For those of you on Facebook...

[illy5603]

Haha, for all of you who don't own a TV... Facebook has replaced e-mail and phones for me, I love it. I remember having to keep a stupid paper book around the house with phone numbers and paying out the butt for long distance calls to people to stay in touch. Then came e-mail and all the spam and chain letters that came with it followed by Instant messaging with all of its fake add requests... To me Facebook is the ultimate way to stay in touch with those you care about and those you could care less about.

Here's a news flash too. Unless you don't use a credit card, subscribe to Cable / Satellite TV, subscribe to ANY web services or magazines, "they" already have your information. Staying off of Facebook isn't keeping anyone from getting marketing data off of you, it is just an alternative way of getting it. Small trade off for the ability to keep track of all my ex-girlfriends as they get fatter and fatter each year on Facebook.

Also I run a group for Ami-Express Sysops, stop by if you ever ran an Ami-Express BBS.

[illy5603]

Who are 'they'. And what would they be doing with what ever 'they' are collecting. If this 'Facebook' is just another mechansim to peddle adverts directly linked to browsing habits then I'm kinda glad I've never used it. I have a credit card, I have Sky and I subscribe to an Architects Journal. Now what ? Sorry what has that got to do with anything. I don`t get spam mail, don't get junk mail generally, and don`t get bothered by nuisance phonecalls. But then I don`t publish my private details across the internet. That would be very very silly....

I'm not the one who is worried about who "they" are, I will leave that to the rest of the tinfoil hat set. For your information, I don't get spam, junk mail or nuisance phone calls either and that is my whole point...

[illy5603]

@Piru, great idea about the redirects! Thanks. I had just dedicated my hotmail account for all of my crap e-mails and forum junk but your idea is better for tracking spam source.

[illy5603]

@Scuzz,

I hear you but I think you are missing my point. My point is simply that online information harvesting is just a more efficient method of what other offline companies have been doing for years.

For example; my mother in law bought us a subscription to a history magazine for Christmas. A few weeks later we started getting stuff in the mail for civil war memorabilia, coin collecting, etc.

You are right that people walk like cattle into these types of harvesters online but my question is, so what? At worst I get ads at least remotely similar to the stuff I "like" and if I don't want to click on them, I don't click on them. I don't get spam as a result of Facebook, just exposure to advertising which is almost unavoidable in modern society.
 
I can understand finding sites like Facebook pretentious, self aggrandizing and narcissistic, but it has a practical application too as Red has found out.
 
Anyway, I have contributed already to too much thread hijacking. If you like it fine, if you don't fine.