# I pit facebook **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732 "2011-09-18T18:56:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/21 "2011-09-19T20:02:08Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Why are you cursing at me? You don’t know the first thing about me. Well, given your carelessness in putting personal information online in the first place, I’m sure that’ll change soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/22 "2011-09-19T20:07:55Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Why are you cursing at me? You don’t know the first thing about me. I don’t like my private conversations with my friends public and I find employers being able to snoop around about me creepy even if there is nothing to find. A good portion of what I update facebook about is videogames or books, but it’s nobody’s business but who I choose to be able to see it. > > FACEBOOK is the one who screwed up, not me. Nothing there is anything to be ashamed of, but when I wrote the entries, they were NOT PUBLIC. > > This was HUGE deal my mom wouldn’t STFU about for months, that I don’t let her post on my wall or see my posts. I didn’t even want to add her due to EXACTLY the privacy concerns that ended up HAPPENING, but she whined about it like a freaking child until I added her. > > I’m over 18, and I use facebook as a way to talk to my friends. Do you wonder what your son talks about with his friends over the phone that they don’t want you to know about? Probably nothing that would interest you, or stuff that would but is none of your business. My advice is to cancel the annual subscription and use the money for something else. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/23 "2011-09-19T20:50:42Z")
I don’t really understand the “If you didn’t want anyone to see it, don’t post it online” folks. It isn’t anything notoriously private, but perhaps you talk to your employers and your friends and your parents all in exactly the same way. I don’t, and I’d very much like to keep a barrier. My coworkers almost never see my real sense of humor, and I’d prefer it that way, and my parents just wouldn’t get it. I’m not sure how this equates to putting my very very personal stuff online! I am extremely careful in what I post, even when it’s locked up, but I still would like the program to do the shit it says it does. This is the biggest reason I stopped posting on FB, btw. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/24 "2011-09-19T20:52:42Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, given your carelessness in putting personal information online in the first place, I’m sure that’ll change soon enough. What personal information? What carelessness? > [@Anaamika](#): > > I don’t really understand the “If you didn’t want anyone to see it, don’t post it online” folks. It isn’t anything notoriously private, but perhaps you talk to your employers and your friends and your parents all in exactly the same way. I don’t, and I’d very much like to keep a barrier. My coworkers almost never see my real sense of humor, and I’d prefer it that way, and my parents just wouldn’t get it. > > I’m not sure how this equates to putting my very very personal stuff online! I am extremely careful in what I post, even when it’s locked up, but I still would like the program to do the shit it says it does. > > This is the biggest reason I stopped posting on FB, btw. This is exactly what I am talking about, thank you. For example, I have friends on FB that I know from my religion. When I am talking to my friends I occasionally curse, I never curse around these people, and I made filters on purpose so they would not see me curse. This isn’t “personal” information, but I don’t talk that way in front of them. I am pretty shocked FB screwing up MY privacy is somehow my fault to the people here. Basically the arguments I am running into here are arguments against using social media period. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/25 "2011-09-19T20:54:07Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > What personal information? What carelessness? It’s the Pit, don’t sweat it, someone always goes contrary just to be contrary. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/26 "2011-09-19T20:54:55Z")
I’m sorry, was I not writing in English? Maybe I should type slower next time. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/27 "2011-09-19T20:58:53Z")
It was english it just didn’t make a lick of sense since I didn’t post any personal information and I wasn’t careless. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/28 "2011-09-19T21:02:41Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > My advice is to cancel the annual subscription and use the money for something else. I know this is a riff about how I don’t pay for FB, but FB is a huge money making machine because of people like me seeing their ads, I am a customer just as much as if I paid for the service. Or would you feel fine if the SDMB gave you malware from a banner? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/29 "2011-09-19T21:55:03Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > It was english it just didn’t make a lick of sense since I didn’t post any personal information and I wasn’t careless. You claim that you would sue Facebook if you had the money to do so because you don’t know “who saw what”. Are you saying you would sue them for revealing your filthy potty mouth to your Bible study pals? ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/30 "2011-09-19T22:37:49Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > You claim that you would sue Facebook if you had the money to do so because you don’t know “who saw what”. Are you saying you would sue them for revealing your filthy potty mouth to your Bible study pals? I was thinking more along the lines of, if I had the money, and I was job searching and found out I was disqualified because of something innocent that I posted privately on facebook that was revealed publicly because of a software glitch I would consider it. And I know you’re just trying to be a cool middle-aged e-bully but “religious” is not a synonym for “Christian”, FYI. Question for the people giving me flack, was I worthy of such vitriol when I posted my political orientation (potential hiring manager might not like mine) on my private profile, or did I become worthy of the vitriol after FACEBOOK glitched and revealed my info publically? Because if the former, then that is an argument against using social media period…which is fine, but just realize it makes you sound like the parents outraged at Elvis’ swaying hips. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/31 "2011-09-19T22:53:21Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I know this is a riff about how I don’t pay for FB, but **FB is a huge money making machine because of people like me seeing their ads** , I am a customer just as much as if I paid for the service. Or would you feel fine if the SDMB gave you malware from a banner? [bold added] Actually, that’s not the case. It’s not the ads you see that make them a multimillion dollar company. What makes them a multimillion dollar company is that they are **data-mining** their users, and **selling** that info. That’s why they make it hard to find the proper settings to secure stuff. The more info they can get from you, the more money they can make selling that info. That’s why I don’t use Farcebook. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/32 "2011-09-19T22:57:57Z")
Good point, but I’m their customer either way. I’m comfortable with them selling what data they have mined (hey this guy in the 18-30 bracket likes videogames a lot!) , I am not comfortable with them making my information public without my knowlege due to a software screwup so that hiring managers can look for an excuse to put me into the discard pile. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/33 "2011-09-19T23:09:24Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > I was thinking more along the lines of, if I had the money, and I was job searching and found out I was disqualified because of something innocent that I posted privately on facebook that was revealed publicly because of a software glitch I would consider it. OR if I lost my current at-will job because of something I posted. I actually worked at Nintendo when a girl made the news for getting fired posting something about her boss on FB, neither Nintendo nor the boss were even named in the entry. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/34 "2011-09-19T23:52:39Z")
I think that most of us are just pointing out (colorfully, as this is the Pit after all) that you’re a bit naive to have ever trusted FB’s privacy settings in the first place. An employer can’t fire you for what you’ve shared if you never shared it in the first place. And you’re not a customer of Facebook’s, you’re a commodity. ---
**Author:** ![Borzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Borzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borzo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/35 "2011-09-20T01:43:15Z")
Diamonds, porn - and now the internet - are forever. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/36 "2011-09-20T02:26:49Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I think that most of us are just pointing out (colorfully, as this is the Pit after all) that you’re a bit naive to have ever trusted FB’s privacy settings in the first place. So no one should use social media to talk to friends or else you get what’s comin’ to ya, got it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/37 "2011-09-20T02:29:59Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I think that most of us are just pointing out (colorfully, as this is the Pit after all) that you’re a bit naive to have ever trusted FB’s privacy settings in the first place. An employer can’t fire you for what you’ve shared if you never shared it in the first place. And you’re not a customer of Facebook’s, you’re a commodity. What you said. If one doesn’t post it, they can’t mine it. If one does post it, they _ **will** _ mine it. Complaining after the fact just shows that they were right about how stupid their users are. And are selling the data about your “friends”, right now, sucker. > [@rogerbox](#): > > So no one should use social media to talk to friends or else you get what’s comin’ to ya, got it. :rolleyes: Basically, yes. Sucker. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/38 "2011-09-20T05:03:06Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > They still might be having group sex with dogs and cats though. Don’t be silly. The dogs and cats just watch and occasionally put a cold nose in an ass crack. ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/39 "2011-09-20T12:59:59Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Because if it’s available for you to comment on, you just might. > > Chances are whatever conversations they’re having on Facebook are conversations with friends. If I’m having a [del]argument[/del] [del]debate[/del] discussion about which pokemans are best with my friends I certainly don’t want mommy hopping in with “FUCK YEAH SEAKING!” I guess my daughter is the exception to this rule, heh. But then, our relationship has been mainly long distance for years, so we find Facebook to be a fun way to keep in touch. She likes it when I “like” and post on her goofy posts. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732/40 "2011-09-20T13:12:29Z")
> [@Jeneva](#): > > I guess my daughter is the exception to this rule, heh. But then, our relationship has been mainly long distance for years, so we find Facebook to be a fun way to keep in touch. She likes it when I “like” and post on her goofy posts. 😉 If our mothers respected our boundaries it might be OK. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook/596732.md?page=3)