# Staying away from social networking **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510 "2010-07-21T20:33:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/21 "2010-07-22T03:23:21Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > That is correct. However they can post those things regardless of whether or not you have an account. Yes, of course they can – good catch there, cap’n. Your friends could also staple photocopied pages of information about you to telephone poles around your neighborhood. Which misses the point entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/22 "2010-07-22T06:12:14Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > You do realize that YOU decide what to put online, who can view it and when you take it down, right? Yes but the issue is what perfectly innocuous information you put up over the years could reveal about you. For example I bet there are techniques for developing a psychographic profile of a person based on the material he puts up on Facebook. Any individual posting may not show much but analyzing all the material over a period of time combined with an analysis of your network could reveal quite a lot. Perhaps future employers may be able use this material to understand your strengths and weaknesses for example. Right now I don’t believe Facebook allows this kind of access to third parties but who knows what they could do in the future. Certainly this kind of information would be valuable to a lot of companies. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/23 "2010-07-22T06:20:23Z")
I have a Facebook account for my old work email, and one for my private email, which I got for an ed board I’m on - and promptly abandoned. I see no need. I should really delete them some time. It is not so much that I’m opposed to them, but that I don’t need another time sink. The Dope does that very well. LinkedIn is another matter, since I accept connections from people in my field, an d it is not very obtrusive. I even set up a group for a conference I’m involved with with a message board, which was actually useful. I don’t invite people - I might if I ever lose my job, though. I have other resources which can connect me far better than it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/24 "2010-07-22T06:20:54Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Yes but the issue is what perfectly innocuous information you put up over the years could reveal about you. For example I bet there are techniques for developing a psychographic profile of a person based on the material he puts up on Facebook. Any individual posting may not show much but analyzing all the material over a period of time combined with an analysis of your network could reveal quite a lot. Perhaps future employers may be able use this material to understand your strengths and weaknesses for example. As you said, this kind of access to someone’s social profile isn’t available yet. And even if it were, I can’t imagine any company going to the expense of doing anything like this for any job short of CEO. I know there are people who claim that HR folks really do use your Facebook profile during the interview process to weed out malcontents, but I don’t buy it. Isolated cases, sure, but I will never believe it’s a widespread phenomenom. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/25 "2010-07-22T06:36:31Z")
It wouldn’t be that expensive. It could be automated with algorithms which search for particular phrases, words etc. and other patterns in your postings along with a similar analysis of your social network. And it doesn’t have to be a third party. Facebook could do the analysis itself. Even now I bet it has the means of developing a pretty accurate profile of anyone who posts heavily on Facebook. Perhaps it’s not a big deal but it’s the kind of thing which makes me a bit reluctant to join. ``` And while this kind of analysis may not be used by HR departments today I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes much more common 5-10 years down the line. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/26 "2010-07-22T06:45:54Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > And while this kind of analysis may not be used by HR departments today I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes much more common 5-10 years down the line. 10 years ago I was told the same thing about postings on message boards. It never happened other than as a scare tactic among the technologically illerate. Facebook is different in that you use your real name (but you don’t have to!), but the idea seems equally ludicrous today. Too many profiles are locked down for employers to do this with any regularity. There’d have to be a shift in the way people think about privacy (throwing it all out there for example) to make this worthwhile for employers. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/27 "2010-07-22T06:57:46Z")
The profiles aren’t locked down for Facebook or any analytical firm connected to it. Here is the kind of business model that may develop. Employers/marketing companies/banks may contact Facebook with a list of people they want to analyze. Facebook doesn’t allow the companies any direct access to their database but conducts a psychographic analysis and provides the result to its client. Since Facebook doesn’t reveal the material directly posted by the user but only an analysis based on that material, it could claim that this doesn’t violate any user agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/28 "2010-07-22T11:52:20Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > The profiles aren’t locked down for Facebook or any analytical firm connected to it. Here is the kind of business model that may develop. Employers/marketing companies/banks may contact Facebook with a list of people they want to analyze. Facebook doesn’t allow the companies any direct access to their database but conducts a psychographic analysis and provides the result to its client. Since Facebook doesn’t reveal the material directly posted by the user but only an analysis based on that material, it could claim that this doesn’t violate any user agreement. I can’t imagine anything that could make Facebook go bankrupt faster than if they started selling psychological profiles of their users to anyone who wanted one. It’s a blunder that would be studied in colleges for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/29 "2010-07-22T11:56:06Z")
> [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](#): > > I have a MySpace page that I haven’t checked for years. While I was using it, I was able to find four friends from high school and one army guy I served with. We have (infrequently) kept in touch via email rather than posting personal business on MySpace. > > I have a LinkedIn account but I don’t use it. (See below for reason) > > I WILL NOT sign up for a Facebook page, because I think it is another popularity contest (like MySpace) and I have two stalkers out there who have found me via LinkedIn. So I don’t use that and I won’t get a Facebook page, because I don’t need twice the crazy back in my life. You can block specific people in Facebook so they can’t find you. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/30 "2010-07-22T13:21:31Z")
Yeah, in theory you can block people. Or be really vague about personal info. That will protect your identity. But, IMO if you do that to a level where you are “safe” from strangers, its really not going to be much of a “social site”. Might as well just keep a good email list and send out the occasional email to friends, family, and coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/31 "2010-07-22T20:32:32Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Old high school friends have found me. We even got together last summer and we live 700 Kms apart. How did you know it was them? Do they look like they did back then or do you? I tried this with a list of classmates from high school, not one came up in a name search. You coudn’t have found these people any other way? Or they couldn’t find you? If you have a common name like John Smith it’d be pretty hopeless anyway. Like I said, I can see using the Internet to meet new people. And even your quote says you GOT TOGETHER after you met. But what’s the point of interacting with people on the web. I want to be friends with someone I actually want contact with that person, not just emailing them for years on end. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/32 "2010-07-22T20:34:36Z")
The other thing about Facebook and other social sites is you don’t know who it is. Anyone can post your picture and claim to be you. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/33 "2010-07-22T20:48:29Z")
I’m running a userscript that edits out any Google results from social networking. I’m also running one for blocking all content originating from said sites, banners, ads and so on. I’m also running a third one that disables all links to those sites… and basically censors the actual names by changing them to more humorous ones. So no… not a huge fan of the sites. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/34 "2010-07-22T22:44:34Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The other thing about Facebook and other social sites is you don’t know who it is. Anyone can post your picture and claim to be you. Isn’t that an argument FOR being active on Facebook? Either way, there are plenty of ways to confirm who is who. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/35 "2010-07-22T23:27:58Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > You coudn’t have found these people any other way? Or they couldn’t find you? I suppose there are hundreds of ways of finding people - scour phone books, hire private detectives, call people who know people who know people … or you could use Facebook. Why is that way any less valuable than any other way? > [@Markxxx](#): > > But what’s the point of interacting with people on the web. Ummm…am I being whooshed? ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/36 "2010-07-23T01:29:53Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > I don’t understand all of the threads here announcing that people don’t want to be part of social networking. Haven’t we had a few of these? Are we all going to make threads about all of the things we do not intend do to in our lives? > > Facebook isn’t going to hunt you down and verify all of your information. You can sign up as Frank Blank if you want to and just tell your friends that it is you. I have a couple of people on my friends list who don’t want exes or crazy people they once knew to find them so they use only part of their names and they control who sees what. > > Facebook doesn’t require that you give it any of your passwords or any other such information. You can provide as little or as much as you want. You can update your status or not. People will delete you or not as they see fit. It really isn’t a stressful thing and it requires _no_ upkeep if you choose to have it that way. > > Hey, there are plenty of reasons not to join a social networking site. The best one? I just don’t want to. But if you’re not going to join I’d hope it’s for real reasons and not some of the odd things I’ve read here. Seriously, it’s like IMHO now requires a weekly thread in which someone proudly announces “I am not participating in an entirely optional activity that some people participate in!” And then everyone else joins in and has a good masturbatory time talking about how stupid this common optional activity is, because if you choose to post your favorite bands and amusingly-labeled pictures on the internet, then someone will make a psychographic profile of you, and then…do something with it. Oh noes! Solution: Don’t do it, shut the fuck up about being a Luddite. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/37 "2010-07-23T03:44:49Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Seriously, it’s like IMHO now requires a weekly thread in which someone proudly announces “I am not participating in an entirely optional activity that some people participate in!” And then everyone else joins in and has a good masturbatory time talking about how stupid this common optional activity is, because if you choose to post your favorite bands and amusingly-labeled pictures on the internet, then someone will make a psychographic profile of you, and then…do something with it. Oh noes! > > Solution: Don’t do it, shut the fuck up about being a Luddite. Threadshitting or irony? I suppose if unintentionally the latter, they’re not mutually exclusive… ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/38 "2010-07-23T04:46:45Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > But what’s the point of interacting with people on the web. Well, for one thing, you get to post your opinion, like in an opinion forum, about how it’s pointless to post your opinion on topics, but that you do it anyway, even though it’s pointless. That’s one point of interacting with people on the web. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/39 "2010-07-23T09:41:34Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > **How did you know it was them?** Do they look like they did back then or do you? I tried this with a list of classmates from high school, not one came up in a name search. > > You coudn’t have found these people any other way? Or they couldn’t find you? > > If you have a common name like John Smith it’d be pretty hopeless anyway. > > Like I said, I can see using the Internet to meet new people. And even your quote says you GOT TOGETHER after you met. But what’s the point of interacting with people on the web. > > I want to be friends with someone I actually want contact with that person, not just emailing them for years on end. Oh yes. They might have been impostors now that I think of it. Although we all seemed to share common memories. What the fuck are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510/40 "2010-07-23T21:42:20Z")
For me, I use Facebook to keep track of a lot of the people I work with, since they’re all (or mostly all) on Facebook. I socialize with a few of them, and started feeling a little left out since a lot was getting posted there, and there were jokes and events happening that I was out of the loop on. Since I don’t want to use Facebook with family, or with people from high school or whatever, I simply used an alias, with the same-name alias gmail account so there are no contacts for Facebook to glean if I “accidentally” give it permission to look. So, win-win. I’m in on whatever’s happening at work, everybody knows my alias, and I used my real picture so people know it’s me, but my family, extended family, and whoever might want to stalk me from high school or college can’t find me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staying-away-from-social-networking/547510.md?page=3)