Facebook - what's your take?

[chocolate]

For a moment there, I thought you meant Fat Bob.

there's been more than once that I've been confused:

"I also had some concerns about what I had read about FB's policies...."
Fair call.

"...where one's personal pictures and information were deemed to belong to FB even after one had deleted one's account. "
That makes me sound like a stalker.

"Isn't FB passe now, anyway?"
Up yours too!

"I just got back to FB and it is working well for me. "
Oh yeah, baby!

"FB seems to narrow the distance a little"
That'll be the beer gut.

"Here's why I got on FB, in order of priority"
Hold on a minute, sonny Jim, you have never been on me!

"If people use FB..."
I'm sorry, FB does not get used, FB uses!

"and i find FB really useful"
Why thank you darlin'!

[BFG]

Just a quick thought, FaceBook, MySpace, Beebo etc are prime sources of information for ID thieves.

[Kooky]

Would you please tell that to my niece who has her name, address, phone number, mobile number, email address, etc., all up there for ANYONE to see?

[Fat Bob]

I don't know, what's her name, address, phone number, mobile number or email address?

Laughed when Clarkson said being an ID Thief would get you no where. He put his bank account details on the Times website. Someone then made a GBP500 donation to charity for him! Shows you how easy it is and that you don't need signatures anymore in the UK.

[Burbage]

Would you please tell that to my niece who has her name, address, phone number, mobile number, email address, etc., all up there for ANYONE to see?

Only people you have accepted as friends can see your whole profiole, though it's always wise to be slightly inaccurate with things like dates of birth etc.

[slinky]

Just a quick thought, FaceBook, MySpace, Beebo etc are prime sources of information for ID thieves.

Aren't ID thieves after things like social security number (US version of IC number) & bank account numbers and/or credit card numbers? Who would publish those things online? I would think all those pre-approved credit card applications in the mailbox are a bigger target for thieves than a facebook account, but I suppose there's at least one fool out there who has published all that info and allows anyone and everyone who asks to 'be his friend'...

[Lili Von Shtupp]

Slinky, true, but Facebook would come in handy if, say, I rummaged through your trash and found an old bank statement. Friended you on Facebook and snooped around. Over-the-phone transactions ask for verification like DOB, mother's maiden name etc, some of these things people can post completely innocently.

[Dinosaur]

though it's always wise to be slightly inaccurate with things like dates of birth etc.

Yeh I'll go for that one. You mean, take a few years off

[Rosbif71]

I've found it useful to get in touch with friends I had lost contact with. Including home I've lived in 7 countries and studied at 4 Universities so difficult to stay in touch with people

[Sardonicus]

Ok, time to jump into the fray before it goes stale.

I, Luddite, joined FB a couple of months ago, did the posting pictures thing, added friends, reconnected, etc. It was good for finding old friends, and them finding me.

But too much ado about nothing. At least Twitter is what it says it is. I could care less if someone's reading a book to their kid, or on a conference call. I mean, do people balance their laptops on the knees while they're doing family stuff? Kinda like that train accident in California with the guy SMSing.

Anyway, I pulled all of my personal info, Interests, etc. off, changed my birth date, and other things to anonymise myself as much as possible while keeping the account relevant. Whatever that means.

Here's some food for thought:

http://www.bu.edu/today/2009/02/06/farewell-facebook

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,881 ... 27,00.html

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magaz ... _of_alone/

http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/01/03 ... data-back/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tech/ ... ebook.html

[BFG]

Just a quick thought, FaceBook, MySpace, Beebo etc are prime sources of information for ID thieves.

Aren't ID thieves after things like social security number (US version of IC number) & bank account numbers and/or credit card numbers? Who would publish those things online? I would think all those pre-approved credit card applications in the mailbox are a bigger target for thieves than a facebook account, but I suppose there's at least one fool out there who has published all that info and allows anyone and everyone who asks to 'be his friend'...

They are after anything that can be used to build or reinforce a fake ID. Soial security numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers etc are the most valuable, but addresses, phone numbers and personal details are useful too since a lot of companies use these as a "security check" when you are transacting with them.

One of my banks insisted that asking me for my address was a security question....