FC/OT: Delete Facebook?

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

The use of data from social media by businesses or political candidates is nothing new. Political consulting firms have ways of tracking your cookies to see what articles you read and what websites you open. Businesses use this data to know who to market to and how. Penn State has a Soda curriculum - Social Data Analytics to train students to work in this field. The bottom line is that anytime you go online you leave a footprint and that data is available to those who know how to mine it.

The big issue is consent IMO - a lot of people don’t realize that when they sign up for a seemingly innocuous personality test app, their personal data will be mined and used in ways they had no idea existed.

 

[Chris92]

I never signed up for Facebook. I only did Twitter for about six months. Never all that interested in social media.

This board gives me all the angst and joy that I can handle.

We've got you covered. I'll start PMing you all of the Go Fund Me requests, viral kitty videos and pics of distant relatives you've never even met.

 

[nittanyfan333]

yeah..imagine when they know you drive by that restaurant every day and anticipate it. Tesla is building a dynamically reconfiguring suspension based on the road you are on. Sharp curve ahead? No problem, car slows down, suspension stiffens, and accelerates through the curve.

exactly! think about this, if someone wanted to, from the GPS on your phone, they could figure out the route you take every day. wherever you drive, someone could sit and wait. they could target you. it blows my mind that people are ok with this.

 

[ivan brunetti]

exactly! think about this, if someone wanted to, from the GPS on your phone, they could figure out the route you take every day. wherever you drive, someone could sit and wait. they could target you. it blows my mind that people are ok with this.

No one wants to target me (outside of marketing crap my way).

 

[olelion]

Without getting into more recent specific privacy-related incidents, is this a realistic option for you? I stopped using regularly some time ago and really only keep it to share photos of kids with some friends and family. The novelty of seeing everything everyone does all the time, or connecting with friends you no longer have anything in common with, has long worn off and anymore I just don't care. If not for family and a few friends, I would completely delete my profile. I already removed it from my mobile devices and only access it from my desktop. I hate that they own Instagram, which is the one social media platform I find worthwhile. Anyone else with Facebook/social media fatigue?

I get that the recent movement is tied to politics and stuff, and not getting into that, but I noticed the founder of WhatsApp (whose company was bought by FB for $19bn!) just shared this....

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Princeton likened facebook to a disease that would spread and then die off.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/22/facebook-princeton-researchers-infectious-disease

 

[ivan brunetti]

Princeton likened facebook to a disease that would spread and then die off.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/22/facebook-princeton-researchers-infectious-disease

It is shrinking but it is just being replaced by other diseases.

 

[gfour18]

shortly after i started a facebook account i had no idea what a "tagged" photo was. I went to a typical class reunion with drinking and dancing. I was also coaching a 10u girls softball team at the time. Some female classmates who feel the need to document every moment of their lives through facebook tug me in several videos that they posted. Suffice to say the girls started coming up to me at practice and commenting about the drinking/dancing because they saw my tagged photos and as someone who doesn't get on facebook that often i didn't know they existed. I went home and quickly learned about untagging (could of swore i was a better dancer).That's when i first realized that it isn't always what YOU put out there.

 

[interrobang]

If you think Facebook is the only social media company doing/allowing data mining, well, I have a footbridge on a south Florida campus to sell you

 

[Nitwit]

If you think Facebook is the only social media company doing/allowing data mining, well, I have a footbridge on a south Florida campus to sell you

It’s everwhere. Do you use a bonus card at the supermarket? Guess what? They know where you live, what you buy, etc. They know the value of your home. If you buy kids stuff, the political candidates will send you a message about education. If your buying hearing aid batteries, they will send you a message about healthcare. It’s easy pickings for the data miners to profile you.

 

[Gnat91]

Without getting into more recent specific privacy-related incidents, is this a realistic option for you? I stopped using regularly some time ago and really only keep it to share photos of kids with some friends and family. The novelty of seeing everything everyone does all the time, or connecting with friends you no longer have anything in common with, has long worn off and anymore I just don't care. If not for family and a few friends, I would completely delete my profile. I already removed it from my mobile devices and only access it from my desktop. I hate that they own Instagram, which is the one social media platform I find worthwhile. Anyone else with Facebook/social media fatigue?

I get that the recent movement is tied to politics and stuff, and not getting into that, but I noticed the founder of WhatsApp (whose company was bought by FB for $19bn!) just shared this....

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Used Facebook to get phone numbers from old Navy buds . Got all the numbers I wanted then kept it for about a week until I realized that most of my " friends" are complete assholes and I couldn't care less what they had for breakfast. So Facebook lasted about a week for me.

 

[ILLINOISLION]

shortly after i started a facebook account i had no idea what a "tagged" photo was. I went to a typical class reunion with drinking and dancing. I was also coaching a 10u girls softball team at the time. Some female classmates who feel the need to document every moment of their lives through facebook tug me in several videos that they posted. Suffice to say the girls started coming up to me at practice and commenting about the drinking/dancing because they saw my tagged photos and as someone who doesn't get on facebook that often i didn't know they existed. I went home and quickly learned about untagging (could of swore i was a better dancer).That's when i first realized that it isn't always what YOU put out there.

Elaine Benes thought she was a better dancer, too!

 

[BiochemPSU]

Facebook is the devil.

 

[PSUSignore]

Let us not forget the worst part about facebook, businesses that think it's cool to not have an actual website, and instead just have a facebook page.

I doubt they think it's cooler or better, it's just cheaper and easier to maintain.

The big issue is consent IMO - a lot of people don’t realize that when they sign up for a seemingly innocuous personality test app, their personal data will be mined and used in ways they had no idea existed.

Agreed. I honestly would like to see legislation requiring users to "opt in" to allowing companies to capture your personal data. Currently the US is in an "opt out" environment so if you take no action you are consenting to giving up your personal info. Some countries in Europe do not allow this.

shortly after i started a facebook account i had no idea what a "tagged" photo was. I went to a typical class reunion with drinking and dancing. I was also coaching a 10u girls softball team at the time. Some female classmates who feel the need to document every moment of their lives through facebook tug me in several videos that they posted. Suffice to say the girls started coming up to me at practice and commenting about the drinking/dancing because they saw my tagged photos and as someone who doesn't get on facebook that often i didn't know they existed. I went home and quickly learned about untagging (could of swore i was a better dancer).That's when i first realized that it isn't always what YOU put out there.

As you probably know, once tagged, anyone you are friends with will see it regardless of who uploaded the photo. You can setup your settings so that others cannot tag you in a photo, and it helps to prevent photos that others upload from showing up in your feed and to your friends. It won't stop them from posting that photo to your feed though, unless you also adjust those settings. I basically have my feed setup that only a very small group of trusted people can tag me or post on my "wall." That gives me the control over the content on my profile.

 

[ivan brunetti]

Also, be sure never to go out to a bar and get drunk. Since you are in public, anyone can take your photo! And who knows who will see it?!!

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I doubt they think it's cooler or better, it's just cheaper and easier to maintain.


Agreed. I honestly would like to see legislation requiring users to "opt in" to allowing companies to capture your personal data. Currently the US is in an "opt out" environment so if you take no action you are consenting to giving up your personal info. Some countries in Europe do not allow this.


As you probably know, once tagged, anyone you are friends with will see it regardless of who uploaded the photo. You can setup your settings so that others cannot tag you in a photo, and it helps to prevent photos that others upload from showing up in your feed and to your friends. It won't stop them from posting that photo to your feed though, unless you also adjust those settings. I basically have my feed setup that only a very small group of trusted people can tag me or post on my "wall." That gives me the control over the content on my profile.

Political ads on social media need to be regulated the same way as print/television ads are too - right now, political groups can by ads on Facebook without having to mention who paid for it. Believe there is legislation with bi-partisan support on the docket for later this year that would treat Facebook and other social media the same as print and television media.

 

[LafayetteBear]

It is shrinking but it is just being replaced by other diseases.

That's what SHE said...

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Some fallout....

Elon Musk just deleted the Facebook pages for his companies SpaceX and Tesla in the wake of backlash against the social media company this week. And it’s a really bad sign for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

SpaceX had over 2.6 million likes on Facebook before it was ordered taken downby the billionaire founder. Tesla had over 2.4 million likes.

A Facebook page for Tesla Motors still appears to be active, though it’s unclear if it’s actually affiliated with the company. A personal page for Musk that looks unofficial is also live. And that might be one of the downsides of deleting your official Facebook presence: Unofficial and fake pages can spring up pretty quickly.



What started all this? Around 11:45am Eastern time Elon Musk sarcastically replied to a tweet about deleting Facebook:

By 12:20pm, the Facebook page for SpaceX was down.

“Looks lame anyway,” Musk tweeted when asked if he’d be taking down the Tesla page as well. The Tesla page was deleted shortly after that.

It’s unclear if the move will be permanent. When someone called out Musk for trolling, he joked right back:



It’s been a really bad week for Facebook all around. But this could mark a really scary tipping point if you’re Mark Zuckerberg—or at least a sign of things to come. Elon Musk’s social media presence has allowed him to share everything from launch videos to photos of his pet snail Gary. But if Musk doesn’t feel like he needs Facebook anymore, others could easily follow suit.

 

[Langmuir]

I use facebook as a distraction. I like to see what old schoolmates are up to and it helps me stay in contacted with family. I fully understand that nothing I post there will stay private. I post maybe 5 times/month. I will comment on something about once per day. I won't do any stupid surveys or quizes. I don't run any apps or connect any apps to facebook. Mostly I post stuff that I think is funny. I very rarely repost anything. I am also careful about posting things like when I am on vacation. I will only post any vacation pictures (which is rare anyway) after I get home.

I have blocked a few people. Mostly people that post daily political rants or people that post every darn thing they do. I really don't care if somebody is doing their laundry.

I don't plan on deleting it at this point and will continue to use it as I have been. I feel like I have limited my exposure and nothing that has come out recently surprises me.

 

[jim cummings]

I dumped mine years ago.

Facebook is the devil. Especially when that lady friend from back in high school or college randomly sends a friend request or message that the current lady sees before you do.

Outside of that, Facebook is horrible during election season. Then some people can’t let go of election results and continue to clutter the feed with propaganda.

Or the people that comment on EVERYTHING. Everything. Or you do a body shot off of some chick at Coyote Ugly in Lauderdale and your buddy posts the pic and Aunt Sally likes it. No thanks.

Truth be told, if you know me well enough, you know my phone number. Use that.

 

[PAgeologist]

I had a FB account with friends and family. Got rid of it cause I just don't care about 99.9 percent of what people posted. I made a new one and only have certain sports and hobby pages on it. I changed the privacy settings so nobody can see/find me on there. Much more pleasant of an experience.

 

[mgkpsu]

I dumped mine years ago.

Facebook is the devil. Especially when that lady friend from back in high school or college randomly sends a friend request or message that the current lady sees before you do.

Outside of that, Facebook is horrible during election season. Then some people can’t let go of election results and continue to clutter the feed with propaganda.

Or the people that comment on EVERYTHING. Everything. Or you do a body shot off of some chick at Coyote Ugly in Lauderdale and your buddy posts the pic and Aunt Sally likes it. No thanks.

Truth be told, if you know me well enough, you know my phone number. Use that.

How would the current lady see a friend request first? Are you one of those guys who isn't allowed to have his own account, and instead has to share one with the woman? Those guys should just end it all!

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

Without getting into more recent specific privacy-related incidents, is this a realistic option for you? I stopped using regularly some time ago and really only keep it to share photos of kids with some friends and family. The novelty of seeing everything everyone does all the time, or connecting with friends you no longer have anything in common with, has long worn off and anymore I just don't care. If not for family and a few friends, I would completely delete my profile. I already removed it from my mobile devices and only access it from my desktop. I hate that they own Instagram, which is the one social media platform I find worthwhile. Anyone else with Facebook/social media fatigue?

I get that the recent movement is tied to politics and stuff, and not getting into that, but I noticed the founder of WhatsApp (whose company was bought by FB for $19bn!) just shared this....

View embedded media

Whether you want to admit it or not, you are “maturing” (aka getting old like the rest of us). FB is primarily oriented toward females...the opposite sex who feels they need to “share things”.

You only need one FB account....a fictitious one for monitoring “ex-wives” and/or “ex-girlfriends”.

 

[artsandletters]

I signed up to find a female friend from the past. Got sucked in a little bit then saw I could deactivate the account. That’s how it stays unless I take a peak, then back to deactivate.

Is there a guide to remove your account entirely? TIA cause I’m a tech (and more) idiot.