Your Ex-CoWorkers Will Kill Facebook 267
Random BedHead Ed writes "Cory Doctorow writes about the downside of social networking on the Information Week site, with a focus on Facebook. While he starts with some minor but insightful quibbles, he quickly moves to a critique of the core of social networking: 'Imagine how creepy it would be to wander into a co-worker's cubicle and discover the wall covered with tiny photos of everyone in the office, ranked by 'friend' and 'foe,' with the top eight friends elevated to a small shrine decorated with Post-It roses and hearts.' Do you really want to add your boss and coworkers to your friends list? (And more to the point, do you really have a choice?)"
Already killed LinkedIn (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Already killed LinkedIn (Score:5, Funny)
Facebook will Adapt (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:Facebook will Adapt (Score:4, Interesting)
Someone else posted a satirical story [pttbt.ca] about Facebook implementing multiple profiles for different facets of your life. In the grand tradition of satirical stories that later prove true, [theonion.com] this is a feature that Facebook desperately needs to implement, to secure their own viability going forward if nothing else.
Re:Facebook will Adapt (Score:4, Insightful)
You mean the same way the smart people at Microsoft have dealt with viruses, spyware, adware, and so on?
The problem is not with the people at Facebook, the problem is with the users of Facebook, who may not be stupid either, but they are most likely ignorant of how to build a web page, run a blog, mailing lists an so on.
Facebook and the like automate for the "average" user all the Internet goodies that us bleeding edgers have been playing with for years. There is nothing in Facebook, Myspace or Orkut that I couldn't have done with my own web page, blog, scripts, etc. as far back as the mid-90s. They've just packaged it and put a name on it (and probably filed patents on it for all I know) for "the masses".
If like most users of Windows, Facebook users just complain about security issues and never "vote with their feet" there will be no reason for those not-stupid people at Facebook to improve things. In fact, since ignoring security and privacy can have a beneficial impact for advertisers (again, assuming users don't see fit to walk) there will nothing but PR campaigns to reassure users while at the same time doing little or nothing to actually solve the problem.
The issue is not how smart they are, but how much you trust them. Personally from what I've read about them so far, my answer is: "Not very much".
My response was to cancel my original account before I had populated it with very much information and open a new account with a fake name and nothing of interest to the company or its advertisers. I've yet to hear of a great number of other people doing the same, although I suspect a lot of people who have got a clue will just avoid using it until that is the only way to communicate with their grandchildren (if it gets to that point).
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The Facebook people are smart on technological issues but not when it comes to copyright and trademark issues. Facebook's latest idea of using member's photos when the user writes a review of a product and creating an implicit ad, if the user doesn't opt out, is a class action lawsuit waiting to happen.
Read up on the Taster's Choice lawsuit and how it cost Nestle $15.6 million USD for using the photo of a person, who did
Re:Facebook will Adapt (Score:4, Insightful)
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People are stupid? (Score:5, Insightful)
I did.
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My employer might frown on the extensive online tribute work I created in homage to Huey P. Newton.
Re:People are stupid? (Score:4, Funny)
Does your sig represent work or recreation?
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Anyone curious about the hurting people for fun can check my bloggage at kintanon.blogspot.com for more info. There will be a new post tonight.
Your Ex-CoWorkers Will Kill Facebook (Score:5, Funny)
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Same here, and I'm very glad I did it. Captain Splendid is completely unconnected to any mention of the real me online.
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Re:People are stupid? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm amazed there are people who don't do this.
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Same thing applies to social networking sites. You give trusted co-worker Roger your screen name, next thing you know you got Bob in accounting sending you a friend request, saying "hey man we work together!
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Yo!
To me, it always seemed like a no-brainer. I keep a webmail account for all personal communication, and don't give it to work clients. The only people outside work that have my work email address are my immediate family...
Otherwise, I get clients trying to get me to do work on the side after-hours, and I have to explain Uncle Bubba's "Illustrated Ode to Hooters" email to my boss...
No thanks!
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maintain... separate online identities for Work and Recreation
You'll notice from my /. nickname that I did this...
...and now sort of regret it, now that I'm consulting and wish I could tie together the various sites at which I lurk, as part of an effort at building a coherent brand...
...something which I would surely regret 5 years from now, when I move on to project X.
Wanna know what's really funny? I chose "myvirtualid" as a quasi-ironic meaningless handle and decided to use it as a throwaway at all
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How many people thought that their usenet posts from 1992 would be available on a search engine on the Internet (remember, this was pre-web) 15 years later? I certainly didn't. Searching on my name on google groups today makes me cringe. Wow, everybody back then put their real, unobfuscated email address in their .sig.
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Easy solution (Score:4, Insightful)
Or just not use Facebook in the first place.
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Or just not use Facebook in the first place.
Yes, that is an easily solution, but probably not one that the people at Facebook would favor. That's what the story is about.
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Which is why it was the second option I suggested, the first being to keep your info private.
Even if you make it "private", there's still a decent chance it can leak one way or another. Like let's say you put something that says, "Only share within my network." So you let one of your coworkers into your network because he's your actual friend, but then he's dumb enough to set your boss as his friend. Suddenly your boss is in your network.
Of course, you can choose instead to only allow things to be vis
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Take my slashdot setting for example - I've added a few people
uh, dont use it? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:uh, dont use it? (Score:4, Interesting)
My Fiancee and I went to the same high school but were in different grades. Despite being in a musical together, we only talked on perhaps two occasions. One day she wondered what I had been up to (people at my old high school still talked about me after I left due to my NASA work) and sent me a message. Less than a week later, I visited her at her school and discovered someone absolutely amazing.
So, despite all I might disagree with, I owe much of my current happiness to both NASA and Facebook. May they both live long and prosper
Re:uh, dont use it? (Score:5, Funny)
But just as most of the turbulent online relationships he'd known ended up, he too, was doomed to her foe list.
He'd heard so many stories of couples meeting and falling love, when was it his turn? If only they could hear his heart, pleading for their attention! His fingers tapped away a message over the keys. A message in a cyberbottle. A plea.
A plea for a happy ending.
Don't worry, pembo13. Your time will come.
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Social Networking Sites in General (Score:5, Insightful)
Heck, I've even had people I used to work attempt to add me to their friends list and I rejected them. Then again I'm one of those people who only accepts invitations from people I know in the flesh, don't allow myself to be searched for and never post anything on the profile anyways.
Re:Social Networking Sites in General (Score:5, Funny)
It's because they're hoping to score with Hot Internet Chicks. Why is this hard to understand?
If playing every Mario game ever made has taught me anything it's that guys will do anything, even eating strange mushrooms and jumping head first into sewer pipes, for the vague possibility of impressing women.
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You are allready assimilated... restistance is futil!
Facebook: getting to know you before the first dat (Score:2)
It's because they're hoping to score with Hot Internet Chicks.
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I mean, from TFA.. maintaining lists and 'top friends' (which personally I don't do, since I don't rate my friends against each other) is fine because it's the accepted way of behaving in modern society. Why does the AP say it's 'creepy?' - because they don't like facebook? Because they're afraid of what their friends think of them?
I'd seriously consider not employing someone with that attitude because it's
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It's still not an invasion of privacy or anything else. You simply choose not to tell them about stuff.
OTOH someone who posted crap like that about facebook is probably the kind of person who doesn't like socialising in meatspace either, and not a good co worker.
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Combine that with social pressure - "are you on myspace, facebook, AIM, etc..?" and you see the trend.
We all find different avenues to express ourselves. It can be a bit overwhelming, being bombarded with all this expression, personal information, emotions. Best taken in small doses.
Re:Social Networking Sites in General (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably the same reason we pick our noses in our cars, despite everyone being able to see us. It feels more private and anonymous than it really is.
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I'm available on Usenet. That right there cuts down on the stupidity of social networking sites.
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In all seriousness though, these sorts of services make finding people trivially easy. That's great if only your friends are looking for you. Not so great otherwise.
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Did you mean that in the biblical sense?
No wonder I have been rejected so much! (maybe thats cause i'm always on
Don't be a fool, wrap your tool!
Hmm. I don't seem to care. (Score:3, Interesting)
I do recognize that some people have the kind of boss that demand to be added to my profile. I'd simply have ignored him. If I was really pushed, I'd either let him fire me (fun times ahead!) or give him access to the limited profile.
Again, though, my boss isn't an ankle-dragging technical cretin.
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And of course you won't be fired for THAT; However the economy is in a down turn could be reasons they, regrettably, have to let you go.
Madness? THIS IS LINKEDIN! (Score:3, Insightful)
That would be LinkedIn.
Re:Madness? THIS IS LINKEDIN! (Score:5, Insightful)
If I ever go onto facebook, I don't think I'd go "ranking" my friends. Talk about an unfeature.
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Billy Madison claims Prior Art! (Score:2)
Danny's "list of people to kill"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SADRcGrIo7g [youtube.com]
Now THAT would be creepy.
Finally (Score:5, Funny)
At least those idiots will do something right before they die.
Why just your office? (Score:2)
John Dvorak, is that you? (Score:5, Insightful)
You might say, well if I'm friendly outside of work with one coworker and add that one person to a friends list, but then that person adds every one in the office, including the big boss, to his/her list, can't those people then link back to my page?
Well, yeah, welcome to society. This is not news. This is not technology related. Folks interact. Something you share with one person may in turn be shared by that person with others. It's called discretion, get some.
I think you missed the bigger picture (Score:3, Insightful)
Now what do you do if your boss says they want to be your 'friend'?
This could be politically damaging no matter how you answer it.
What if he isn't in political favor and you want a promotion to another department?
Yes, politics is stupid shit, It's wasteful, harmful, and hurts organization. It is real, and in some career tracks, inescapable. Fortunately IT workers are buffered away from it more then oth
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I'm not saying it doesn't happen. I'm saying, this is nothing new, not particular to Facebook, and not a technilogical issue.
What if you're having a party and your boss finds out? What if you want to invite some coworkers but not others? Same issues with friend lists and social networkin
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Something you share with one person may in turn be shared by that person with others. It's called discretion, get some.
If people had discretion, Facebook wouldn't have a business, because people wouldn't be throwing personal information online willy-nilly.
This is not technology related.
Sure it is, because the obvious question is, "What technology can Facebook come up with to mitigate this problem?" What kind of web/database magic could be worked that can improve social networking? People apparently ne
Yes you have a choice (Score:2)
in the real world... (Score:4, Interesting)
What is Facebook? (Score:3, Interesting)
Here were are at the obvious end conclusion. Social networking sites are not bad just for children, they are bad, period. Diary books normally come with a lock and key, social network sites come with an invitation for you to share your personal diary with the rest of the world, whether the rest of the world has any desire to read it or not. Social networking is to the Internet what reality tv is to video based entertainment. If we could get the pages judged by American Idol judges, perhaps it would be a bit better, but as long as bright neon spandex clothing continues to be sold in XXXL sizes, social networking sites will continue to plague society.
I personally think it is a bonus feature for my next job interview that I don't have a social networking account.
My Co-workers Won't Kill Facebook (Score:2, Funny)
They don't have a clue what Facebook is, and even if they did, they wouldn't use it because the UI is too confusing for them.
That's what happens when you code PL/SQL for ten-plus years in a 4-GL IDE - your brain turns to mashed turnips.
In-Cubicle Ranking of Coworkes (Score:2)
That would be so unprofessional, not to mention risky. Feelings would be hurt. It's one thing to selectively lunch or dine or smoke with or chat with a core group of co-workers. It's obvious, and natural.
However, ranking the entire company or division or building/site would risk incurring strange or dangerous reactions. Imagine the spurned one-time fling or would-be lover spurned by company policy or by a new, hot competing love interest in our outside the company.
I think LISTING friends for all to
Obligatory, I'm afraid... (Score:2)
In former-Soviet Russia, your ex-coworkers kill you [guardian.co.uk]!
Your Ex-CoWorkers Will Kill Facebook (Score:2)
Your Ex-CoWorkers Will Kill Facebook
No, no, no. That's not right at all.
Bill's Ex-CoWorkers Will Fucking Kill Facebook
Or buy it.
web applications have a purpose (Score:2)
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How stupid is it to get so fucking emotional about the stupid things people get so fucking emotional about?
Oh wait
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fix it! (Score:3, Insightful)
Misperceptions (Score:2)
No, it's not. Nor does clicking the easily found "deny" button automatically make somebody "a foe." Actually, come to think of it, this here Slashdot place is one of the only ones I've come across that allows both friend and foe designations.
-- but removing someone from your friend-list is practically a declaration of war.
No, it's not. Well, maybe if you're so unable to deny the initial friend request then this is a problem, but neither
new technology (Score:2)
Its new technology, its here, just use it or loose it.
As with telephone, way in back times, you didn't have to see the person you're talking to. That must've been pretty weird experience, when to talk to someone you really had to go over and see them.
Revolutionary technology is always weird, you don't have to walk then miles and think ten days to
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What's so revolutionary about a web page with a database back end and some automated scripts that run to send out some notifications here and
This would be so easy to fix (Score:2)
------------
First of all every account is allowed as many profiles as they want, every profile can be completely different, and tagged with a descriptive name so you know what it's about ('work profile', 'ex's profile', etc.)
Every profile also has a 'trust value', the higher the trust value, the more you need to trust people to show this profile.
Every user has a trust value
Cory - Fun guy who censors those who disagree (Score:2, Troll)
Automatic De-list (Score:5, Insightful)
So, these services should just automatically de-list people after a year or two, unless you consciously refresh them.
Done.
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Helloooo aliases anyone? (Score:2)
This is only one of them.
10 types of people (Score:2)
For the former, it is not an issue either. Everyone is their friend, and everyone is included. It is all about earning opportu
For sure (Score:2)
But what exactly does that have to do with adding friends on Facebook?
Friend or Foe?? (Score:2)
Wake up call - Friend or Foe is not Facebook. It is an add on application used to rank your friends list, one of several. Personally I find the whole idea of ranking people from important to not important pretentious - so I do not install those applications.
everyone panic (Score:2)
ZOMG! Run for the hills!!!!
maybe my imagination is weak because that would hardly even register...
why would i care?
Already and issue on the 360 (Score:5, Interesting)
Groups... (Score:3, Interesting)
So I pruned my list down to mainly people I am actively friends with, or with whom I keep some lines of communication open.
It'd be nice to be able to put users into categories with different features; I don't want to see status updates for former co-workers, and so forth.
(And on a side note, please kill Funwall.
Re:this is old news... (Score:5, Interesting)
Schizophrenia is a perfectly reasonable response to modern society, if you've accepted that you can't change it and you want to live at any cost, I suppose...
Re:this is old news... (Score:4, Funny)
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Schizophrenia is not Multiple Personality Disorder...
Re:this is old news... (Score:5, Funny)
Jerry: I love that George.
George: Me too, and he's dying. If Relationship George walks through this door, he will kill Independent George. A George divided against itself cannot stand!
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VALERIE: Who's this?
JERRY: It's Jerry. Who's this?
VALERIE: Uh, it's Valerie.
JERRY: Oh, hi Valerie. What's up?
VALERIE: I'll tell you what's up. My stepmother is violently ill, so I hit the
button for poison control and I get you!
JERRY: Wow, poison control? That's even higher than number one!
Valerie hangs up the phone.
JERRY: Hello?
[END]
Re:this is old news... (Score:4, Insightful)
Mods - the parent post is just a link to his own satire site. His post is sitting at +5 Interesting right now and doesn't address the issue raised in the original article in any way whatsoever. Please don't reward affiliate linkwhoring with Interesting or Insightful mods.
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You are now meeting other people of the same age in the workplace that also are in a similar situation.
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BTW, wasn't this Apple's strategy in seeding public schools with Macintoshes? They hoped the students would be so accustomed to using Macs that they would choose one when they transitioned into college or the workforce. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out that way. only with the advent of OSX do I now see significant numbers of students carrying Macs around the campus.
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It didnt work too well when it comes to Macs like apple wanted but facebook is like a schedule I when it comes to college students.
Re:Coworkers? (Score:4, Interesting)
I always abstained from Facebook under the assumption it was a waste of time and just made stalking that much easier. Little did I know that it would be so much more detrimental to users AFTER graduation. I have many friends who ended up becoming teachers and they are having a tough time. One was an idiot and didn't have any access controls on his account at all. His high school students found his page and had a great time making their teacher miserable for all of the drunk pictures and videos and all of the other stuff that makes an authority figure look more like a joke. He learned from his mistake and locked everything down and tried to eliminate his online footprint until his younger brother posted a video on YouTube. Yeah the kids found that one too and he nearly got fired. Another teacher friend has learned from others. She's even taking it a step further. She is urgently asking friends to remove her name tag from all of the pictures of her posted on their accounts, but that is proving difficult. It turns out that even if you lock down your own account, there is still the matter of your friends' accounts that have all kinds of references to you, especially pictures. It is nearly impossible to remove your internet footprint. To this end, I don't see why those with careers bother with it since it has become such a liability now. Office politics are bad enough without merging your social life in the mix. The only way to have a "safe" profile is to keep it completely boring. No goofy pictures, no oddball friends, and absolutely no postings by friends on your wall. This of course defeats the purpose of social networking because no one wants to be friends with a boring loser.
I guess the old adage is still holds true: The only way to win is to not play at all.
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