Internet Culture from London… and beyond
More on Facebook…
TweetAlthough I absolutely love Facebook, knowing that anyone will be able to search my profile using a search engine worries me a little… I recently read that online identity theft is on the increase in the UK and the British authorities are currently struggling to tackle this. Facebook is fun but I am still careful with the information I put on my profile.
Although you can edit your privacy settings so that your profile does not appear on a search engine, Facebook’s privacy system is not so straight-forward. I realised the other day that my profile was public (i.e. anyone could look at my photos, messages etc), and it took me 15 minutes (call me stupid!) to set my profile to private!
- Any idea why Facebook decided to do make profiles searchable on Google?
- How do you feel about your Facebook profile searchable to non-Facebook users?
| Print article | This entry was posted by Lolly on 06/09/2007 at 4:25 pm, and is filed under Social Networking - Tools & News. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
about 2 years ago
Funny you should ask, but my 80 year old aunt, who seems to be somewhat technologically hip cautioned me on serachable personal info. But here’s my take on it. Couldn’t someone just grab a phone book and Google names that way? I agree, why make it any easier than it already is to find out personal info of someone. I suppose that if Monster’s dbase can be hacked, not much is safe.
The smartest thing to do is a) don’t create a profile or b) the only thing in the profile is your name and not much else.
about 2 years ago
I agree! The question is, can you resist the temptation of not being on Facebook?
about 2 years ago
This is a customer relations issue in my mind. Facebook should have made an effort to notify all its users of the searchable profile and public/private setting issue. I guess it’s proof that not everything they’re doing this year is pure genius.
Thanks for bringing it up, though. I’m going to have to go tinker myself.
about 2 years ago
So here’s another question then: Lets categorize the demographic for each social network of any value.. Starting with Facebook and Myspace and working out from there. Go.
about 2 years ago
Facebook is maturing, right?
- 3 million age 25-34
- 380,000 age 35-44
- 310,000 age 45-63
- 100,000 users age 64+
Same thing with myspace…
Check this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/500hats/sets/72157594550002847/detail/
about 2 years ago
wow..i don’t know whats more interesting, the 64+ or the 3 million? the latter is not surprising. It makes sense though, but I bet 18-24 is prolly pretty strong too since facebook is realy taking root in colleges and universities.
I think Myspace is bloated but it really opened things up for niche based social networking sites. I have a great idea for a music based social networking sites that actually is about …lo and behold…music. Which ironically, as we all know, is how Myspace was supposed to be. Now however, it’s evolved or morphed into this monolithic thing, that I don’t even recognize anymore.
about 2 years ago
facebook is really becoming the new white pages. by opening up their walled garden to search, they may be taking the first step towards a broader opening of their platform to other sites. This is something many are saying is necessary to stay relevant.
I’ve posted my facebook wish list on my blog – burningthebacon.com
about 2 years ago
Facebook is going to replace ID cards!
about 2 years ago
I have a love/hate thing with facebook. I like being in control of my social life and like to meet friends in a personal way not over an ethereal environment.