Facebook Questions
Post by trapeze on Jul 26, 2010, 11:54pm
I need some questions answered about Facebook.
First let me say that in some ways I am fairly tech savvy. I am one of those people that can usually fix anything (and am generally annoyed that other people know this about me and prey upon my good nature to get me to fix their crap). That said, there are some aspects of modern tech life that I just flat out refuse to participate in. Voice mail would be the most prominent example (you should hear my voicemail "announce" message) of me opting out: I don't like having to interface verbally with machines, period.
I am also extremely paranoid about my privacy. My online name, for example, was chosen randomly (I opened a dictionary and stuck a pencil on a page and landed on "trapeze") so as to reveal nothing about myself. I pick passwords in a similar fashion to avoid situations where someone could easily guess them. I could go on but you get the point.
So...
I know next to nothing about Facebook and would be completely happy to have things stay that way except for one thing. My son is leaving home soon (very soon) to join the Army and I have been told that if I really want to stay in touch with him I will need to get a Facebook account. Well, I do want to stay in touch with him so I am going to have to do this, I guess. (insert smiley that is puking here)
Can anyone tell me a few things about Facebook?
Do I have to list myself under my real name?
Can I use my throwaway email address instead of my real one?
Am I required to give them real personal data such as birthday, etc.?
Are there ways that I can protect my identity that you know about and that I don't know about?
Any other suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by libertasinfinitio on Jul 27, 2010, 6:36am
I'll bump this thread because I'd like to piggyback on Trap's questions. I get asked all the time to join Facebook, LinkedIn etc but have resisted for the same reasons. If I can join these without leaving fingerprints I'd like to do it!
Oh, here's a barfing smiley...
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by rocketman on Jul 27, 2010, 8:27am
Facebook Question:
Why would anyone join knowing how they operate?
You are not secure with a Facebook account.
Just watch all the Spam appear in whatever e-mail accounts you have or link to.
.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by pandora on Jul 27, 2010, 8:44am
I'm unable to answer your questions either, trap. I don't have a "page" and don't want one. From what I understand, though, the rule goes for Facebook as for other internet comm - don't put anything on there that you don't want disseminated.
I don't know who told you about needing one to really keep in touch with your son, but if true, the contact between you will need to be kept very superficial.
Also, just recently, I heard that Facebook changed some rules without notification, aggravating many.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by rocketman on Jul 27, 2010, 9:04am
Yep.
They sold member info without consent.
No Thanks
.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by irondiopriest on Jul 27, 2010, 10:18am
If it was me, I would set up the account with a generic yahoo or gmail address, use a pseudonym known only to your son, include no information about your true identity, etc.
From what I understand, you are in control over what you place on the page, regardless of what they do with the info once they have it. If you give little, then there is little they can use it for.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by predatordon on Jul 27, 2010, 11:01am
Facebook is no different than any other social site......Don't give out personal info...I use it as a tool for business and it works.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by glock32 on Jul 27, 2010, 2:35pm
They chose the name Facebook because disqualifymefromfutureemploymentopportunities.com was too long.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by pandora on Jul 27, 2010, 2:41pm
Jul 27, 2010, 2:35pm, glock32 wrote:
They chose the name Facebook because disqualifymefromfutureemploymentopportunities.com was too long.
Hoo boy. Ain't that the truth!
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by mnhawk on Jul 28, 2010, 9:08am
Do I have to list myself under my real name?
Supposedly yes.
Can I use my throwaway email address instead of my real one?
ONLY use a throwaway. Every Russian male will be beating a path to your inbox to get their hands on your teabags, promising to grow them. Yahoo spam filter is pretty good at filtering it all to spam.
Am I required to give them real personal data such as birthday, etc.?
Can't remember, but definitely don't display your full birthday on your page.
Are there ways that I can protect my identity that you know about and that I don't know about?
No more, no less than you want to. If you want to link yourself to high school or college you can, if not, you don't have to. Things like that. Turn off everything you can to your non-friends that you can. If you don't want fired, don't post pics of yourself in a hotel room, pointing at yourself, yelling, "take care of THAT!"
And no, the 20 year old model doesn't really want to be your friend.
What good is Facebook? Having all the far flung relatives on there and catching news. Seeing how retarded some of your relatives are, by the groups they join (there's always the ignore person button to flush that Obama spam to the tard filter.)
Fan of lesser known bands who's news you would have never seen. Where they're playing, things like that. The other side of that is a lot of "fan" pages are just ways of harvesting e-mail for the above Russian types. I tend to only join band run pages.
Just don't display anything you wouldn't be comfortable in the world knowing.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by libertasinfinitio on Jul 28, 2010, 11:37am
Sounds like good advice!
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by libertasinfinitio on Jul 29, 2010, 11:11am
Oops!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38463013/ns/technology_and_science/Re: Facebook Questions
Post by irondiopriest on Jul 29, 2010, 11:20am
Jul 29, 2010, 11:11am, libertasinfinitio wrote:
Oops!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38463013/ns/technology_and_science/It's important to note, though, that only those personal details that people chose to post about themselves were posted online. This fella didn't get ahold of or post anything that people didn't post themselves. The only negative here is that the things people posted are now preserved, and if they change what they would have chosen to post, it is archived by this person, even if they change their facebook page.
Ya just gotta be smart.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by glock32 on Jul 29, 2010, 12:53pm
Bear in mind also that anything you make publicly available could become permanently public, even if you later decide to remove it. There are many web crawling engines that cache websites, Google chief among them. I guess it's like the old caveat, don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother to read in a newspaper article about you.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by irondiopriest on Jul 29, 2010, 3:11pm
Jul 29, 2010, 12:53pm, glock32 wrote:
Bear in mind also that anything you make publicly available could become permanently public, even if you later decide to remove it. There are many web crawling engines that cache websites, Google chief among them. I guess it's like the old caveat, don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother to read in a newspaper article about you.
Man, you can say THAT again!!!
When the PowerLine Forum first came on line, it happened to be the day that I saw an amazing performance by the Latino pop singer, Ricky Martin. While everything I had ever seen of the guy reeked of producer-created cookie-cutter pop-stardom, this performance was live, in Spanish, with a very excellent Latin band, and I was literally blown away by the musicianship, Martin's vocals, and showmanship.
I bothered to post that in the entertainment section at PowerLine called "Patsy's", under the heading, "I'm coming out of the closet", explaining in the post that I was "coming out of the closet" as a fan of Ricky Martin, and explaining why.
Click HERE to see a perfect example of what Glock says above.
ETA: Of course, now that we know that Ricky Martin's a fa&&ot, that kinda changes the flavor of what I handed down to posterity, doesn't it?
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by alphabetsoup on Jul 29, 2010, 5:15pm
Jul 29, 2010, 12:53pm, glock32 wrote:
Bear in mind also that anything you make publicly available could become permanently public, even if you later decide to remove it. There are many web crawling engines that cache websites, Google chief among them. I guess it's like the old caveat, don't post anything you wouldn't want your mother to read in a newspaper article about you.
Seconded.
Even if you think you're being scrupulous about who has access to what you put out there you can't control what they do with the information. Can anyone claim that they have never heard 3rd-hand gossip? Stuff that was mentioned in passing or even overheard - and not just eavesdropping either.
I'm having an on-again, off-again discussion elsewhere about using "real-world" identities versus nom de plumes.
There is a disconnect that I can't seem to bridge.
On one hand it seems to some dishonest or deceitful (or something) if you don't use your "real world" identity, but in the same breath they insist that they will only "friend" or communicate with people that they know. Doesn't that negate the whole idea of going to a semi-public place to meet people?
And if you're not there to meet people, aren't there safer ways to keep in touch with those few that you do want to keep in touch with?!
I don't get it...
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by pandora on Jul 29, 2010, 5:26pm
>>> Even if you think you're being scrupulous about who has access to what you put out there you can't control what they do with the information. <<<
Exactly.
Ask your disconnected conversants if they ever write their SS number on their checks and if not, why not. After all, they decide exactly who gets the check, right?
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by nolan on Jul 29, 2010, 7:41pm
I don't google and I won't use facebook b/c they're so liberal and seemingly hostile to conservatives and the truth.
Trap, I'd be nothing short of amazed if the USO or some organization didn't have a similar means of communicating w/ service members.
Look around a little, I'm sure you'll find some alternative.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by trapeze on Aug 5, 2010, 12:27am
Thanks for the comments/advice. My instincts on this are to stay away. Or be hyper anonymous.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by alphabetsoup on Aug 5, 2010, 12:31am
BTW trap - Rush announced today that he was going to put up a Facebook page. You know that one will be locked down
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by libertasinfinitio on Sept 23, 2010, 10:24am
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by pandora on Sept 23, 2010, 11:25am
My three actual friends know where to find me without it.
The rest can kiss my azz.
Re: Facebook Questions
Post by sectionhand on Sept 30, 2010, 9:06am
Jul 26, 2010, 11:54pm, trapeze wrote:
I need some questions answered about Facebook.
First let me say that in some ways I am fairly tech savvy. I am one of those people that can usually fix anything (and am generally annoyed that other people know this about me and prey upon my good nature to get me to fix their crap). That said, there are some aspects of modern tech life that I just flat out refuse to participate in. Voice mail would be the most prominent example (you should hear my voicemail "announce" message) of me opting out: I don't like having to interface verbally with machines, period.
I am also extremely paranoid about my privacy. My online name, for example, was chosen randomly (I opened a dictionary and stuck a pencil on a page and landed on "trapeze") so as to reveal nothing about myself. I pick passwords in a similar fashion to avoid situations where someone could easily guess them. I could go on but you get the point.
So...
I know next to nothing about Facebook and would be completely happy to have things stay that way except for one thing. My son is leaving home soon (very soon) to join the Army and I have been told that if I really want to stay in touch with him I will need to get a Facebook account. Well, I do want to stay in touch with him so I am going to have to do this, I guess. (insert smiley that is puking here)
Can anyone tell me a few things about Facebook?
Do I have to list myself under my real name?
Can I use my throwaway email address instead of my real one?
Am I required to give them real personal data such as birthday, etc.?
Are there ways that I can protect my identity that you know about and that I don't know about?
Any other suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated.
Trap ... If you're a Politician ... Don't " Tweet " , " Twit " , or " Twat " .
'nough said !
