So I joined Facebook. Bah..

[flatbutt]

My family is fairly spread out from Connecticut to Virginia, The 'book serves as another way to connect...but not the only way. And it's the place where I get to see videos of my grandkids.

[GothingNC]

I just use it to keep in touch with close friends around the world and the local Porsche, Mini Cooper and SCCA groups which you can only join with approval to keep the spammers out.

I now ignore posts regarding politics; started to lose faith about the survival of the human race after reading some of the comments.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by 72doug2,2S

Petrolicious sends some nice fb feeds. I got on for a high school reunion effort. But I don't post much.

My FB page has so many links to automobile sites every other post on it has something to do with cars!

Posted this morning:

Unrestored and Highly Original Luxury RV – 1929 Studebaker House Car – Motorlands


And a post form a lady blogger I find amusing:

5 Things about Men That Make Little Sense to Me (maybe you guys can explain):
1. Fascination with body noises (burps, farts, etc.)
2. Sports announcers speaking at yell volume all the time (unless it’s golf)
3. Running or working in the yard shirtless (unless you look like the Diet Coke guy)
4. Male pattern lecturing (as one scientist defined it)
5. Fast and Furious…why is this a thing worth EIGHT movies?
And yes, I think there are things about women that make little sense, but that’s another post.
NOTE: NO MAN BASHING IN COMMENTS, PLEASE. This is about pointing out and trying to understand our differences


And a bunch of FB that feature historic photography.

I do keep up with a few friends and classmates but most of my FB page is used more like a news feed.

[aigel]

I have several issues with Facebook. Facebook is a member only website. It is not open. You can only participate if you sign up with your real name and profile. The times of the anonymous and open WWW are over. I am sorry, but I am not going to sign up with my name and feed the system with all my personal information, images (facial recognition included) and my whereabouts, political views ect. At best this will be harvested to pester me with commercials.

"Privacy" settings are great, they may work towards other users, but you have all that information on the company servers, ready to be harvested by the company and if you study user agreements you will see that you sign away pretty much most of your rights to the information.

Not to PARF this up, but you guys have noticed that Zuckerberg has ambitions towards the US presidency? Now THAT's something. Guy has 75% of the US population's personal data, their political views, estimate on income etc. etc. - That should really help optimize the campaign ...

G

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by aigel

I have several issues with Facebook. Facebook is a member only website. It is not open. You can only participate if you sign up with your real name and profile. The times of the anonymous and open WWW are over. I am sorry, but I am not going to sign up with my name and feed the system with all my personal information, images (facial recognition included) and my whereabouts, political views ect. At best this will be harvested to pester me with commercials.

"Privacy" settings are great, they may work towards other users, but you have all that information on the company servers, ready to be harvested by the company and if you study user agreements you will see that you sign away pretty much most of your rights to the information.

Not to PARF this up, but you guys have noticed that Zuckerberg has ambitions towards the US presidency? Now THAT's something. Guy has 75% of the US population's personal data, their political views, estimate on income etc. etc. - That should really help optimize the campaign ...

G

You've already exposed all the same stuff here.

You are on this board 14+ years now and have nearly 13,000 posts.

I do this from time to time.

Took me less than 10 minutes to find your email, phone number, and home address based on nothing more than the information in the quoted post above.

The how it's done is pretty simple.

People are creatures of habit.

It's why I don't even bother hiding.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Originally Posted by aigel

I have several issues with Facebook. Facebook is a member only website. It is not open. You can only participate if you sign up with your real name and profile.

G

LOL, I'm friends with:

https://www.facebook.com/george.pug.powers


It's a friend of mine's pug.
He likes to sit next to a heat lamp and sleep. Makes for great updates.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

You've already exposed all the same stuff here.

You are on this board 14+ years now and have nearly 13,000 posts.

I do this from time to time.

Took me less than 10 minutes to find your email, phone number, and home address based on nothing more than the information in the quoted post above.

The how it's done is pretty simple.

People are creatures of habit.

It's why I don't even bother hiding.

There still is a big difference between posting on a forum and being an active Facebook user in terms of throwing it all onto a single company's server ready to go into big-data. Of course, if you or Wayne want to run for president, you'd know how to get me to vote for you.

G

[Alfasrule]

NEVER EVER!! I will not be one of those idiots!
It's just BAD Stuff, cancel it!
I acutely make parts for iphones, semiconductors.
Gotta keep my phoney baloney jab. Buy a new one!

[motion]

I'm always amazed at the things people are scared/paranoid of. For God's sake, you're going to die someday. Maybe even tomorrow, heaven forbid. Can't you worry about something more important?

If you live a clean life, you really have nothing to worry about. So what if big business and the US government know stuff about you. Do you really think they're going to use it against you if you don't give them a reason?

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by aigel

There still is a big difference between posting on a forum and being an active Facebook user in terms of throwing it all onto a single company's server ready to go into big-data. Of course, if you or Wayne want to run for president, you'd know how to get me to vote for you.

G

Yes and no.

Less worrisome than what FB and google are doing with your data is the other guys who are just as smart if not smarter and hide in the shadows.

At least FB , google, etc can be held to privacy laws and Wayne, thankfully, has high ethical standards.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by motion

I'm always amazed at the things people are scared/paranoid of. For God's sake, you're going to die someday. Maybe even tomorrow, heaven forbid. Can't you worry about something more important?

If you live a clean life, you really have nothing to worry about. So what if big business and the US government know stuff about you. Do you really think they're going to use it against you if you don't give them a reason?

My problem is it becomes a "source" to your brain, and interests with $$$ can tap that source, and your only option is to walk away.

You can become part of an experiment, 10,000 people are fed 100% carefully picked negative news into their feed, 10,000 people get only 100% carefully picked positive news into their feed. They watch for how it possibly changes what people are writing about.

Want to be in that negative 10,000? Hiding the friends it "shows it as coming from" won't do anything, unfriending everyone won't do anything, that crap is coming your way to fill your feed.

Maybe I got crapped on extra special by facebook. It wasn't feeding me what I signed up for anymore.

I *do* at times consider rejoining, but the experience I had trying to clean up my feed reminds me not to. I guess I'm just special. Yes, I was always aware of the various tools to control things; they didn't work for me. I felt targeted, and abruptly left the wrong side of the shooting range.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

You've already exposed all the same stuff here.

You are on this board 14+ years now and have nearly 13,000 posts.

I do this from time to time.

Took me less than 10 minutes to find your email, phone number, and home address based on nothing more than the information in the quoted post above.

The how it's done is pretty simple.

People are creatures of habit.

It's why I don't even bother hiding.

I used my real name here (and other sites) for at least a decade, and you are absolutely correct. That said, I decided a few years ago that I didn't want a simple Google search to make it easy for the average idiot, so I dialed it back just a bit. Like a professional thief, folks like you and I can get to it with some effort, but
I try . I've been on gmail since in beta, and my Internet life is on their servers however, but that train sailed years ago....I don't like it, but it is so

A bit of prudence would seem appropriate...

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by livi

At the ripe age of 51 my daughters and friends finally talked me into Facebook. I don´t get it. In the few hours since I joined with just a small number of friend requests, its already a mess. A load of pics, meaningless texts, updates and what not. All of which is utterly uninteresting to me.

It is too late for us but you can still escape!!!

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by KC911

I used my real name here (and other sites) for at least a decade, and you are absolutely correct. That said, I decided a few years ago that I didn't want a simple Google search to make it easy for the average idiot, so I dialed it back just a bit. Like a professional thief, folks like you and I can get to it with some effort, but
I try . I've been on gmail since in beta, and my Internet life is on their servers however, but that train sailed years ago....I don't like it, but it is so

A bit of prudence would seem appropriate...

I figure its already out there. Unless a parent teaches their younglings internet privacy before letting their kids go online; trying to "dial it back" is like trying to surprise your cat by putting it in a toilet to give it a long soaking bath.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

I figure its already out there. Unless a parent teaches their younglings internet privacy before letting their kids go online; trying to "dial it back" is like trying to surprise your cat by putting it in a toilet to give it a long soaking bath.

My name is not common, but there are several "me's" even fairly local. A simple google search opened the door several years back. That's no longer the case...I now have a toilet soaked cat

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Love facebook. Our entire family uses it. It's the go to place for family updates, announcements, vacation photos, etc....

Regular ol' email can do pretty much the same thing.

I once worked with an old Russian ex-pat who was amazed at the amount of personal information Facebook users were willing to share with their 'friends' and almost anyone else. He said that back in the day, the KGB spent unbelievable amounts of time & energy trying to gather this same sort of info on ordinary Russian citizens. Now here we are...giving it all away for free.

[scottmandue]

Seriously guys?
If you have ever paid taxes the government already has all your info...

That aside I do wonder/worry what social media is doing to us and our brains, add smart phones into the mix and even adults are down to a five second attention span. I marvel that as a kid we would drive from Los Angeles to Kansas to visit my grand parents sans any electronic device except for a AM/FM radio... how did we survive!?!

And it is not just FB, instagram, snapchat, twitter, and probably a few I don't know or care about.

Originally Posted by aigel

I have several issues with Facebook. Facebook is a member only website. It is not open. You can only participate if you sign up with your real name and profile.

G

This is one of the FB pages I follow:

Sir Thomas, Knight of the Kind Thoughts Thinking Circle (aka T.)

[john70t]

Originally Posted by motion

If you live a clean life, you really have nothing to worry about. So what if big business and the US government know stuff about you. Do you really think they're going to use it against you if you don't give them a reason?

I will just politely say that we have slightly different opinions on that subject 'Motion'.

Speaking of using anonymous usernames:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Facebook-google-Anonymity-Randi-zuckerberg-Anonymous,news-12193.html
"The use of real names online could help curb bullying and harassment on the web," she told the audience. "I think anonymity on the Internet has to go away. People behave a lot better when they have their real names down. I think people hide behind anonymity and they feel like they can say whatever they want behind closed doors."
(read that last sentence again...wow...yeah there goes 1A and 4A. No more private conversations? Really?)

And that was coming from a person who complains about her own company, lol:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121226/11561921489/mark-zuckerbergs-sister-should-just-admit-she-doesnt-understand-facebooks-privacy-rules-either.shtml
"Randi Zuckerberg, who's also the older sister to Mark Zuckerberg, is among the many people who don't understand Facebook's privacy policies, as she got upset at someone for tweeting a photo that she thought she had shared in a more limited way than she really had."


I could go on and on about FB privacy issues but who cares.
A lot of people don't mind being part of their psy-ops program and having their profile handed around. Good for them.
Oh, you don't think FB runs tests on it's users? Yes, they do. If we change "this" how many people will react and comment? How about with "that"? What is your personality type? Income? Interests? What's your commitment (financially of course) to your interests and can you be switched easily? Who are your friends and what are their profiles? Inquiring minds want to know.
The potentials with any captive rat population are limitless.

Heck even your vacuum cleaner want to listen in on your conversations and share your abode online:
Roomba vacuum maker iRobot betting big on the 'smart' home | Reuters

[aigel]

Originally Posted by motion

If you live a clean life, you really have nothing to worry about. So what if big business and the US government know stuff about you. Do you really think they're going to use it against you if you don't give them a reason?

Maybe you should talk to someone who has lived in a repressive country or under dictatorship. I seem to recall you have some contacts! I would not plain assume things will never change in the US. "Oh, but I live a clean life, they will leave me alone" hasn't worked for many people when things changed in their country. To me the upside of FB isn't really obvious, so why go out of your way putting it all out there?

G

[aigel]

Another issue I have witnessed with Facebook is how people are unhappy because others, as seen on Facebook, always have it nicer: More vacations, happier couples, newer kitchen, bigger houses, bigger diamonds, etc. etc. - I have personally witnessed this with several guys I know.
The stay at home spouse will spend a ton of time on FB and it will trigger the request to go on vacation or a remodel, because so-and-so do it too. Can't afford it? Well how does so-and-so afford it then? It is keeping up with the Joneses in a big way, because you don't just see your neighbors, the Joneses but 400 other people you are connected with that self-promote their awesome lives.
The fact that they may be close to bankrupcy or in a miserable relationship will never show in those posts. As a matter of fact, the people that have the least will often self-promote the most ... this isn't necessarily a FB problem, I admit, but with an update feed it really is in your face a lot more than say a car forum.

There are studies that look at how FB membership changes people happynes. Envy and upping one another is a huge one, just like I have seen myself with coworkers, acquaintances and friends ...
Facebook May Make You Depressed And Jealous, But We Still Love It : Shots - Health News : NPR

G