Do you use facebook?

gdb

I have no experience with facebook and have only heard/seen small bits of info on it in the media,is it really as good/bad as I've heard and do you feel your personal info is abused? I just reconnected with an old friend in the USVI and he told me a bunch of folks I haven't seen in 30 years are having a great time keeping up with each other on f-book and he told me to sign up. Will I be letting Big Brother even further into my life?

punk-roc

every time you leave your house or open a shutter you give up some privacy.. you just have to determine if you gain enough positive benefit from it..

Facebook is no different.. significant privacy concerns.. but it is useful

Jason

gfong

never used it.

cokewithvanilla

I have 2 under fake names... no, I won't put my real name on facebook.. or any important information.

They do have a lot of privacy settings, including the option of not being able to be searched for... but I just don't trust people. You can customize them quite a bit, down to individual items in your profile, or down to individual people...

If you do use it, stay away from absolutely ANY 'app' ... as in, when you click something and it says "such and such app would like to be able to see your information and friends and ****" .... yeah, don't click it because such and such app isn't facebook and they do whatever they want with your info.

edit: oh, and if you get addicted (or even play) stupid games like 'farmville' you deserve to lose more than just your privacy..

jimmydep

Don't use it, I'm more of a pick up the phone kind of guy.

gdb

Yeah I've heard of divorces caused by that farmville stuff!:eek: No worries there, I have a real farm, dilapidated as it may be.:frown:

txcoastal1

had one for 2 weeks went through the hot tub time machine landed in 1985....right into high school drama...no crap...just like high school and I bailed To Much Info TMI it was viral

WilliamM2

Never had any use for Facebook, or Twitter. Seems all the rage though. Even most companies use them now, including the one I work for.

comfortablycurt

I use it every day. I've got friends scattered all over the country, and it's a great way of keeping in touch with people, without having to pick up the phone and have an actual conversation. You can have that same conversation over a period of days or weeks. I have a lot of friends that I only see once or twice a year, or once every couple years or so at shows/festivals etc...and it's a perfect way of staying in touch with a lot of people that I otherwise wouldn't ever talk to.

It's great for getting word out/finding out about shows, parties etc. as well.

I don't really feel that it's that much of an invasion of privacy. In fact, I don't feel that Facebook has invaded my privacy even the tiniest bit. You can customize your security settings so that people can't see any of your information unless they're a friend.

As others have said though...DON'T use any of the apps. Those take you to websites outside of Facebook...and your privacy/security settings on Facebook don't apply to external websites. Also, 99% of the apps out there are just stupid anyway.

danz1906

Not Yet

sucks2beme

Don't have. Don't need it.

Toolfan66

Have no use for it or the time for it. That's all I need is something else to keep me sitting in front of the computer or on my iPhone...

janmike

Never have, never will.

PolkClyde

Facebook is cool..... I have fake info on it though.but,have over 300 females friends.. found my wife to be on it....I Love you baby.

BottomFeeder

Been surprised, but I'm really enjoying using facebook. I've reconnected with people from way back in childhood, high school, college & from around the world.

I'm definitely not into "what I had for dinner" posts, but it's a great way to keep up with friends & I enjoy discussing various subjects as well.

Highly recommended.

cnh

Probably 'not' in this lifetime...but I do write a few pages of my 'autobiography' every day and I mail them directly to Mark Zuckerberg at the end of a week with a check for $200 dollars made out to him. That way he can 'still' sell my info and get paid by me at the same time. $10,400 dollars a year and a potential Best Seller--ain't bad! lol

cnh

cfrizz

This is precisely what it is good for. It all boils down to common sense. Don't put info on it that you don't want anyone to know about it & choose who you allow to see you. The only ones who can see me are people whom I have also friended. The only people I friend are people I know personally.

My brother has gotten in touch witho more people from grade school & HS than he can shake a tree at. He is enjoying it immensely.

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I use it every day. I've got friends scattered all over the country, and it's a great way of keeping in touch with people, without having to pick up the phone and have an actual conversation. You can have that same conversation over a period of days or weeks. I have a lot of friends that I only see once or twice a year, or once every couple years or so at shows/festivals etc...and it's a perfect way of staying in touch with a lot of people that I otherwise wouldn't ever talk to.

It's great for getting word out/finding out about shows, parties etc. as well.

I don't really feel that it's that much of an invasion of privacy. In fact, I don't feel that Facebook has invaded my privacy even the tiniest bit. You can customize your security settings so that people can't see any of your information unless they're a friend.

As others have said though...DON'T use any of the apps. Those take you to websites outside of Facebook...and your privacy/security settings on Facebook don't apply to external websites. Also, 99% of the apps out there are just stupid anyway.

Ron-P

The only security issues you'll have are those you give up. There's no need to give anything but a name and email addy if you so choose.

It's a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and family, I've been using it for years without a single problem.

gdb

Ron-P wrote: »

The only security issues you'll have are those you give up. There's no need to give anything but a name and email addy if you so choose.

It's a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and family, I've been using it for years without a single problem.

That's what I wanted to "hear" ! Thanks!!! There's not too much noteworthy in my life that anyone would have much interest in anyway.:mad:



:biggrin:

fishbones

I got swept into it, for a 20-year high school reunion. Got addicted for awhile getting to know old friends again. Now after a year and half, I only check it once a week (if that). I realized that there's a reason I don't stay in touch with most of them. The ones I've stayed in contact with are the friends I didn't need to get on FB to see anyway...but it's entertaining some times.

maximillian

No. However, I do have a personal website where I post the information I want to make public in a format that I want to display it. No one bugs me to be my "friend" but all my friends can easily see what is going on in my life if they want to. I have a public and private area. The private area is password protected so only people who know my have access to more personal information. It's still not much more private than what I would want to share in public just in case the site gets hacked. Complete control over my information is more critical to me than what Facebook can offer. And I know that there's no one data mining my info.

bobman1235

Jesus you people are paranoid freaks. There's no info on Facebook that isn't in the public record unless you put it there.

RuSsMaN

Use it daily, if not hourly. The audio doors I've opened alone, amazing, and probably wouldn't have happened otherwise.

It's a neat tool, just use your brain before you use the site/app.

comfortablycurt

I really don't understand what people are so worried about. As others have mentioned, the only info you absolutely have to give them to sign up is your name and email address. That's the same info that you had to give to sign up at this website.

Yes, you have the option of giving out a lot more info, but it isn't necessary.

How exactly do you put the information out there "without realizing it", as some of you have mentioned? I'm really confused on how that's even possible. If the only info you give them is a name and email address...that's all the info they're gonna have.

xj4094dg

I have an account but I haven't used it in a long time. I prefer the privacy of gmail. I've been very careful about who gets my gmail address and (knock on virtual wood) am not getting any spam.

I've learned I don't really want to hear from anybody from my past that I don't currently communicate with.

Jstas

There's no such thing as privacy.

If you pay taxes, have a phone number, have a utility bill of any sort, ever bought and registered a car, any information that someone could get from you on Facebook is readily available else where. Besides, YOU control how much info is published on Facebook. So if your "privacy" *snicker* is compromised on Facebook, it's your own stupid fault, not Facebook.

cokewithvanilla

comfortablycurt wrote: »

I really don't understand what people are so worried about. As others have mentioned, the only info you absolutely have to give them to sign up is your name and email address. That's the same info that you had to give to sign up at this website.

Yes, you have the option of giving out a lot more info, but it isn't necessary.

How exactly do you put the information out there "without realizing it", as some of you have mentioned? I'm really confused on how that's even possible. If the only info you give them is a name and email address...that's all the info they're gonna have.

Well... you have no info on facebook, but you have friends... friends post a picture, tag you ... write some stupid stuff in the description, then their friends can see it, and sometimes friends of friends. You can untag yourself, but you have to realize that it has been done in the first place. Now if the friend doesn't care about who sees what on their profile, anyone can search them out, and find your stuff through them.... even stuff like conversation exchanges between you and them are not private... there's a stalker feature that lets you see exchanges between different people. Many privacy settings are defaulted at "Friends and Networks"... so, when I stalk people, I just keep changing my network or location and new information comes available.

Now really, I don't know who I would be afraid of seeing this info, an employer or someone maybe, but no one specific... I just like my privacy (I don't even want people from high school, or individuals who know my name to even know what state I am in). I don't generally give out my phone number, no one has ever been to my apartment, and I tell few people where I live. Maybe I'm paranoid. But I do know that when I was hiring employees, I checked facebook, myspace, and google first... I didn't hire a good number of people based on facebook/myspace crap. I imagine that some people in the world have to think like me, so I would rather keep my exploits private.


Some of the things I have mentioned could have been removed or might be able to be turned off, but I've seen this happen. So, if I made an error, correct me.

kawizx9r

I have it but don't ever really use it.

As for the privacy issue, you can only leak out what you put in there.

If you know someone and want to maintain contact with him/her, then there really isn't a need to put down private information about yourself.

bsoko2

ATTENTION: Facebook will become owner of the publishing rights of ALL your private photos. You need to make a simple change: go to 'account', 'account settings', 'facebook ads'(along the top), 'ads shown by third parties', choose 'NO ONE' then SAVE. 2 minutes' job.

bobman1235

cokewithvanilla wrote: »

I just like my privacy (I don't even want people from high school, or individuals who know my name to even know what state I am in). I don't generally give out my phone number, no one has ever been to my apartment, and I tell few people where I live. Maybe I'm paranoid.

Let me let you in on a little secret : you're going to die someday. You really want to have lived a life where you were afraid to let friends (assuming you have any) even visit your house?

But I do know that when I was hiring employees, I checked facebook, myspace, and google first... I didn't hire a good number of people based on facebook/myspace crap. I imagine that some people in the world have to think like me, so I would rather keep my exploits private.

Anyone who doesn't hire someone based off of Facebook, except in extreme circumstances, doesn't deserve their job. If someone shows themselves doing drugs or illegal things on FB, fine, I understand that. But beyond that, who cares what someone does in their personal life? "Ohhh, this person drinks and has fun with his friends, I wouldn't want someone like that working for me! He probably even lets people know where he lives!"

fishbones

Just try it, and see if it's for you. You can always cancel your account.

Just be careful...when a beautiful young college girl (with whom you've never met before) wants to 'friend' you on Facebook - DON'T! Those are usually scams trying to get info about you (and it's usually some guy who found a hot chick to post a picture of on a fake account). I've seen these, and always refused them. Otherwise, set your account settings for privacy, and have fun! Oh, and if you're married, don't be talking to women you shouldn't...it will probably end badly. Use common sense and you'll be fine.