How Safe Are You Facebooking....

[MARS]

my friends list as ballooned.  

but how many of them would actually show up somewhere if you asked 

But maybe people facebook friends are a different category of friends.  I really don't know as I don't have an account.  :-[

 

[mellian]

but how many of them would actually show up somewhere if you asked 

But maybe people facebook friends are a different category of friends.  I really don't know as I don't have an account.  :-[

Not many, if at all. I am not much of a social butterfly, and facebook not going to resolve that.

 

[Michael OLeary]

But maybe people facebook friends are a different category of friends.

The number of facebook friends you have is dependent on how tenuous a connection you are willing to accept and label the individual as a "friend."  For some, it's probably a simple ego trip thinking they really have that many "friends". How many would they not even recognize on the street if they met them?

 

[Jarnhamar]

I've seen a few people with hundreds of 'friends' onheir facebook.  Mor eoften than not these people have hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of themselves on there - many just the same picture over and over with slightly altered poses.

For some reason I can't use facebook at my computer at work anymore. Getting a hold of people is going to be a real bitch. Facebook for as much as I hate it was phenomenal for passing on timings and keeping in touch with soldiers reserve world.

 

[Greymatters]

I've seen a few people with hundreds of 'friends' onheir facebook.  Mor eoften than not these people have hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of themselves on there - many just the same picture over and over with slightly altered poses.

And usually involving alcohol - and not restricted to a specific gender or age group either (well, over 50 is pretty rare...)

 

[mellian]

Out of the hundreds of pictures with me in it on facebook, 4-5 caught me handling alcohol. All of them were at a bar thought, so a bit unavoidable. Pretty the same for other peoples facebooks i've seen, so I am not sure about 'usually'.

 

[Yrys]

The 3 Facebook Settings Every User Should Check Now
New York Times, By SARAH PEREZ of ReadWriteWeb
Published: January 20, 2010

In December, Facebook made a series of bold and controversial changes
regarding the nature of its users' privacy on the social networking site.
The company once known for protecting privacy to the point of exclusivity
(it began its days as a network for college kids only - no one else even had
access), now seemingly wants to compete with more open social networks
like the microblogging media darling Twitter.

Those of you who edited your privacy settings prior to December's change
have nothing to worry about - that is, assuming you elected to keep your
personalized settings when prompted by Facebook's "transition tool." The
tool, a dialog box explaining the changes, appeared at the top of Facebook
homepages this past month with its own selection of recommended settings.
Unfortunately, most Facebook users likely opted for the recommended settings
without really understanding what they were agreeing to. If you did so, you may
now be surprised to find that you inadvertently gave Facebook the right to
publicize your private information including status updates, photos, and shared links.

Want to change things back?  Read on to find out how.

 

[PMedMoe]

Photo filchers fuel Facebook fears

The similarities between Shelby Crandall’s and Roxy Nicole’s Facebook profiles were remarkable. The two bubbly 20-somethings with dark blonde hair had photo albums brimming with snapshots taken in scenic Boulder, Colo., they hung out with the same crew of friends, and even had identical profile pictures – both were posed beside the same woman: Ms. Crandall’s mother.

The resemblance was beyond uncanny. That’s because all the photos in Ms. Nicole’s profile had been lifted from Ms. Crandall’s.

Ms. Crandall found out about her doppelganger from her husband’s friend, who’d been friended by Ms. Nicole on Facebook. Ms. Crandall was speechless when she saw the profile herself – Ms. Nicole had hundreds of friends and actively communicated with them on her wall. Ms. Crandall complained to Facebook and the account was deleted.

In the early years of personal websites and blogs, privacy and child safety advocates warned against posting personal photos online, less they end up in the hands of would-be abductors.

But as people have swarmed to social networks and photo-sharing sites, fully embracing the share-everything culture, that hesitancy has all but disappeared. Few contemplate their Disney World vacation photos will be viewed by many of their online friends, let alone people they don’t know.

More on link

Just another reason to make sure your FB privacy settings are set for "Friends only" on everything.

 

[DexOlesa]

My privacy settings are friends only, and my friends are good friends and family I have a total of like 70 people. Which is all I need.

 

[Journeyman]

Just another reason to make sure your FB privacy settings are set for "Friends only" on everything avoid Facebook

This just reinforces an earlier comment about how tenuous a connection some are willing to accept in order to label an individual as a "friend."

Should you be less choosy about "friends" online, compared with reality? While I have made some friends through this site (and reconnected with others), I wouldn't remotely consider the overwhelming majority of the 1,873 active users as "friends" -- and of course, at the other end of the spectrum, there's a couple who have gone straight to the "ignore list"  :

I suspect those who feel compelled to seek out friends online actually have few in real life. I have enough friends in the real world already thanks, and I'm not Oprah enough to care about those desperately seeking acceptance from strangers. I simply choose to govern my behaviour online as I do in reality....which isn't a TV show by the way.


Harsh; I know. It's amazing I can sleep at night 

 

[PMedMoe]

Well, if you really want to know (I'm sure you could care less  ), almost all of the friends I have on FB are military or family.  There are a few from here.  I can probably count on one hand, those I haven't personally met.

 

[Journeyman]

I can probably count on one hand, those I haven't personally met.

So you're still counting on your fingers and toes, eh?  ;D



And yes folks, Moe is a friend from the "real world" 

 

[PMedMoe]

So you're still counting on your fingers and toes, eh?  ;D

Of course I am.  It really sucks when I have to take off my boots.....  :-\  ;D

And yes folks, Moe is a friend from the "real world" 

:nod:

 

[aesop081]

Of course I am.  It really sucks when I have to take off my boots.....  :-\  ;D

Thats why i got boots with side-zips  ;D

 

[PMedMoe]

Thats why i got boots with side-zips  ;D

Yeah, you Air Force types really bug us Army types.   

 

[211RadOp]

Of course I am.  It really sucks when I have to take off my boots.....  :-\  ;D

:nod:

Usually she has to get her husbands fingers out as well.

 

[aesop081]

Usually she has to get her husbands fingers out as well.

So many ways that could be taken........

 

[PMedMoe]

So many ways that could be taken........

I was thinking the same thing.  There's just no good way to reply to that. 

 

[justmyalias]

My name is hidden on FB., so you can't even search for me.  Is that safe enough?

 

[2010newbie]

http://www.profilewatch.org/

Copy and paste your Facebook Profile URL and it will return a risk score for the info available on your profile.