ness, I'd rather Facebook track where I'm clicking, and show me ads that I want to see, rather than shit ones that I don't want to see.
That way you will get suggestions of people you have never searched for before.
Another thing is Skype and the classic version of skype, MSN messenger. Those companies (microsoft, google, etc) exchange data all the time. YOU are the product for those companies, not the consumer. Same with Google Adsense.
Welcome to the internet.
Another way they get it is through mobile devices like android phones. It's been a while since I've used android, but a few years ago phones would come with facebook apps that couldn't be uninstalled without rooting the device. This is because they made a deal with the carrier, basically to mine your data and sell it to advertising companies.
It's a seriously shady business, this "social media" phenomenon. Most people are pragmatic about it...just wait...this is only the tip of the iceberg.
This is a world in transition and social media is on stage
Post a reply to: Facebook just scared me