The evils of Facebook....

[JLives]

10/10 for me too.

[Logitack]

here is another facebook privacy checker

http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/

instructions:

1 Drag this link to your web browser bookmarks bar: Scan for Privacy
2 Go to your Facebook privacy settings and then click that bookmark once you are on Facebook.
3 You will see a series of privacy scans that inspect your privacy settings and warn you about settings that might be unexpectedly public.

[vinnied]

I think this should fall into the evils of facebook category

Cloverdale students caught in Facebook sex contest
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loca ... lumbiaHome

[Jo]

Facebook has reconnected me with a lot of old friends, so I'm happy enough with it. The privacy settings do need to be checked regularly. The good news is, Facebook is bowing to the pressure they've been under for the past month or so, and soon it should be better.

That said, anybody who posts anything really personal on facebook is just plain nuts.

[steven lloyd]

That said, anybody who posts anything really personal on facebook is just plain nuts.

Two things I've always avoided are facebook and unprotected sex.

[motorhomebabe]

They have my birthday, which they have already tried to exploit. other than that they have nothing .I love Facebook , but would never give them personal information

[Queen K]

They think I graduated from high school in 1925. In 1925 my grand parents haven't left the Scottish dock yet.

[Jo]

You do find friends you thought you'd never find again, but I've noticed that once you find them there's usually not much more to it. Your curiosity is satisfied (what the hell ever happened to so-and-so) and you have a brief, 'hi how the hell are you' blip of correspondence then, well, they're mostly just there after that.

The upside is, you now know how they look today instead of how they looked the last time you ever saw them, which is nice because remembering someone as they were when they were in their teens is, well, a bit jarring. Mind you, it's almost as jarring to see that everybody else has *gasp* grown older too, lol. Still, that bit is fun, even if nothing much comes of it.

With current friends it's different, but still, although facebook is supposed to be a 'social network' tool, it is not really conducive to a good conversation or connection.

Facebook is alright for posting ludicrous status updates (something I happen to enjoy doing). Twitter does the same thing, but I never did take to it. My last tweet is month's old now.

[Logitack]

FACEBOOK disables a radio station's facebook account for criticism of facebook policies.

On Friday loyal fans looking for Facebook Fan Pages of radio station KNOI Real Talk 997 and KRBR The Rebel's - received the response "Account has been Disabled". "Today after posting messages in response to Facebook discussions regarding Facebook's new Privacy policies I awoke this morning to find our Facebook page disabled without explanation." says station CEO Leo Ashcraft. The posts consisted of one - two line responses in discussion groups and pressing the like and share button on articles related to Leo Laporte's (The Tech Guy) decision to delete his own Facebook account in protest of Facebook's behavior regarding user privacy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_y7mMlKgjY "Additionally we pressed the like and share buttons on a few articles regarding their up and coming rival (replacement) Diaspora - http://www.joindiaspora.com/ We believe that privacy and connectedness do not have to be mutually exclusive." said Ashcraft. A quote from the offending (to Facebook) website says, "With Diaspora, we are reclaiming our data, securing our social connections, and making it easy to share on your own terms. We think we can replace today's centralized social web with a more secure and convenient decentralized network. Diaspora will be easy to use, and it will be centered on you instead of a faceless hub. Diaspora was announced earlier this year and requested funding in an "angel" network." Diaspora designers requested $10,000 from members to aid in designing and launching the new social site. Nearly 6,000 people responded with donations totaling nearly $200,000. This shows the distane that is growing of Facebook members. These are members that have put their money hard earned money up to preserve the social community.

[Logitack]

QUIT FACEBOOK DAY - MAY 31ST
http://www.quitfacebookday.com/

Why are we quitting?

For us it comes down to two things: fair choices and best intentions. In our view, Facebook doesn't do a good job in either department. Facebook gives you choices about how to manage your data, but they aren't fair choices, and while the onus is on the individual to manage these choices, Facebook makes it damn difficult for the average user to understand or manage this. We also don't think Facebook has much respect for you or your data, especially in the context of the future.

For a lot of people, quitting Facebook revolves around privacy. This is a legitimate concern, but we also think the privacy issue is just the symptom of a larger set of issues. The cumulative effects of what Facebook does now will not play out well in the future, and we care deeply about the future of the web as an open, safe and human place. We just can't see Facebook's current direction being aligned with any positive future for the web, so we're leaving.

[Jo]

The thing with Quit Facebook Day is, people are just talking about it, I'd bet money they won't actually DO it. If a person really wants to quit facebook, they'll just do it instead of joining a facebook page (ironic, if you think about it) bluffing about it. I suspect facebook knows that it's a bluff, too, although they are working on improved privacy settings (which is a definite 'wait and see about that' thing, in my view).

[Logitack]

you are probably correct, jo. as Leo Laporte is saying on his radio show right now, people wont quit facebook because everyone is on it. He also points out that AOL was where everyone was at at one point. Same for myspace. Those two failed because other alternatives appeared, and everyone moved to it.

http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2010/0 ... g-privacy/

60% of Facebook users consider quitting over privacy

Over the last few days we've been running an online poll asking Facebook users if privacy concerns might make them consider quitting the service.

The votes have now been counted, and reveal the extent of members' concerns regarding the popular social network's privacy settings. Our findings suggest that almost two thirds of Facebook users are considering leaving, with 16% of those polled claiming to have already stopped using Facebook as a result of inadequate control over their data.

[Jo]

For sure an alternative would kill facebook if it appeared in time, but none appear to be on the horizon at this point, at least nothing well enough developed at this point.

Further, to move to another spot involves convincing friends to move as well, and that's why I think in the end people will stay.

The latest bad news (but not surprising news) about facebook: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100521/ ... ews_tc2189

[Logitack]

interesting article, jo. not really surprising though. making more money creates unethical behavior....

leo laporte is now encouraging facebook users to put on their fan page or wall page how to delete their account, you can do that by copying and pasting the info from here, http://www.wikihow.com/Permanently-Dele ... ok-Account.

it takes two weeks for that to occur, though. so instead, if you put disparaging words on your facebook account about facebook, such as how to delete your account, they are now disabling your account. LOL.

[Jo]

LOL, the quick-fix, right?

I dunno, though, I've long been posting stuff about facebook shenanigans and fixes (including the 'how to remove' bit) and nothing has happened. Maybe I have one foot on the facebook banana peel, though, lol.