Annoying Facebook Things re: Privacy (long read!)

Mosaic

Super Moderator

Amulya

Moderator
The way they target you with advertisements for example. They look at what words you use in your statusses, comments on friend's posts, pictures etc. But I have Firefox and that nicely edits out all the ads :)

A while ago there was a program on here as well (maybe it's still here but I can't see it) that would pick random ads for on here related to words in the posts, but it posted horrible ads in the Israel/Palestine tread :shok: (weird patriotic Israeli ads)

And FB apparently has a face recognition program they are planning to do something with. But I didn't really understand what exactly they could do with that.

I think it all depends on who you are and how much privacy you want. I don't post much on FB, so it doesn't matter for me. But FB keeps all your posts and statusses from the moment you joined and if you choose the new timeline feature, everybody can see all those old posts. Doesn't matter for me, but other people might not like that people they added later can read what they posted 4 years ago.
 

jaimeeligan

New member
The way they target you with advertisements for example. They look at what words you use in your statusses, comments on friend's posts, pictures etc. But I have Firefox and that nicely edits out all the ads :)

A while ago there was a program on here as well (maybe it's still here but I can't see it) that would pick random ads for on here related to words in the posts, but it posted horrible ads in the Israel/Palestine tread :shok: (weird patriotic Israeli ads)

And FB apparently has a face recognition program they are planning to do something with. But I didn't really understand what exactly they could do with that.

I think it all depends on who you are and how much privacy you want. I don't post much on FB, so it doesn't matter for me. But FB keeps all your posts and statusses from the moment you joined and if you choose the new timeline feature, everybody can see all those old posts. Doesn't matter for me, but other people might not like that people they added later can read what they posted 4 years ago.


I don't update my Facebook either for these same reasons. But I'm wondering, have any of you guys had experience clicking ads that are targeted to you? Like, say if the ad featured belly dance costumes wouldn't you be keen on clicking it just to see? Companies pay for those ads to reach their customers, so if I like the product that I'm clicking, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing.
 
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Safran

New member
I am not sure about the algorithm that Facebook uses for advertising - so far I haven't seen a single advertisement that I would even consider clicking :confused:
 

Zorba

"The Veiled Male"
One more time:

Face***k is great for 17 year olds. Not so much for anyone else, despite its mystifying off the charts popularity - which will wane, much as MySpace, Tribe, and GeoCities did before it. Its NOT a safe place - just say NO!
 

Darshiva

Moderator
Facebook is a great place.... to advertise your business.

I wouldn't do anything actually personal there at all. Stuff that humanises me & makes me look less of a corp, sure, but nothing about anything personal in my life. After all, anything you do anywhere online is online for good. After all, the wayback machine exists.
 

jaimeeligan

New member
Yeah Facebook will soon force everyone to adopt Timeline which is a lot creepier because by then everyone will be able to scroll down and see what you have been posting YEARS ago.

I tried deleting my Facebook account forever before, you can do that through a well-hidden link in their system but then it's hard because it's really easier to get in touch with people through Facebook. Some people I worked with before wouldn't read their work-related emails but when I log in and see them online on Facebook, I can always get their attention. Nobody reads their emails anymore.
 

Marya

Member
I used to get a lot of facebook ads but there was a little hidden arrow you could click on and there would be a drop down menu to give feedback. I just kept clicking on that and checking the offensive box and pretty soon I didn't have any ads anymore.

Marya
 

Amulya

Moderator
I haven't been on FB for long, so there would be only a short scroll down, but I don't have the timeline. I keep everything about belly dance, so no private info.

Regarding ads: get Firefox! You don't see any :) Some of my friends got some offensive ads on FB. Sometimes FB doesn't understand it should not advertise the opposite of something someone has just posted LOL.
 
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