Facebook

[Russell]

We are not social media users - YACF is about as social as it gets for us.  But Mrs R is aware that there are a lot of photos shared on Facebook that we are potentially missing out on.

Is there a way of being part of it without it being a part of us, if you see what I mean?  Is there a way of dipping our toe into the slimy pond without it being bitten off by the metaphorical alligator?

We know nothing about it other than it has a reputation.  BTW, as she works in a school Mrs R is encouraged not to have an account.

TIA

R+R

[mrcharly-YHT]

If you work in a school, open an account using a made-up name. I'd suggest creating a Gmail account purely for facebook as well.
Lock down the privacy so that posts are visible only to friends (not 'friends of friends').

Not much more to it than that.

The 'dangers of facebook' are, IMO, overstated. I know plenty of teachers who use it, connect with pupils, parents and other teachers. It can be used as a way of keeping an eye on vulnerable pupils out of school. Just don't be public about things you don't want shared in the public domain.

[Gattopardo]

Aliases are great for that.

[nextSibling]

People get into trouble on Facebook and other social media because they forget that these platforms are public, or are lazy about diligently maintaining a public-private separation. Problems can be avoided if you simply assume everything you say is public and act accordingly. I use Facebook quite a lot for following various interests without worry by simply never sharing anything personal or professional that I wouldn't want any passing stranger to be able to see. If they can find out who some of my friends are, what kinds of music I like, and where I might have gone on a bike ride, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. No need to share your life history in your profile, or anything but a name (and you can make that up). In my experience, most of the trouble people get into online is more of their own making than they might like to admit.

[SteveC]

My brother-in-law has an account just too look at stuff, mostly one group which is about the town where he was born and grew up. He never posts. As far as I know he has no 'friends'.

[Kim]

We are not social media users - YACF is about as social as it gets for us.  But Mrs R is aware that there are a lot of photos shared on Facebook that we are potentially missing out on.

This walled-garden is how they deliver their product (you) to their customers (advertisers).

Is there a way of being part of it without it being a part of us, if you see what I mean?  Is there a way of dipping our toe into the slimy pond without it being bitten off by the metaphorical alligator?

Not really no.

On the other hand, you can take solace in the fact that Facebook probably knows an alarming amount about you already, on account of people who know you sharing everything (including photographs of you, your phone number, etc) with their systems.

The remaining (and probably more salient) privacy issue is that of sharing pertinent information with people close to you who you specifically don't want to have it.  Facebook is ideal for outing QUILTBAGs to their families, allowing employers to discover their employees' morally objectionable activities, feeding titbits of information back to stalkers etc.  Most of this you can control by keeping on top of the (ever shifting) privacy settings and not spewing things you want to keep really private into the ether, but remember the weakest link is always the (usually unthinking) acts of people you know.  If someone you know from your local elephant pr0n club finds you on Facebook and invites you to their TrunkFest 2017 event, you'd better be damn sure that the privacy settings haven't grown new defaults since you last checked them.


If you decide not to bother, look on the bright side: At least you don't have to put up with their horrible user interface.  And remember that friends who organise things on Facebook aren't proper friends anyway.

[Jaded]

Wot mrcharley said. Create a made up gmail address and use this to create a made up Facebook page. It's fascinating to see Facebook try to match you with other people when it has no idea who you are.

[Afasoas]

I tried using an alias for FB.
Within a week, I was asked to provide a photo of my driving license or passport.

The trouble with creating an aliases is that FB are immediately suspicious if that alias has no existing foot print (..I imagine the FB app mines contacts out of peoples smart phones etc.)

I've temporarily joined FB under my real name because it's the only way a group I'm involved with seems to be able to organise themselves at the minute. As I'm not the only objector to FB in the group, I'll be providing an on-line forum in the next few weeks.

It's uncanny how FB was able to recommend contacts - from all walks of life. I'm figuring it's down to the amassing of data about non-facebook users - we know that FB tracks non-FB users across the internet via the Like buttons people are encouraged to add to their websites/pages.

I cannot wait to be leading an FB-free life again, at least in terms of not having to interact with it.
If you are concerned about privacy I'd suggest:
 - Don't install FB on any of your mobile devices
 - Use a clean/dedicated browser for Facebook (I downloaded Chromium specifically)
 - Don't use said browser for anything else
 - Delete cookies regularly (you will have to sign in again each time you do this)
 - Use a VPN, if possible. Ensure VPN providers DNS servers are used. Disable WebRTC (requires a plugin in Chrome/Chromium)
 - Create a dedicated email address for FB - don't use it for anything else
 - When setting up your profile, provide FB with the bare minimum of information
 - Review privacy settings regularly and tweak to minimise exposure

For any steps that don't make sense, there are plenty of guides available. Just type the terms into your search engine of choice.

[ian]

I have an empty FB presence for those times when I need a login. I must operate in some kind of stealth mode because it's pretty bad at knowing anything about me and the suggested matches generally make me laugh. I seem to be going through a Hebrew phase at the moment.

I don't much care what FB/Google/etc. know about me tbh, if they think it's valuable they can have it in exchange for whatever services they provide. I'm smart enough to figure they're not altruistic ventures. Really my life isn't that interesting.

I don't do FB (and social media in general) because I can't be bothered, I'm a grumpy misanthrope, and I really don't want to see pictures of what your kids did last night. I sort of passively like Twitter though even though I'm sure I shouldn't. I have LinkedIn profile though I don't do much with it.

Generally with social media, sort out your identities, remember to assume it's public. The identities thing is a significant one,  eople post serious stuff about work, and then here's some pictures of me puking in a bucket on Friday night LOL. Then public, because really it always is.

[Jaded]

I tried using an alias for FB.
Within a week, I was asked to provide a photo of my driving license or passport.

The trouble with creating an aliases is that FB are immediately suspicious if that alias has no existing foot print (..I imagine the FB app mines contacts out of peoples smart phones etc.)

I've temporarily joined FB under my real name because it's the only way a group I'm involved with seems to be able to organise themselves at the minute. As I'm not the only objector to FB in the group, I'll be providing an on-line forum in the next few weeks.

It's uncanny how FB was able to recommend contacts - from all walks of life. I'm figuring it's down to the amassing of data about non-facebook users - we know that FB tracks non-FB users across the internet via the Like buttons people are encouraged to add to their websites/pages.

I cannot wait to be leading an FB-free life again, at least in terms of not having to interact with it.
If you are concerned about privacy I'd suggest:
 - Don't install FB on any of your mobile devices
 - Use a clean/dedicated browser for Facebook (I downloaded Chromium specifically)
 - Don't use said browser for anything else
 - Delete cookies regularly (you will have to sign in again each time you do this)
 - Use a VPN, if possible. Ensure VPN providers DNS servers are used. Disable WebRTC (requires a plugin in Chrome/Chromium)
 - Create a dedicated email address for FB - don't use it for anything else
 - When setting up your profile, provide FB with the bare minimum of information
 - Review privacy settings regularly and tweak to minimise exposure

For any steps that don't make sense, there are plenty of guides available. Just type the terms into your search engine of choice.

Did you use a brand new email address?