4 ms·

I don't use Facebook either. Part of the problem is that other people treat it as if everyone is on Facebook. People will only invite you to events on Facebook

by leros 5y ago

I don't use Facebook either. Part of the problem is that other people treat it as if everyone is on Facebook. People will only invite you to events on Facebook. Restaurants will only post updates to Facebook. Businesses have support forums in Facebook groups. Etc. You do miss out on a portion of the internet by not being on Facebook. But I think that's because people rely too much on it.

Baeocystin 5y ago
I keep a Facebook account for the sole reason that I don't want some derplgänger with the same name causing me employment trouble in the future. It may sound like a dumb reason, but I have seen the pattern of some eponymous innocent suffering because lazy HR didn't verify waaaaaaay too many times to not take the threat seriously.
- ipaddr 5y ago
  You realize by making an account and adding a picture you greatly increase the chance someone will clone your profile vs someone creating a profile with photos they have sourced from somewhere else. If the latter happens it is probably from your friend group.
  - chaostheory 5y ago
    Just keep the profile private and limit friends on FB. I try to keep the number of FB friends at Dunbars number.
  - Baeocystin 5y ago
    Who said I had a picture of myself? I can post something proving it's me as necessary, which is what I use it for. Zero personal pictures, though.
- dvtrn 5y ago
  I go through this frequently and it's not even due to Facebook, it's just due to having a stupidly common western name. To the point of I have folders, digital and physical full of sworn statements I've had to make, and official court documents from six different states attesting "no the John Doe before you applying for this job is not the one who came up in your background check database for grand larceny, no he's not the one who came up for involuntary manslaughter either." and I'm always ready for that conversation later in the interview when I get an email from the recruiter/HR "hey, we have a question about something that came up in your background check"
  - paulryanrogers 5y ago
    This can cause a problem when dating as background checks become involved. Thankfully my SO realized it was a different person with the same name. Even at a small town library there was another patron with my name.
- cmeacham98 5y ago
  I keep a (deactivated) Facebook account just to prevent Facebook leaking my acquaintances to any random with my name and email. That's right - in 2021, Facebook doesn't make you immediately verify your email when you sign up! They eventually close the account if you don't verify but by that point whoever signed up with your name and email already has access to parts of your shadow profile Facebook leaks (ex through 'suggested friends').
  - jondwillis 5y ago
    cool. i have some experimenting to do in my name now.
- itronitron 5y ago
  You would need to have a very unique name for that to be necessary and you are also putting a lot of confidence in HR's ability to disambiguate the profiles if you indeed have a doppelganger.
  - Baeocystin 5y ago
    On the contrary, I have an exceedingly common name, which is why I need to have my own account to point to, as compared to the other several dozen same-name folks who have the potential to cause me trouble. There's no trusting HR here, it's a matter of being ready up front.
    - itronitron 5y ago
      Why not just tell HR that you don't have an account because you don't want people confusing you with another person?
      - Baeocystin 5y ago
        Perfectly reasonable question. The answer is that it has been my experience (across multiple companies, over significant time) that they tend to think you're making excuses for not showing your real profile unless you have an actual profile to show them.
itronitron 5y ago
>> You do miss out... I'm not confident that is true in any meaningful sense as it seems to align too nicely with what Facebook would like people to think.
- npteljes 5y ago
  There's lots of info on FB, behind soft walls. Lots of businesses don't have homepages, for example. Or people organize their events there. And the general network effect - by its nature, you miss out of everything that happens there.
  - oezi 5y ago
    I haven't stumbled on anything in the last 10 years that would even tempt me to go back on FB/Insta.
  - te_chris 5y ago
    Events have died completely in my circle. It’s a WhatsApp group for parties now - appreciate the irony, but everyone also has 4 or 5 messaging apps so switching could happen quickly if prompted.
- Hammershaft 5y ago
  I have a fb purely for tracking local events & with none of my friends attached to it. It makes a difference

by leros 5y ago

Baeocystin 5y ago

I keep a Facebook account for the sole reason that I don't want some derplgänger with the same name causing me employment trouble in the future. It may sound like a dumb reason, but I have seen the pattern of some eponymous innocent suffering because lazy HR didn't verify waaaaaaay too many times to not take the threat seriously.

ipaddr 5y ago
You realize by making an account and adding a picture you greatly increase the chance someone will clone your profile vs someone creating a profile with photos they have sourced from somewhere else. If the latter happens it is probably from your friend group.
- chaostheory 5y ago
  Just keep the profile private and limit friends on FB. I try to keep the number of FB friends at Dunbars number.
- Baeocystin 5y ago
  Who said I had a picture of myself? I can post something proving it's me as necessary, which is what I use it for. Zero personal pictures, though.
dvtrn 5y ago
I go through this frequently and it's not even due to Facebook, it's just due to having a stupidly common western name. To the point of I have folders, digital and physical full of sworn statements I've had to make, and official court documents from six different states attesting "no the John Doe before you applying for this job is not the one who came up in your background check database for grand larceny, no he's not the one who came up for involuntary manslaughter either." and I'm always ready for that conversation later in the interview when I get an email from the recruiter/HR "hey, we have a question about something that came up in your background check"
- paulryanrogers 5y ago
  This can cause a problem when dating as background checks become involved. Thankfully my SO realized it was a different person with the same name. Even at a small town library there was another patron with my name.
cmeacham98 5y ago
I keep a (deactivated) Facebook account just to prevent Facebook leaking my acquaintances to any random with my name and email. That's right - in 2021, Facebook doesn't make you immediately verify your email when you sign up! They eventually close the account if you don't verify but by that point whoever signed up with your name and email already has access to parts of your shadow profile Facebook leaks (ex through 'suggested friends').
- jondwillis 5y ago
  cool. i have some experimenting to do in my name now.
itronitron 5y ago
You would need to have a very unique name for that to be necessary and you are also putting a lot of confidence in HR's ability to disambiguate the profiles if you indeed have a doppelganger.
- Baeocystin 5y ago
  On the contrary, I have an exceedingly common name, which is why I need to have my own account to point to, as compared to the other several dozen same-name folks who have the potential to cause me trouble. There's no trusting HR here, it's a matter of being ready up front.
  - itronitron 5y ago
    Why not just tell HR that you don't have an account because you don't want people confusing you with another person?
    - Baeocystin 5y ago
      Perfectly reasonable question. The answer is that it has been my experience (across multiple companies, over significant time) that they tend to think you're making excuses for not showing your real profile unless you have an actual profile to show them.

itronitron 5y ago

>> You do miss out... I'm not confident that is true in any meaningful sense as it seems to align too nicely with what Facebook would like people to think.

npteljes 5y ago
There's lots of info on FB, behind soft walls. Lots of businesses don't have homepages, for example. Or people organize their events there. And the general network effect - by its nature, you miss out of everything that happens there.
- oezi 5y ago
  I haven't stumbled on anything in the last 10 years that would even tempt me to go back on FB/Insta.
- te_chris 5y ago
  Events have died completely in my circle. It’s a WhatsApp group for parties now - appreciate the irony, but everyone also has 4 or 5 messaging apps so switching could happen quickly if prompted.
Hammershaft 5y ago
I have a fb purely for tracking local events & with none of my friends attached to it. It makes a difference