HTF on Facebook, or, I'm so behind the times (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

i do get them, as messages right on myspce, not as email.
but it only happens when i sign into my account.
i just de;ete them.

 

[Holadem]

Geez -- that was fast.

I think it's the complete revamp of the site last summer that did it for me. It used to be a lot more static. Of course back then, the outcry against the changes was HUGE. Yet here we are now -- I doubt you could find anyone willing to go back to the way it was.

--
H

 

[MarkHastings]

Ron, are you single? Maybe it was because my profile was listed as being single, which lead to the onslaught? I had the account for about a month and kept getting tons of sex spam every day and I didn't even participate in anything. I just signed up to find a friend and immediately got bombarded.

 

[Ron-P]

Shhhhhh, don't tell anyone Bryan.

 

[DaveF]

That's very interesting. I assumed it's always been this fast moving; this constant data stream from one's six-degrees-of-separation world.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Today it snowed in Atlanta, a very unlikely event for this town, and it's been sort of fun to read and see photos of friends' reactions and stories about the snow showing up today. Without Facebook, it'd be a less communal experience in some ways.

 

[Walter C]

I have both MySpace and Facebook. I hardly use MySpace these days, but check Facebook regularly. Main reason is because more of my high school classmates are on FB, but not nearly as much on MySpace.

I've added a lot of people as "Friends", but I guess it's just to see what they've been up to since high school.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I haven't done Facebook yet. My wife and two kids have. My wife tells the same stories as I've read here about getting reacquainted with some old friends.

It's tough to venture into the great unknown...especially when free time is at a premium to begin with.

I don't think I've heard enough here yet to get me to rethink my position.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

And it was so pretty. Really big, beautiful snowflakes.

I'm so glad that I'm off the next two days. The snow didn't really stick on the roads but it's going down to the 20s tonight so the roads should be nice and slick for the morning traffic.

 

[Buzz Foster]

"I have some fairly close acquaintances (especially spouses of friends) that I interact with (in person) a few times a year. A good friend of mine has a HUGE 4th of July party every year and about 30-40 of my friends/acquaintances show up. When we were all in our early 20's, we'd all hang out at the local bar every Friday night, but now that everyone is in their late 30's (most with kids), we don't get to see each other that much. Some of these people I don't hang out with outside of these parties. It's nice to make small talk with these people online so that when I DO see them, I have a little more to say to them. Facebook is like a virtual bar, it's helping me maintain closeness to people I otherwise never would talk to more than a couple times a year."

That puts it into words so well! I've also started scanning old pictures and slides and have some extensive digital phjoto collections. It's really fun to be able to link up with some of those people whom you would otherwise not see again and share these with them. My cousin was in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, and I took a lot of pics one year from Bonfire Cut to the Bonfire itself. My cousin and quite a few of his old buddies are on Facebook and can now share in these pics. The one who ate a grubworm on camera probably regrets that...haha.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, I know that when I see these people again, we'll have a lot more to talk about rather than the typical "How are you?" - "What's new?" crap that normally goes on at these gatherings.

I'm also talking to people that I normally wouldn't talk to outside of the internet. It's nice to get to know these people online so that when I do see them out-and-about, I'll be able to start a conversation and maybe make some more friends.

FB is like my ice-breaker.

 

[Steve Christou]

Spotted this story in The Times Online Newspaper today -



Facebook users 'at risk' as hackers target site - Times Online

174 million active users? Wow!

 

[Will_B]

"Hackers are now seeking to take advantage of the popularity of social networks like Facebook and MySpace to get users to divulge personal details, he added."

Yeah, I suspect those games where you "create your porn star name" by combining "your mother's maiden name" and your "favorite PIN combination" might -- just might -- have a sinister reason for being.

 

[DaveF]

So how do applications like the Birthday work? I've got requests to add my birthday to "friends" lists via the MyCalendar app. What confuses me is that it's not a Facebook thing, but a third-party application that gets access to my profile to do who knows what.

I don't mind sharing my birthday with others. But I'm concerned that:

So this app can take everything from my profile and do anything, give it to anyone, completely ignore my privacy settings?

Any suggestions or insights into this seemingly (but for certain) benign app?

 

[Holadem]

It's a standard disclaimer for any app, I wouldn't worry about it. Just means it will have to access your info, even stuff that might not be displayed on your profile, like our b'day etc... in order to function. Not knowing how this calendar thing differs from the built-in b'day notification, I 've declined every single request to use it so far.

And just generally, I don't do apps. I keep getting invited to stupid shit like world wars, pillow fights and who knows what else. I systematically ignore them, but apparently my friends don't get the hint.

I do have Flixter, but never use it: annoyingly sluggish and doesn't want you to leave (the back button keeps you in the app.)

--
H

 

[Holadem]

Also the site redesign should take effect next week. I would wait till then before installing anything new.

Can't wait for the inevitable intense bitchfest. The last revamp, a dramatic improvement, generated a HUGE outcry. Yet here we are months later, and you can hardly find anyone willing to go back. Often people are just reflexively opposed to change.

--
H

 

[MarkHastings]

Same here. I may permanently change my status to "Mark is sick and tired of your damn mob war, share a beer, throw a water balloon, etc. requests!!! so knock it off and get a life!"

 

[DaveF]

Are you allowed to say "get a life" from a Facebook update? Isn't that explosively ironic?

I sent a note to the MyCalendar developer asking about this. I'm wary of third-party apps having full access to my data.

 

[Bob McLaughlin]

All of these social networking type sites are blocked from my workplace, so that renders them mostly useless for me. I rarely have time to log on at home so I really don't need to add a new site that I would have to keep updated. For the people I want to keep in touch with, I already have a free forum site with my friends and another site for my family.

 

[Holadem]

*gulp*

Uh... OK I'll be patient. But I am hating the new site. But I'll be patient!

--
H (I hate it!)