Facebook "Trusted Contacts" Lets You Pester Friends To Recover Account Access 114
alphadogg writes "Facebook Thursday said it's making available globally a feature called 'Trusted Contacts' that lets users select three to five friends who can help users recover account access such as if they forget their password. Facebook said the idea is that once these friends are identified as 'trusted contacts' through the user's security settings, Facebook will provide each of them with a special code. 'Enter the codes from [at least 3 of] your trusted contacts, and you'll be able to access your account,' Facebook says. 'After you set your trusted contacts, we'll notify them so that they can be ready to help you if you ever need it.'"
Security (Score:5, Interesting)
That sounds like a really good idea; adding a human element to password recovery using already established trust relationships. Of course, slashdot wouldn't be slashdot if we didn't try and skew reader response by painting it as "pestering".
Re:Security (Score:4, Interesting)
It does not protect against a bad choice in friends
I would imagine that Facebook account access is the least of your problems if you have a bad choice of friends.
Re:Security (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Teen Drama in 5 4 3 2 1 (Score:3, Interesting)
This is a social gimmick (Score:5, Interesting)
It creates yet another layer of "friendship exclusivity" in the Facebook social world. You have "friends" already, but now you can have "OMG BFF!" people as well, and some will feel accepted or rejected based on whether they are one of your "chosen few."
This is, of course, the intent - to create more hype and drama, and even more important, yet another vehicle for narcissism to flourish.