Do you have a profile on Facebook?

[Treffie]

Thought I'd throw this question out to the forum members.

As for myself, I'm a refusenik, I can't really see the point in it, I don't really want to see what my old school friends are up to but most of all, I don't like the thought of all and sundry knowing my personal information. I suppose I'm turning into a grumpy, old man. :thumb001:

Internet fora is enough for me thanks. :)

Your opinions please.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/2009/02/ive_never_joined_facebook_beca.shtml

[Pino]

yes, the amount of people who i've got in touch with who I hadn't seen for 5 years mainly from High School is amazing, I probably would have never heard anything from these people for the rest of my life if it wasn't for facebook.

I dont spend my whole day on there like some people though.

[Alison]

I have a FB profile, and it's mostly made up of family overseas, local friends, and also friends who have emigrated. It's a nice way to keep in touch as most of the people know each other.

I rarely get time to post on there though.

[Osweo]

I have, but I don't use my real name and birthday and so on. I travel about a lot, and need a means of keeping in touch with people. And posting pictures of my snowmen.

I got into it purely as a means of keeping an eye on what my sister is up to, taking note of who she's in touch with and so on, what men are hovering about her...

As an employer, we've had a right load of myther with the thing, though. The amount of stupid childish gossip, bullying and rumour mongering that goes on there is ridiculous. Even between some clients and staff! You'd think they'd just join a Forum... :P

[Lady L]

I do have one, but I haven't signed into it in weeks...its kinda lame, and I don't know why so many people go crazy with it...I'd also prefer MySpace over Face Book :)

[Addergebroed]

No, I don't have Facebook. I have "Hyves" something similar, but dutch. It's possible to make your profile invisible for non-friends, so I don't need to worry about my privacy.:)

[Stormraaf]

I have a Facebook profile, but I only check it once a week or so. It can be useful sometimes.


It's possible to make your profile invisible for non-friends, so I don't need to worry about my privacy.:)
You can do that with Facebook too.

[Beorn]

I have a Facebook account, but rarely use it as I couldn't care less about meeting people through it. Old friends or new ones.

I made it because my partner wanted me to do so.

I much prefer Bebo. Bebo is basic, fun and a lot more suited to trolling.

[Aemma]

Nope, though family on my side and my hubby's keep bugging me about it. Apparently I'm missing out on something. :rolleyes:

I spend enough time on the computer any way. :eek: I can't see myself juggling yet something else! :cool:

:coffee:

[Ulf]

FACEBOOK is planning to exploit the vast amount of personal information it holds on its 150 million members by creating one of the world's largest market research databases.

In an attempt to finally cash in on the social networking site, once valued at $US15 billion ($23.6 billion), it will soon allow multinational companies to selectively target its members in order to research the appeal of new products. Companies will be able to pose questions to specially selected members based on such intimate details as whether they are single or married and even whether they are gay or straight.

The company, which has struggled to make money from advertising, has been demonstrating the benefits of its new instant polling tool to business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Randi Zuckerberg, the global markets director of Facebook and sister of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, said multinational companies had been bowled over by the ability to receive real-time feedback from the site's millions of users.

"I had tons of people saying 'this could be so incredible for our business'. It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don't have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses," she said.

At the conference Facebook asked a range of questions of its users before feeding the answers back to delegates within minutes. It targeted users in Palestine and then Israel with the same question about global peace, before debating the results.

Marketing experts have said the vast amount of personal information Facebook holds may be worth "untold millions" to market research companies.

Facebook has sold the new polling system, called engagement ads, to CareerBuilder, a recruitment company.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/how-your-facebook-is-their-fortune/2009/02/01/1233423045622.html

[Revenant]

Nup, had a myspazz years ago but shut it down for numerous reasons.

[Aemma]

Read somewhere facebook and marketing companies are setting up a user info access partnership. It was just a matter of time really.

Actually I was going to mention this aspect too, so since you brought it up.... This concept is called "data mining" and there's quite the rumour out there that this is all that FaceBook was developed for: to get vital stats on people in order to be able to better target certain cohorts for marketing purposes. So the more info. you write up on yourself, the better profiles marketing companies can direct to the companies who then use this info with product development in mind. It's all used to perpetuate the consumerist agenda in the end. Or so the rumour goes....

:coffee:

[Revenant]

Actually I was going to mention this aspect too, so since you brought it up.... This concept is called "data mining" and there's quite the rumour out there that this is all that FaceBook was developed for: to get vital stats on people in order to be able to better target certain cohorts for marketing purposes. So the more info. you write up on yourself, the better profiles marketing companies can direct to the companies who then use this info with product development in mind. It's all used to perpetuate the consumerist agenda in the end. Or so the rumour goes....

:coffee:

I wrote that before I saw Ulf beat me to it (long day!) . But yes, some Govt agencies, here at least, also have these data mining co-ops.

Many people put so much personal info on social networking sites I doubt they give much thought to who sees it or what they do with it. Marketing companies and who they pass the info on to can be very annoying, but identity fraud is of far greater concern. You really don't want organized crime networks getting a hold of your ID.

[Skandi]

I have one It's been open about 3 years but didn't even have a photo until a couple of months ago. I don't use it at, in fact the only use was to contact somebody I lost contact with when I moved and lost my phone about 7 years ago, now I've found him the site is again relegated to obscurity.

[Aemma]

FACEBOOK is planning to exploit the vast amount of personal information it holds on its 150 million members by creating one of the world's largest market research databases.

In an attempt to finally cash in on the social networking site, once valued at $US15 billion ($23.6 billion), it will soon allow multinational companies to selectively target its members in order to research the appeal of new products. Companies will be able to pose questions to specially selected members based on such intimate details as whether they are single or married and even whether they are gay or straight.

The company, which has struggled to make money from advertising, has been demonstrating the benefits of its new instant polling tool to business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Randi Zuckerberg, the global markets director of Facebook and sister of its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, said multinational companies had been bowled over by the ability to receive real-time feedback from the site's millions of users.

"I had tons of people saying 'this could be so incredible for our business'. It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don't have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses," she said.

At the conference Facebook asked a range of questions of its users before feeding the answers back to delegates within minutes. It targeted users in Palestine and then Israel with the same question about global peace, before debating the results.

Marketing experts have said the vast amount of personal information Facebook holds may be worth "untold millions" to market research companies.

Facebook has sold the new polling system, called engagement ads, to CareerBuilder, a recruitment company.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/how-your-facebook-is-their-fortune/2009/02/01/1233423045622.html

Now how did I not see this? Sorry Oulfie! :( I guess my post is a tad redundant. :D

:)...Aemma

[Psychonaut]

I set up a personal Facebook and a personal Myspace account two years ago but have not checked either of them in nearly as long. I use Myspace to host my music, but I much prefer fora for social networking. :thumb001:

[Spencer]

Nope don't have an account.

[Brynhild]

I have one but I only check in sporadically. Friends of mine (offline) post events and the like, so it's good for that purpose. Other than that, you can guess where I spend most of my puter time these days! :D

[Baron Samedi]

I do have one, and it totally destroys Myspace for light social networking purposes.

[Atlas]

Yes, I do. Found out a lot of friends from high school there. Great place to keep in touch. :thumb001:

[Fortis in Arduis]

I am against www.facebook.com

I have a profile, but I am going to delete it and there are only a few people on it.

[Lenny]

CIA, NSA using Facebook to recruit spys (http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/national/2009/02/05/the-cia-and-nsa-want-you-to-be-their-friend-on-facebook.html) :sherlock:

[Octothorpe]

I do have a Facebook account, and have reconnected with old college pals (most of whom have moved far away) and former students of mine. I don't worry too much about data mining; the conglomerates were doing it via mail and banking accounts long before the Internet came around. Anything written down, either with paper or electrons, can be (eventually) found/monitored. So, don't let anything really important out of your head. :)

[Vargtand]

I was talked into getting one.. I have not updated it though :P

[Crose]

Something about it seems impersonal and a bit too personal when it comes to the information they ask you to provide. It seems as though it's easier to keep in touch with people, but in reality it makes you lazy in a sense. Instead of calling or going out with your friends you're content with a quick email making you almost anti-social. I had an account for about a week, deleted it when I thought about it's consequences. I prefer face to face contact, looking someone in the eyes tells me a lot more than a computer screen.

[Hildolf]

Facebook etc are bad for your health.. allegedly:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090219/tuk-get-off-facebook-and-get-a-life-dba1618.html

[safinator]

Yes but could live without it.

[Siberian Cold Breeze]

i have an account on a fictional name ,for games only..i m not much a social person..

[Edelmann]

Yeah, but it doesn't seem to work with Chrome half the time (page won't load fully, etc.).

[Svipdag]

I disapprove of facebook. It seems to tempt too many users to be indiscrete.



"Discretion is the better part of valor."

[Kalitas]

No. Facebook, what is that? I've never heard of it