So the controversy about facebook privacy practices has become mainstream recently, concerning an increasing amount of people. Is it because now politics made it part of your arguments against The Others? whatever it is, now people start to realize that facebook is not that nice, not always…
Personally I decided long time ago, before it became popular in my country, that I wouldn’t use it, for reasons that might be a bit stupid perhaps (it gets the rights of your pictures, and I used to hang out with some nerds who convinced me it was evil… and maybe they were right after all). I have regretted a few times since then but I felt awkward to create an account… and now I’m happy being out of it.
However, facebook DOES track people who are not even registered and stores data about them. Yeah, a bit annoying or even worrisome.
So… what can you guys do about it? Some suggestions:
As a very very early user of Facebook, when you still needed a “.edu” e-mail to even join. I have been through lots of “eras” of Facebook. Holy cow, I suddenly remember the time when there was no wall or feed.
I used to be one of those users that would share everything and make updates to my status on a daily basis. If I hadn’t made an update, something was seriously wrong. Nowadays, FB is more of a way to stay connected with old friends, keep up with news from my hobbies and an extra source for restaurant/store info. I think I am averaging 2-3 posts a year after 2015-2016.
Nonetheless, all my activity has gone over to Instagram and occasionally, I do make videos and post them publicly on Youtube. I don’t really do it for the attention or for monetary reasons, how I see it is, IG/FB/Youtube and the other social media apps are just today’s diaries, photo albums and VHS/camcorders, it’s our generation’s way of keeping a record. Now, of course, it’s completely up to the person sharing the pic/video on whether they want to publicly or privately share.
Facebook owns Instagram, so they’re still getting and manipulating your private information. Nothing different in that regard even though less random people see Instagram, Facebook still receives and uses the private data.
So you better add Fuck Instagram to this subject title.
Just a small remark: when we talk about facebook tracking you and storing your data, it doesn’t mean just your posts, but your activity across many (most? all?) websites. Same with google. They can know and analyze your hobbies, your affiliations, your social networks, the cafes, restaurants, etc… where you have been (just because of your IP, or the wifi you are using, or even your GPS I guess), the websites you have visited and for how long, etc…
Yeah, I remember what an uproar there was when the feed first came, and FB opened up to non-college users. Those outrages seem so quaint now.
Been checking that dumb site daily since 2005. I’m a bit surprised another, better social network didn’t come along and replace it, like how FB usurped MySpace.
Yes definitely
