37 ms·

Facebook is borderline scammy with it's practices. I few months ago I made a mistake of installing Facebook Messenger (which is now only called "Messenger" in t

by sly010 10y ago

Facebook is borderline scammy with it's practices. I few months ago I made a mistake of installing Facebook Messenger (which is now only called "Messenger" in the Play Store) to communicate with a friend who was in town. To use the app I had to verify my phone number. When my friend left town, I removed the app. To my surprise, I kept receiving notifications from an app called "Messenger" which is not accidentally also how the SMS app in stock android is named. There is no way to disable it from my phone and after 15 minutes of looking around I could not find a way to fully disable it in the browser either. I could remove my phone number from the account entirely, but then I would not be able to use sms to recover my account. The best I could do was to set the maximum number of messages to 1 per day. That, and you also can't change your relationship status to married retroactively without Facebook notifying every person in your contact list.

ccvannorman 10y ago
The message from unicorns like Facebook, Uber, Google to the world is "We will be as absolutely dickish as possible to establish and secure our market dominance and wealth." It's always like that. Power seeks more power, and users be damned!
- mhurron 10y ago
  Yes, it's apparently shocking that even internet companies work in exactly the same capitalistic manner as pre-internet companies.
  - paulddraper 10y ago
    No, SF and tech companies are going to be socially conscious and Change the World.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - verbify 10y ago
      "But most importantly we're making the world a better place. Through constructing elegant hierarchies for maximum code reuse and extensibility." -Silicon Valley, Season 1, Episode 1
CamelCaseName 10y ago
I kept receiving notifications from an app called "Messenger" which is not accidentally also how the SMS app in stock android is named. Facebook Messenger came out first. Facebook (2011): http://web.archive.org/web/20120310004637/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca http://web.archive.org/web/20120310004637/https://play.googl... Google (2014): http://web.archive.org/web/20141112233236/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging http://web.archive.org/web/20141112233236/https://play.googl...
- paulddraper 10y ago
  It used to be called Facebook Messenger. Not sure when it changed.
  - iamdave 10y ago
    It was sometime in the last year wasn't it? I ask because I seem to recall a kerfuffle with Messenger and the new(ish) Google SMS app also called Messenger.
    - katpas 10y ago
      I've deleted fb messenger now but this was on my app menu for a while. Very unhelpful. > https://twitter.com/KatAlexPas/status/822434870223896576 https://twitter.com/KatAlexPas/status/822434870223896576
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - vezycash 10y ago
    Around when Microsoft gifted Facebook the @messenger twitter handle. Though I'm unsure if Microsoft also owned the messenger domain http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Gives-Messenger-Twitter-Account-to-Facebook-458371.shtml http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Gives-Messenger-Twi...
- ino 10y ago
chipperyman573 10y ago
>That, and you also can't change your relationship status to married retroactively without Facebook notifying every person in your contact list. Updating your relationship status to single doesn't notify anyone any more, fyi.
- gukov 10y ago
  Until they put it back. There's no way of knowing what's facebook is doing today.
castratikron 10y ago
Facebook really wants you to install Messenger on your phone, for some reason: https://brachistochr0ne.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/facebook-hates-mobile-unless-you-use-their-app/ https://brachistochr0ne.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/facebook-ha...
- gukov 10y ago
  Because messaging is the new web.
  - smelendez 10y ago
    Yeah, menu-based chatbots are the closest they can get to third-party executable code in an iPhone app, and therefore the only way they can approach being a browser-like platform.
    - sulam 10y ago
      Nah, this isn't true. JS works fine now.
  - prklmn 10y ago
    it's not, but facebook wants it to be
- pasbesoin 10y ago
  From my limited, anecdotal observations this past year (in the U.S.): (Facebook) Messenger is how people PM other people they've met when they haven't swapped phone numbers. I was at dinner with a friend. Because of unexpected circumstances, we ended up sharing a table with one of her friends and some people that friend was with. One of her friend's friends was quite gregarious and engaging towards my (non-romantic, by the way) friend. Seemed pretty obvious to me, at least. We get back to my friend's place, and this guy is IM-ing her on FB Messenger with a bunch of flattering and engaging texts. She didn't give him her number, despite his hints in the restaurant parking lot, but he readily found her on FB through their mutual friend/contact. (Who, by the way, told her, "Yeah, no... He was a jerk to me and you don't want to go there.") Sorry for the lengthy story. This friend of mine also went through an extended period of significant but not always close network building, this past year. And this is how much of that worked: Where phone numbers weren't shared, PM-ing through FB Messenger. Messenger is well on the way to becoming the de facto "public" venue for IM-ing. Other platforms tend to be turned to for more private, personal stuff -- at least among folks who actively use multiple platforms. P.S. Invasive as it is, and with all the reservations I have, you nonetheless have to give FB credit (as a self-interested business) for turning Messenger into this. And, privacy concerns and limitations aside, it pretty much "just works". Which is the definition of win and first choice, for most "ordinary" folks.
Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago
Borderline?
- jessaustin 10y ago
  GP describes some of the Facebookinest behavior one could imagine, and it's like "holy shit! Facebook has done some Facebook-ass shit now!" Facebook constantly surprises everyone, merely by Facebooking as it has always Facebooked.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
rasz_pl 10y ago
Im confused. You are upset about FB notifying people about a fact you personally decided to broadcast openly to the whole internet.
- PhasmaFelis 10y ago
  Changing a piece of information online is very different than directly notifying everyone you know of the change.
Cyph0n 10y ago
Agreed, changing to married status is an issue. I read about a potential workaround once: set your marriage status but have the privacy to "me" so no one else sees it. Then change it back to public. I haven't tried it honestly, because I feel like Facebook have considered the trick.
gfosco 10y ago
To change your status without notifying everyone, you first change the visibility of your relationship status to "Only Me" and save it, then change the status, then change visibility back to your preferred option. Sharing activities like this is kinda the main point of Facebook, so it's not surprising that is the default.
mverwijs 10y ago
Reset the phone to factory default?

by sly010 10y ago

ccvannorman 10y ago

The message from unicorns like Facebook, Uber, Google to the world is "We will be as absolutely dickish as possible to establish and secure our market dominance and wealth." It's always like that. Power seeks more power, and users be damned!

mhurron 10y ago
Yes, it's apparently shocking that even internet companies work in exactly the same capitalistic manner as pre-internet companies.
- paulddraper 10y ago
  No, SF and tech companies are going to be socially conscious and Change the World.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - verbify 10y ago
    "But most importantly we're making the world a better place. Through constructing elegant hierarchies for maximum code reuse and extensibility." -Silicon Valley, Season 1, Episode 1

CamelCaseName 10y ago

I kept receiving notifications from an app called "Messenger" which is not accidentally also how the SMS app in stock android is named. Facebook Messenger came out first. Facebook (2011): http://web.archive.org/web/20120310004637/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facebook.orca http://web.archive.org/web/20120310004637/https://play.googl... Google (2014): http://web.archive.org/web/20141112233236/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.messaging http://web.archive.org/web/20141112233236/https://play.googl...

paulddraper 10y ago
It used to be called Facebook Messenger. Not sure when it changed.
- iamdave 10y ago
  It was sometime in the last year wasn't it? I ask because I seem to recall a kerfuffle with Messenger and the new(ish) Google SMS app also called Messenger.
  - katpas 10y ago
    I've deleted fb messenger now but this was on my app menu for a while. Very unhelpful. > https://twitter.com/KatAlexPas/status/822434870223896576 https://twitter.com/KatAlexPas/status/822434870223896576
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- vezycash 10y ago
  Around when Microsoft gifted Facebook the @messenger twitter handle. Though I'm unsure if Microsoft also owned the messenger domain http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Gives-Messenger-Twitter-Account-to-Facebook-458371.shtml http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Gives-Messenger-Twi...
ino 10y ago

chipperyman573 10y ago

>That, and you also can't change your relationship status to married retroactively without Facebook notifying every person in your contact list. Updating your relationship status to single doesn't notify anyone any more, fyi.

gukov 10y ago
Until they put it back. There's no way of knowing what's facebook is doing today.

castratikron 10y ago

Facebook really wants you to install Messenger on your phone, for some reason: https://brachistochr0ne.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/facebook-hates-mobile-unless-you-use-their-app/ https://brachistochr0ne.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/facebook-ha...

gukov 10y ago
Because messaging is the new web.
- smelendez 10y ago
  Yeah, menu-based chatbots are the closest they can get to third-party executable code in an iPhone app, and therefore the only way they can approach being a browser-like platform.
  - sulam 10y ago
    Nah, this isn't true. JS works fine now.
- prklmn 10y ago
  it's not, but facebook wants it to be
pasbesoin 10y ago
From my limited, anecdotal observations this past year (in the U.S.): (Facebook) Messenger is how people PM other people they've met when they haven't swapped phone numbers. I was at dinner with a friend. Because of unexpected circumstances, we ended up sharing a table with one of her friends and some people that friend was with. One of her friend's friends was quite gregarious and engaging towards my (non-romantic, by the way) friend. Seemed pretty obvious to me, at least. We get back to my friend's place, and this guy is IM-ing her on FB Messenger with a bunch of flattering and engaging texts. She didn't give him her number, despite his hints in the restaurant parking lot, but he readily found her on FB through their mutual friend/contact. (Who, by the way, told her, "Yeah, no... He was a jerk to me and you don't want to go there.") Sorry for the lengthy story. This friend of mine also went through an extended period of significant but not always close network building, this past year. And this is how much of that worked: Where phone numbers weren't shared, PM-ing through FB Messenger. Messenger is well on the way to becoming the de facto "public" venue for IM-ing. Other platforms tend to be turned to for more private, personal stuff -- at least among folks who actively use multiple platforms. P.S. Invasive as it is, and with all the reservations I have, you nonetheless have to give FB credit (as a self-interested business) for turning Messenger into this. And, privacy concerns and limitations aside, it pretty much "just works". Which is the definition of win and first choice, for most "ordinary" folks.

Sir_Cmpwn 10y ago

Borderline?

jessaustin 10y ago
GP describes some of the Facebookinest behavior one could imagine, and it's like "holy shit! Facebook has done some Facebook-ass shit now!" Facebook constantly surprises everyone, merely by Facebooking as it has always Facebooked.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

rasz_pl 10y ago

Im confused. You are upset about FB notifying people about a fact you personally decided to broadcast openly to the whole internet.

PhasmaFelis 10y ago
Changing a piece of information online is very different than directly notifying everyone you know of the change.

Cyph0n 10y ago

Agreed, changing to married status is an issue. I read about a potential workaround once: set your marriage status but have the privacy to "me" so no one else sees it. Then change it back to public. I haven't tried it honestly, because I feel like Facebook have considered the trick.

gfosco 10y ago

To change your status without notifying everyone, you first change the visibility of your relationship status to "Only Me" and save it, then change the status, then change visibility back to your preferred option. Sharing activities like this is kinda the main point of Facebook, so it's not surprising that is the default.

mverwijs 10y ago

Reset the phone to factory default?