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Do you still use Facebook? Why?!

I'm wondering why people still use Facebook.

I became aware of their covert sharing of user data years ago, and said goodbye! Since then, there have been huge...GIGANTIC hacks, privacy breaches and security breaches. These have been very well publicized.

For example, the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which ended up sharing data from 87 million FB accounts, is summarized on Wikipedia, the NY Times, and countless other sources.

After that, in September 2018, FB announced they'd been hacked, this time with hackers commandeering 50 million accounts--including its CEO Mark Zuckerberg's.

Back in 2010 (the year after I chose to #DeleteFacebook), the Wall Street Journal reported how FB was:

"...transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people's names and, in some cases, their friends' names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies...

Also from back in 2010, Tilburg Law School Legal Studies Research Paper Series explained how any time a person, ANY person, not just FB members, clicked a 'like' button--anywhere on the Internet--FB could trace and track them.

I could literally go on all day citing incidents from the past decade, but I'll stop now because I think my point is clear: Facebook is a cesspool of covert activities, privacy breaches, and unwanted (by the member) sharing of members' data...so why do you still use it? :thinking:

Edited to add: Did you know that if you delete your fb account, you're not really deleting it? I had been told, but doubted, how this worked--until I tried it myself. Basically, you've stepped through fb's process of deleting--not deactivating--your account; they confirm it's done, your account is deleted, you're done with them.

And then one day you're viewing ANYTHING on the Internet--not something from or related to fb--and you hit the 'like' button. Guess what? You've just reactivated your "deleted" account. Really. Try it yourself. I did, and I was livid with its result. :(
 
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I have an on-off relationship with FB. I'll go through periods of deactivating my account, but tend to come back to it. Why? Well some people I know can only be contacted or communicated with via that medium. It's also useful for sharing photos with members of extended family I don't see that often. Which admittedly is all of them :) I have musical interests, and there are some groups which have a FB presence, and it's handy to keep in touch with what they're doing. Concerts, that I either want to listen to, or play in, if I'm invited.

As for using your personal data, well yes I know that happens. It's how they make their money. But I doubt that they're alone in doing this. I'd probably be shocked at what Google know about me. Amazon have all my personal purchases going back years, so they know what I'm interested in, and what ads to target me with. Do they sell my data on? Probably. My point is that you now have little privacy online. If anyone wants to pry into my boring little life, they can probably get all the information they want.

And how many website breaches do you hear about? Some, but I'd be willing to bet that most website hacks, involving stolen personal data, aren't revealed. I lost count of how many times my Yahoo email account was 'pwned'.

So do I like what FB are doing? No. But does it adversely affect my life? I don't think so, other than being bombarded with unwanted adverts, which I generally ignore anyway.
 
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smiley-pointing-his-hand-up-vector-21917290.jpg

What he said.
 
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I use f.b. to communicate with my friends, from a different web site altogether, I have around like 60 friends on it, I am very careful on what I write on it, I know the dangerous of relationships even friendships online, I am very careful on what images I post up on there too.

No one web site knows me anyways, besides fb is a tiny tiny speck of the internet.
 
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There's something I forgot to put in my OP's list of why I think fb is a cesspool of awful things, but I'm going to add it so new readers will see it there.

Did you know that if you delete your fb account, you're not really deleting it? I had been told, but doubted, how this worked--until I tried it myself. Basically, you've stepped through fb's process of deleting--not deactivating--your account; they confirm it's done, your account is deleted, you're done with them.

And then one day you're viewing ANYTHING on the Internet--not something from or related to fb--and you hit the 'like' button. Guess what? You've just reactivated your "deleted" account. Really. Try it yourself. I did, and I was livid with its result. :(
 
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I only post "fake" news on Facebook. ;)

My brother is a FB addict. Years ago he convinced me to sign up to communicate with him (he's a bit of a vagabond). So many years later, Facebook knows as much about me as Google or Microsoft or Amazon. They all sell their data to each other anyway. #tinfoil-hat-emoji

I'm in the same camp as @LV426 ... I'm not happy about it, but I'm not going to sweat the targeted marketing. I even get some good stuff sometimes. It's better than the piles of junk mail addressed to 'occupant' that used to be in my real mailbox.

Facebook Pros: I get to see a bazillion cute kittens without ever having to touch one of those nasty creatures.

Facebook Cons: I have to look at a bazillion cute kitten memes before I get to ANYTHING relevant -- which ain't much.
 
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You can actually go to settings > See the location and turn it off.

See you actually believe you are turning off the location and tracking... but it's still tracking your EVERY move...
use baksmali and take a look at the manifest and the code....

it tracks you with or with out your consent...
and so does a lot of other android applications , then they collect data on you for { Targeted Advertisement }
it's all a bunch of krap.
I won't use it.
I get a phone that has it on it... I NUKE IT !!!
 
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and i remember when it was like so and so is on vacation yeah!!! then all the undesirables know that so and so aren't home thus they get robbed on vacation...
Yeah, I've always been amazed at what some people share online. Crazy.
facebook made me sad :(
You're not alone. There are studies showing that people who spend time seeing others' [supposedly] wonderful, exciting lives on Instagram, fb, etc., are sadder and unhappier than those who don't. It's like their realities don't live up to what they're seeing online, and it makes them feel inferior and like they're a failure. :(
 
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See you actually believe you are turning off the location and tracking... but it's still tracking your EVERY move...
use baksmali and take a look at the manifest and the code....

it tracks you with or with out your consent...
and so does a lot of other android applications , then they collect data on you for { Targeted Advertisement }
it's all a bunch of krap.
I won't use it.
I get a phone that has it on it... I NUKE IT !!!
Damn thanks girl for the heads up ^_^
 
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