facebook

[stefan]

i have never joined facebook for a variety of reasons i suppose, but i suppose that list is now longer

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/

there's going to be a revolution one day if these companies like google and facebook keep abusing privacy

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

3 picards for poor

[Don]

Hilarious.

33695

[R]

Not too worry; Facebook is on top now. AOL was once on top. Yahoo was once on top. MySpace was once on top. If Facebook thinks they will remain on the throne, they are being naive. All glory is fleeting.

The real trick is to divine who the next Facebook will be, and invest in them, then sell off before the next next Facebook comes along.

[Iceaxe]

I've been thinking about deleting my facebook. Really the biggest reason I keep it now is so I can keep an eye on what my kids post.... I've defriended just about everyone else.... nothing personal... but I could careless if the rest of you are drinking a cup of coffee...

How to Permanently Delete a Facebook Account
http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Delete-a-Facebook-Account

And I HATE the facebook button taking up space front and center on Bogley.... what a waste....

[asdf]

I also cant stand the FB link on the posts, when the firewall at work blocks it the post is all jacked up.

[Scott Card]

i have never joined facebook for a variety of reasons i suppose, but i suppose that list is now longer


Likewise. I don't have the time. And like Ice, I also don't care what you are eating nor do I want a huggy bear or some such thing being sent to me. I don't want to feel like I have to respond.

Also, I may not have any friends. That would be devistating....:haha:

[Don]

Worse than hearing about mundane coffee is when someone posts how boring their life is. Post that and I'll block you for sure because you're right.

[ScoutColorado]

Ice, your grandma poked you and you didn't poke her back.
And you other guys haven't visited my garden in almost 2 days! How will you know how good my corn is doing.

Stan Marsh had it exactly right. Even Betty White who hosted SNL due to a Facebook effort called it a colossal waste of time.

But the privacy concerns alone are right on. I signed up just to look at someone else's page, and before giving them any information, they came up with 40 friends for me - some from canyoneering, some from bands I've play in, some high school people I haven' t seen in years, some bizarre people I have briefly known in the past and many inexplicable others. I found out the first thing it does is browse through your address book and make all sorts of connections based on whatever.
They want me to set up a FB page at work, and my recommendation is no.

BTW, :yawn::yawn::yawn:I just posted on FB about how I'm sorting my rapides for the next canyon trip - fascinating stuff, you guys should check it out.........

[accadacca]

Many of my friends who were very early adopters (in the tech industry) of Facebook have deleted or are thinking about deleting their account. Facebook has become too mainstream for the cool kids.

[Spooky]

I use Facebook to post liberal rants and consider myself a failure if I'm not unfriended at least 5 times a week. :haha:

I think my entire family in Utah has me on "hide."

[Kent K25]

I also cant stand the FB link on the posts, when the firewall at work blocks it the post is all jacked up.

Same here...SO LAME!

[ibenick]

I use Facebook to post liberal rants and consider myself a failure if I'm not unfriended at least 5 times a week. :haha:

I think my entire family in Utah has me on "hide."

Best use of Facebook ever.

[Sombeech]

I think my entire family in Utah has me on "hide."

Don't worry, Bogley has an "Ignore this user" feature also. :haha:

[Spooky]

Don't worry, Bogley has an "Ignore this user" feature also. :haha:

Haha! My favorite vBulletin feature is "Tachy Goes to Coventry." Haven't used it yet but the mere idea amuses me no end.

Do you ever play with user titles just because you can? :twisted:

P.S. I'm Andrea Marwedel on FB.

[DOSS]

after reading this I started thinking about my own facebook use and well its uselessness, ignoring the privacy concerns facebook and social networking sites in general are just another way to waste time and remove the face to face or even voice to voice personal interaction, while this tends to be the trend of the digital age I decided that I didn't want to be part of this trend anymore so I deleted my facebook profile.

[Alex]

I keep my Friends list very small and tight and constantly go through the Friends list and delete people I haven't talked to in the last month. I usually just use FB now for sharing pictures with friends and family and my privacy is set to Friends only on everything.

[Randi]

I keep my Friends list very small and tight and constantly go through the Friends list and delete people I haven't talked to in the last month. I usually just use FB now for sharing pictures with friends and family and my privacy is set to Friends only on everything.

So that's why you de-friended me Alex?

I like FB! I like posting pictures, checking out other people's trip pix, hooking up with folks for trips, finding partners for trips, as well as to alleviate boredom & at times to stir up trouble - like what Spooky Does....

I'd never watch videos like this if it weren't for FB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7MuwPlOiNQ

FB is FUN!

[BruteForce]

I only have a FB account for a few reasons: 1) because my family seems to now use it as a substitute for email and comm, 2) to screw with others and 3) to still comm with old Army buddies.

[tanya]

I did it for Bogley. lol

Now I use it to find out what my kids are up to. I like I can just check it out on my phone while in a line or something.

[abirken]

FB is a complete waste of time. I spend too much time on it. BUT it does help keep me connected to family members, friends, outdoor friends and belly dance friends that I normally would be distant from. I am up to date on all kinds of happenings and I love it for that. Regarding privacy, I've just made it a rule to not join every stupid link that someone recommends me to and I did create lists to control who can see what. It's all good. As a matter of fact, I LIKE this thread. :lol8:

[TreeHugger]

I also like FB. I think its pretty fun, and I really like checking out people's photos of stuff they are doing. I also keep my friend list small, and if I dont get, or dont send, messages to someone in a period of time, I delete them because, really, they arent really my "friends" then, right? (like old high school friends, if we dont continue to communicate after "friending" they get deleted) I also set all my privacy settings on Friends Only.

[dbaxter]

A couple of months ago, I was set to delete my account. Had enough of the drama: "I can't believe you're friends with HER", and "How come you're doing stuff with so-and-so but not with me" and "blah blah blah". But then I found the block button and life has been much simpler. I still enjoy fb, but TooeleCherokee made a good point about how it decreases face to face or even email communication. I guess I decided there's just enough good about it to keep it going despite all the crap...:ne_nau: whatcha gonna do?

[DaveOU812]

I use it on almost a daily basis. I don't play the vampire game. I don't play mafia wars. I don't give a **** (Insert your own curse word here) about your farm. I use it to keep in contact with the guys from the military and we play poker to pass the graveyard shifts. In fact I used it today to get a phone number from a guy in North Carolina. I use it to talk to my friends who are doing unmentionable things in other parts of the world. I think so long as it's not used as a time waster, it's ok....for now.

[ststephen]

I like it. I must have good friends because there's never any drama and after I learned to hide all app postings it's just pretty much nice stuff about the cool things they're doing. The best status I ever read though came in just a few minutes ago. I noticed that my son posted this:


going to Zion next weekend to canyoneer in freezing cold water going off 100 foot repels! YES!!!
:thumb::thumb::thumb:

OK it's got some spelling and grammar issues, but at least he didn't call it "Zions"!

[Cirrus2000]

Brings a tear to my eye, ststephen. You must be so proud! :2thumbs:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Don]

Mark Zuckerberg was apparently amazed by early Facebook users' willingness to provide the website with personal details, even going as far as to call them 'dumb ****s'. According to a 2004 instant message exchange released by Business Insider:

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuck: Just ask.
Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuck: People just submitted it.
Zuck: I don't know why.
Zuck: They "trust me"
Zuck: Dumb ****s


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/facebook_trust_dumb/

[Spooky]

I've rigged my privacy settings so I'm not linked up with anything, none of my info is shared with advertisers.

I like using FB to blog about politics and I've found it a convenient way to isolate intolerant relatives.

[LOAH]

The games are retarded, as are most (if not all) of the apps. I really don't give a crap about most of what happens in the news feed, although I've read some very informative links and such.

It's just another online photo album for me.

I don't like to chat unless that person won't answer a phone. Then it's a quick "Answer your #$^%@ phone!" and that's about it.

Sharing trip reports or plans is another use of facebook, but yeah...It's not something I need to donate hours of my time toward.

[Ih8grvty]

I have Fantastic coffee! and my life is far from boring! stress is always exciting!
wanna be friends?
:crazy:

[trackrunner]

so I got a friend request from someone I never met, no common friends, but someone I've heard of, C0dy Judy. The same C0dy Judy that claimed he had a bomb (or how he explains it B.O.M) while demanding Howard Hunter, then next in line and would later become the leader of LDS church, to read a letter explaining of Judy was the leader of God's church. Judy would go on to spend 8 years in the Utah State Hospital and State Prison systems as Judy explains a political prisoner.

FYI Judy is facebook friends with Sen. Orin Hatch and Mark Shurtleff, Attorney General for the state of Utah. Judy is a birther politically.

[Sombeech]

Do it

[RedMan]

Everyone's experience is different.
Never been laid so much in my life. Facebook Rules!

[jman]

Everyone's experience is different.
Never been laid so much in my life. Facebook Rules!

I agree. I've met a handful of pretty ladies via facebook (all complete strangers too) and had a few dates with them. Although, most were single moms in their 20s... Guess I have the face of a good dad?! Haha, beats me.

[tanya]

Likewise. I don't have the time. And like Ice, I also don't care what you are eating nor do I want a huggy bear or some such thing being sent to me. I don't want to feel like I have to respond.

Also, I may not have any friends. That would be devistating....:haha:

You don't want a huggie bear from anyone? I wonder if that applies to all men. lol



I just have canyoneering/hiking people (other than my kids) on mine and almost no one I actually know. Sometimes I just like to talk to strangers. :haha:


Rumors are bad enough already without being friends with people I know!

Moderator Note: This thread has been split and named "Mormon Gossip" http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthread.php?39940-Mormon-Gossip

[stefan]

..


Facebook in Privacy Breach
Top-Ranked Applications Transmit Personal IDs, a Journal Investigation Finds
By EMILY STEEL (http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=EMILY+STEEL&bylinesearch=true) And GEOFFREY A. FOWLER (http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=GEOFFREY+A.+FOWLER&bylinesearch=true)
Wall Street Journal



Many of the most popular applications, or "apps," on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to be completely private. The practice breaks Facebook's rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users' activities secure.

The problem has ties to the growing field of companies that build detailed databases on people in order to track them online—a practice the Journal has been examining in its What They Know series. It's unclear how long the breach was in place. On Sunday, a Facebook spokesman said it is taking steps to "dramatically limit" the exposure of users' personal information.

"A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user's Internet browser or by an application," the spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID "does not permit access to anyone's private information on Facebook," he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the Journal.

"Our technical systems have always been complemented by strong policy enforcement, and we will continue to rely on both to keep people in control of their information," the Facebook official said.

"Apps" are pieces of software that let Facebook's 500 million users play games or share common interests with one another. The Journal found that all of the 10 most popular apps on Facebook were transmitting users' IDs to outside companies.
The apps, ranked by research company Inside Network Inc. (based on monthly users), include Zynga Game Network Inc.'s FarmVille, with 59 million users, and Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille. Three of the top 10 apps, including FarmVille, also have been transmitting personal information about a user's friends to outside companies.

Most apps aren't made by Facebook, but by independent software developers. Several apps became unavailable to Facebook users after the Journal informed Facebook that the apps were transmitting personal information; the specific reason for their

The information being transmitted is one of Facebook's basic building blocks: the unique "Facebook ID" number assigned to every user on the site. Since a Facebook user ID is a public part of any Facebook profile, anyone can use an ID number to look up a person's name, using a standard Web browser, even if that person has set all of his or her Facebook information to be private. For other users, the Facebook ID reveals information they have set to share with "everyone," including age, residence, occupation and photos.

The apps reviewed by the Journal were sending Facebook ID numbers to at least 25 advertising and data firms, several of which build profiles of Internet users by tracking their online activities.

Defenders of online tracking argue that this kind of surveillance is benign because it is conducted anonymously. In this case, however, the Journal found that one data-gathering firm, RapLeaf Inc., had linked Facebook user ID information obtained from apps to its own database of Internet users, which it sells. RapLeaf also transmitted the Facebook IDs it obtained to a dozen other firms, the Journal found.

RapLeaf said that transmission was unintentional. "We didn't do it on purpose," said Joel Jewitt, vice president of business development for RapLeaf.

Facebook said it previously has "taken steps ... to significantly limit Rapleaf's ability to use any Facebook-related data."

Facebook prohibits app makers from transferring data about users to outside advertising and data companies, even if a user agrees. The Journal's findings shed light on the challenge of policing those rules for the 550,000 apps on its site.

The Journal's findings are the latest challenge for Facebook, which has been criticized in recent years for modifying its privacy rules to expose more of a user's information. This past spring, the Journal found that Facebook was transmitting the ID numbers to advertising companies, under some circumstances, when a user clicked on an ad. Facebook subsequently discontinued the practice.

"This is an even more complicated technical challenge than a similar issue we successfully addressed last spring on Facebook.com," a Facebook spokesman said, "but one that we are committed to addressing."

How to Protect Yourself

Almost every major website you visit is tracking your online activity. Here's a step-by-step guide to fending off trackers.

The privacy issue follows Facebook's effort just this month to give its users more control over its apps; privacy activists had cited as a potential hole in users' ability to control who sees their information. On Oct. 6, Facebook created a control panel that lets users see which apps are accessing which categories of information about them. It indicates, for example, when an application accesses a users' "basic information" (including a user ID and name). However, it doesn't detail what information friends' applications have accessed about a user.

Facebook apps transform Facebook into a hub for all kinds of activity, from playing games to setting up a family tree. Apps are considered an important way for Facebook to extend the usefulness of its network. The company says 70% of users use apps each month.

Applications are also a growing source of revenue beyond advertising for Facebook itself, which sells its own virtual currency that can be used to pay for games.

Following an investigation by the Canadian Privacy Commissioner, Facebook in June limited applications to accessing only the public parts of a user's profile, unless the user grants additional permission. (Canadian officials later expressed satisfaction with Facebook's steps.) Previously, applications could tap any data the user had access to, including detailed profiles and information about a user's friends.

It's not clear if developers of many of the apps transmitting Facebook ID numbers even knew that their apps were doing so. The apps were using a common Web standard, known as a "referer," which passes on the address of the last page viewed when a user clicks on a link. On Facebook and other social-networking sites, referers can expose a user's identity.

The company says it has disabled thousands of applications at times for violating its policies. It's unclear how many, if any, of those cases involved passing user information to marketing companies.

Facebook also appeared to have shut down some applications the Journal found to be transmitting user IDs, including several created by LOLapps Media Inc., a San Francisco company backed with $4 million in venture capital. LOLapp's applications include Gift Creator, with 3.5 million monthly active users, Quiz Creator, with 1.4 million monthly active users, Colorful Butterflies and Best Friends Gifts.

Since Friday, users attempting to access to those applications received either an error message or were reverted to Facebook's home screen.

"We have taken immediate action to disable all applications that violate our terms," a Facebook spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for LOLapps Media declined to comment.

The applications transmitting Facebook IDs may have breached their own privacy policies, as well as industry standards, which say sites shouldn't share and advertisers shouldn't collect personally identifiable information without users' permission. Zynga, for example, says in its privacy policy that it "does not provide any Personally Identifiable Information to third-party advertising companies."

A Zynga spokeswoman said, "Zynga has a strict policy of not passing personally identifiable information to any third parties. We look forward to working with Facebook to refine how web technologies work to keep people in control of their information."

The most expansive use of Facebook user information uncovered by the Journal involved RapLeaf. The San Francisco company compiles and sells profiles of individuals based in part on their online activities.

The Journal found that some LOLapps applications, as well as the Family Tree application, were transmitting users' Facebook ID numbers to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then linked those ID numbers to dossiers it had previously assembled on those individuals, according to RapLeaf. RapLeaf then embedded that information in an Internet-tracking file known as a "cookie."

All 12 companies said that they didn't collect, store or use the information.

Ilya Nikolayev, chief executive of Familybuilder, maker of the Family Tree application, said in an email, "It is Familybuilder's corporate policy to keep any actual, potential, current or prior business partnerships, relationships, customer details, and any similar information confidential. As this story relates to a company other than Familybuilder, we have nothing further to contribute."


Glossary (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703999304575399492916963232.html)

Key tracking terminology
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-KB494_WTKglo_D_20100917110349.jpg (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703999304575399492916963232.html)

[Dr. Nebz]

I think there are pros and cons to using Facebook. I think the ability to stay in touch with friends near and far is great. There is no way I could do this all by phone, email and in person and stay up to date with everyone I know in my life.

That being said, the apps thing and farmville really are so stupid. The privacy thing is a huge let down. And now any of your friends can automatically add you to groups whether you want to be part of said group or not.

I am currently working on my new website, which will have all my photography, as well as a wordpress blog, and plan on moving my reporting on expeditions and activities there and taking down all but maybe one photo from Facebook all together. I will use facebook to direct traffic to my blog and site. My site should be up in a month or so. Facebook, like anything else in a Monetary System is a huge joke. It has become the new myspace, minus all the porn spam, for now.

[canyonphile]

Interesting thread. I never had interest in joining FB, despite several people telling me, repeatedly: "You MUST join FB!" Why? It sounded like a complete waste of time. Then, I found out that several of my outdoor friends from Flagstaff were on, and these people I actually am interested in. I thought it would be a good way to keep in touch with them, so I joined.

That was last March. I then had this stream of people that I barely knew, didn't know at all, or simply didn't like, friend request me because of the viral way FB suggests friends for everyone :roll:. For them, it's all about "quantity over quality". So, I added some and ignored others. I then discovered that 90% of the stuff posted there was 100% uninteresting to me: I don't care about your amazing yoga class, how much you love your kid, how bored you are at work, how glad you are that it's Friday, and I sure as to heck don't want to see photos of your sushi taken with your iPhone and posted to FB while you are at dinner! Honestly - who thinks *anyone* cares about that shit? Do an amazing hike and take pics: share 'em! Capture a beautiful sunset? Post pics of that! Get a new job, move to another state, or have something else truly significant happen in your life? Do share! Seldom saw any of that.

I seldom posted, and when I did, it was photos of cool stuff I saw (like a coiled diamondback rattler) or did, or my 2100 mile move back to the southwest. Sometimes, a few people would comment, but often, it was like crickets chirping. I felt like I was standing in a crowded room talking to myself. I only friended a handful of people - those that I was actual friends with. Those that friended me? Most never interacted with me a single time while I was on there. Out of the 50 "friends" I had at the max time , I had feeds hidden on over half, but there was still too much b/s chatter. And my Flagstaff friends, which were the the whole reason I joined, hardly ever posted! Reason: they were busy having REAL LIVES and doing stuff outdoors instead of sitting on their fat, lazy cans showcasing their boring lives and need for attention.

I started a studio page for my art, as several people told me that was something else I "had" to do, for networking/marketing purposes. More crickets chirping when I'd post there, although I did manage to sell one painting...

I realized that I was becoming increasingly agitated by it, and also discovered that my opinions of people that I'd previously liked were changing, and not for the better; I was starting to see many of them as nothing but self-absorbed attention whores. I realized that, aside from my sister, there is simply no one that I have interest in hearing from every day, and that most people's lives are apparently far less interesting than mine. And that my life was not lacking at all because the people from my past (classmates from medical school, and a good friend from HS who never was on) hadn't been in it.

So, about 6 weeks ago, after getting increasingly annoyed by friends who don't seem to have the time to answer emails, but clearly have LOTS of time to spend on FB, I decided to deactivate my account. Ahh...it was glorious! Silence, at last. Out of curiosity, I logged back in to see what happened, and it was like I never left - all the banality was waiting for me again. So, I did some searching, and found out I could permanently delete my account, which I did about 2 weeks ago :clap:. Before I did that, I unfriended almost everyone, deleted most of my wall posts and removed all my personal info.

Regarding my personal opinion of FB, this article sums it up perfectly for me:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-ostroy/i-hate-facebook_b_178867.html

It sounds like at least a few folks here have fun with it, and it's a positive thing, which is great - lucky that you have interesting people on your friend lists!. My conclusion, after being on it 6 months, was circular: that it was a complete waste of my time.

Instead, I'll stick to blogging, which is the only social network that I think is worth a damn, and forums like Bogley, where I choose what I want to read. I can come here and be assured to read things that are: 1) entertaining; 2) educational; 3) interesting. :2thumbs:

I know no one noticed or cared that I left FB :fitz: :lol2:. I emailed the handful of people I gave a hoot about on there and told them I was dumping it, and that I would resort to the old-fashioned communications of email and the occasional phone call to keep in touch. All understood.

A funny thing I read on another anti-FB site I came across:

[B]YouTube, Twitter and FB are going to merge to form a single, huge time-wasting site; it will be called "YouTwitFace". :mrgreen:

[accadacca]

Good post canyonphile.