Do you have a facebook?

**Mogga** · 28-07-07

Flash » Do you have a Facebook?

Worth a look

**fizzbird** · 28-07-07

So the US Government wants to harvest inormation about posh white kids who wear silly hats, smoke weed, listen to bands that no one else has heard of, and have friends who like each other so much that they have foregone the facility to speak to each other?
Good luck to 'em.

I'm not being sarcastic - they probably do, but anyone who lives in Yorkshire, as I do, knows they that have been doing a lot more than this for a very long time (the NSA has a base here - don't look on google earth, its blacked out!) so what's new?

**mainlime** · 28-07-07

It's not just the FBI BBC NEWS | UK | Web networkers 'at risk of fraud'

But to be honest, this is just more bandwagonjumping from anyone who wants to get their company's name on the news. The sort of person who lets a total stranger read their personal details on the web is probably the sort of pillock who puts bank statements in the bin without shredding them and has their PIN number set to 1234.

**tbp** · 28-07-07

Theres been a couple of similar things in the news last week.

There was the article mentioned earlier, that people are putting up too much personal info such as pets names etc, which many people also use as passwords - perfect for identity theft!

Also, universities are checking up on their students on social networking sites, for breaking rules and doing stupid things, as the students usually put the pictures up for all to view!

Personally, I will never use Myspace, face book or anything like that. I`m quite a private person and hate personal info appearing on the web, what is up there is strictly controlled

What these students don't realise is that, yes it might be fun now to put a photo of themselves running naked round the campus for example, its likely to be archived somewhere, and could be seen in the future by a potential employer, or their own kids for example.

People don't seem to think about the consequences of openly sharing their lives on the net. Its bound to be stored somewhere, and whilst things seem like a good idea now, later in their lives these things could come back to haunt them!

I was involved in a couple of things when I was younger, that although I don't regret, I wouldn't want anybody to know about now! (And before anyone asks, no i`m not saying what they were!

)

**fizzbird** · 28-07-07

Originally Posted by tbp

I was involved in a couple of things when I was younger, that although I don't regret, I wouldn't want anybody to know about now! (And before anyone asks, no i`m not saying what they were!

)

You can tell me - I won't tell anyone!
It can be our secret

**jess1** · 29-07-07

TBP: "I was involved in a couple of things when I was younger, that although I don't regret, I wouldn't want anybody to know about now!" That probably goes for 99% of the people here

**Tom** · 30-07-07

I think people should probably think carefuly about what they post, but that doesn't mean they should ignore things like Facebook completely... I do think for example, that joining a group called 'I waste all my day at work on Facebook' is pretty stupid as this definately won't help you get a future job lol!

**Tyson Pearcey** · 30-07-07

You conspiracy theorists should read the book "The Traveller" by John Twelve Hawks.

Seriously though, very entertaining and fits in with a great deal of some of your view points.

Amazon.co.uk: The Traveller (Fourth Realm Trilogy 1): Books: John Twelve Hawks

Right ... now back to facebook. I think Jess just poked me!

**HarveyC** · 30-07-07

Interesting. Kinda scary, but I suppose it doesn't really matter if you've got nothing to hide.

I can see how something like facebook can be a valuable tool to marketing companies (take the "How many female uni students have read xx for example), but not so much to the government. Sure, they could use the data to better understand political groups/parties, identify trends in communities etc. but their focus seems to be protection. If I were a terrorist/criminal, I probably wouldn't write on somebody's wall to arrange the next attack, so I don't really see the use.

**rolypoly** · 31-07-07

I have an account at FB. never really put in much details. just a photo.

**nim-b** · 31-07-07

I agree its slightly worrying that Facebook themselves have your info and can do what they want with it, but noone sane is going to put an unristricted profile up there. What I like about facebook (unlike myspace) is that you can limit your profile so only your friends can see the important information.