Terrifying Facebook Omniscience

[winjim]

On Facebook today, I was looking at my friend requests when who should I see under people you may know, but someone from this very forum! Facebook must have some really nasty internet history trawling fill-in-the-gaps type software to suggest that. Clever, but scary...

Maybe I'll friend request them just to weird them out, because I know who they are... but I doubt they know who I am...

 

[Drago]

It won't be me. I use a fake name. The real Trevor McDonald must wonder where the Hell all the friend requests come from.

 

[classic33]

On Facebook today, I was looking at my friend requests when who should I see under people you may know, but someone from this very forum! Facebook must have some really nasty internet history trawling fill-in-the-gaps type software to suggest that. Clever, but scary...

Maybe I'll friend request them just to weird them out, because I know who they are... but I doubt they know who I am...

Well there's at least six of me on there that aren't me. Relative moaned about me never replying to his messages. He's since found a further seven.

Anything to do with a tank in the surname?

 

[classic33]

The obvious question is what would you do if they accepted you?

 

[winjim]

The obvious question is what would you do if they accepted you?

Chat about bikes I suppose. But I can do that here.

ETA: Tanks but no tanks.

 

[classic33]

Chat about bikes I suppose. But I can do that here.

Well, let us know how the request goes. We don't hear from you again FaceBook will be an obvious place to start looking.


You'll find me on a few sites, but that's one I've stayed off. Too many "security" questions asked.

 

[Drago]

I use a junk email address for FB, and lied on all the questions, I feel sorry for any schmuck who buys my details off them.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

because I know who they are

Ha!
I don't know half of the folks on my fb: if a requester has bikes, cats or my place of work in their profile I figure they know me

 

[Diggs]

For some reason Facebook seems to think I have some sort of interest in cycling,
Actually, using adblock and mainly accessing FB on phone I seldom see the ads nows. It's mainly the dubious "Like this completely dodgy page and win a Range Rover" data harvesting ones that worry me.

 

[classic33]

Ha!
I don't know half of the folks on my fb: if a requester has bikes, cats or my place of work in their profile I figure they know me

Bit odd intit

 

[classic33]

For some reason Facebook seems to think I have some sort of interest in cycling,
Actually, using adblock and mainly accessing FB on phone I seldom see the ads nows. It's mainly the dubious "Like this completely dodgy page and win a Range Rover" data harvesting ones that worry me.

George, god rest his soul, came from Aberdeen. I'm on that forum. Never made the connection until now. Will have to go through one of the early e-mails sent out where everyone's e-mail address was given.

 

[Globalti]

I listened to a programme on R4 about internet security and at the end of the programme they asked a government security specialist what advice he would give to anybody thinking of putting their details on Facebook or any other social media. His advice? "Don't. Just don't. Once that information is out there, it's out there and we have no idea how it will be abused or misused in the future".

To my shame I used, when I was less cautious, to post on a Land Rover forum under my own name and now, ten years later, the posts still come up if I Google my own name. I'm hoping they will disappear eventually. I heard somebody from the Police talking about tracing a suspect and they said: "Unfortunately he's not active on the internet so he's proving hard to trace". It is really amazing what internet savvy people can find out about other people, for example when a commuter films them being abusive; within hours their personal details are all over the web.

 

[Sara_H]

I'm Facebook friends with two CycleChatters.

I'm more disturbed when itvites be to Facebook friend my ex-husband!

 

[Archie_tect]

I bought a new vacuum cleaner direct from the company's website last week.

Now everyone involved in the vacuum cleaner world appears to know, but they keep offering me great deals on the vacuum cleaner I've just bought- not too bright are they?

 

[yello]

I once went to set up a Google+ page thingy.

It suggested adding certain people as friends/family. Some from my email contacts (I have a gmail address), so that was understandable. Some I'd never heard of, that was just weird, but some I did know though had never exchanged emails with. That, I found creepy.