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A bumper sticker on your car can only be seen by people who actually see your car (small subset of the world). A public post on facebook can be found by anyone

by Qz 16y ago

A bumper sticker on your car can only be seen by people who actually see your car (small subset of the world). A public post on facebook can be found by anyone who wants to search for it (potentially large subset of the world). I have no way of knowing if you have some crazy bumper sticker on your car, but if you posted something on FB then I can find it via search.

glhaynes 16y ago
Indeed. But what bumper sticker am I gonna have that I don't mind the 3.5 million people in my city's vicinity potentially seeing but I'm worried about somebody on the other side of the world seeing? I'm sure some such items can be hypothesized (though I'd still ask the person why they're putting a bumper sticker on in the first place if there's anybody they don't want seeing it), but my point is that in practice this just doesn't concern most people and it's hard for me to see why it should. edit: I think there's perhaps a distinction here between things like personal profile information (one might not one's psycho ex to see their phone number or even wall posts, while not minding sharing them with friends) and things like fan page liking. The former certainly needs privacy controls, and they should be clearer than they currently are; the latter is hard for me to get upset about, and I think it dilutes the message of privacy advocates to mention it.
- Qz 16y ago
  The idea that some kinds of information are more or less suitable for privacy controls is nonsensical. Say some college kid Bob is gay, but he hasn't told his parents. Bob goes to some fan page for a local GLBT organization etc, and 'becomes a fan', because previously that didn't show up on his profile where his parents might see it, and his parents wouldn't be visiting that fan page anyway. Well, now FaceBook goes and makes fan pages visible on your profile, and suddenly Bob's parents have a lot of questions for him. You may not find yourself in that kind of situation often, but it is a very real possibility -- there was even a study done where a computer could make a highly accurate guess of whether you were gay just by looking at who is in your friends list (also public), without any information from your profile. Everything on facebook is information. I could give you an example where the bumper sticker is also relevant, but I think the example above is enough to prove my point.
  - axod 16y ago
    It doesn't prove anything. His parents could be fans of that page. His teacher could be. Becoming a fan of a page, but wanting that to remain private seems contradictory to me.
    - Qz 16y ago
      If you've got an opinion that's fine, but if you post it on here, the least I expect is for you to back it up with reasoning rather than just 'seems contradictory to me'.
      - axod 16y ago
        My point is, that people become a 'fan' of something, in part, if not often solely to announce to other people that they're a fan. It's inherently social. Maybe if you're a fan of something deeply unpopular - Java for example, then you'd want to keep that as private as possible. I think it'd probably just be best for facebook to make the leap and say "OK you privacy nerds, SHUT UP. From now on, everything is public apart from private messages. Now quit your incessant whining."
        Qz 16y ago
        That's exactly what they have said, in not so many words. And yet people are still whining incessantly. As for 'becoming a fan' being inherently social, that's true. The issue is whether something that's inherently social is also inherently public. Going on a date with your girlfriend is social, but you may not want it inherently public (and keep in mind there's a difference between internet public and people seeing you together at a restaurant public.
        Lazlo_Nibble 16y ago
        When I've "become a fan" of things on Facebook it's been because I was interested in those things and wanted regular updates about them. It was not out of some kind of weird desire to flash my tailfeathers at people.
  - 16y ago
philwelch 16y ago
I would guess more strangers have seen the back of my car than anything related to my Facebook account, easily.

by Qz 16y ago

glhaynes 16y ago

Indeed. But what bumper sticker am I gonna have that I don't mind the 3.5 million people in my city's vicinity potentially seeing but I'm worried about somebody on the other side of the world seeing? I'm sure some such items can be hypothesized (though I'd still ask the person why they're putting a bumper sticker on in the first place if there's anybody they don't want seeing it), but my point is that in practice this just doesn't concern most people and it's hard for me to see why it should. edit: I think there's perhaps a distinction here between things like personal profile information (one might not one's psycho ex to see their phone number or even wall posts, while not minding sharing them with friends) and things like fan page liking. The former certainly needs privacy controls, and they should be clearer than they currently are; the latter is hard for me to get upset about, and I think it dilutes the message of privacy advocates to mention it.

Qz 16y ago
The idea that some kinds of information are more or less suitable for privacy controls is nonsensical. Say some college kid Bob is gay, but he hasn't told his parents. Bob goes to some fan page for a local GLBT organization etc, and 'becomes a fan', because previously that didn't show up on his profile where his parents might see it, and his parents wouldn't be visiting that fan page anyway. Well, now FaceBook goes and makes fan pages visible on your profile, and suddenly Bob's parents have a lot of questions for him. You may not find yourself in that kind of situation often, but it is a very real possibility -- there was even a study done where a computer could make a highly accurate guess of whether you were gay just by looking at who is in your friends list (also public), without any information from your profile. Everything on facebook is information. I could give you an example where the bumper sticker is also relevant, but I think the example above is enough to prove my point.
- axod 16y ago
  It doesn't prove anything. His parents could be fans of that page. His teacher could be. Becoming a fan of a page, but wanting that to remain private seems contradictory to me.
  - Qz 16y ago
    If you've got an opinion that's fine, but if you post it on here, the least I expect is for you to back it up with reasoning rather than just 'seems contradictory to me'.
    - axod 16y ago
      My point is, that people become a 'fan' of something, in part, if not often solely to announce to other people that they're a fan. It's inherently social. Maybe if you're a fan of something deeply unpopular - Java for example, then you'd want to keep that as private as possible. I think it'd probably just be best for facebook to make the leap and say "OK you privacy nerds, SHUT UP. From now on, everything is public apart from private messages. Now quit your incessant whining."
      - Qz 16y ago
        That's exactly what they have said, in not so many words. And yet people are still whining incessantly. As for 'becoming a fan' being inherently social, that's true. The issue is whether something that's inherently social is also inherently public. Going on a date with your girlfriend is social, but you may not want it inherently public (and keep in mind there's a difference between internet public and people seeing you together at a restaurant public.
      - Lazlo_Nibble 16y ago
        When I've "become a fan" of things on Facebook it's been because I was interested in those things and wanted regular updates about them. It was not out of some kind of weird desire to flash my tailfeathers at people.
- 16y ago

philwelch 16y ago

I would guess more strangers have seen the back of my car than anything related to my Facebook account, easily.