Do you contact people on Social Media?

[Crumblie]

FB worried me as soon as I opened my account because I made a point of telling it very little about myself. It immediately produced a list of possible friends and at the very top of it was a cousin I had lost touched with over 40 years before. We no longer share a surname so FB should not have been able to link us unless at some time she had searched it for me, but when I got in touch she said she didn't think she had, so how did FB do it? We then fell out a couple of weeks later because she posted on her page that she was at the airport going to Italy for two weeks holiday and I told how stupid she to do that. She had never considered the possibility that burglars could find out she was away via FB.

[greenrig]

New FB users are shocked when they register to get all these (sometimes) accurate suggestions for "friends".  FB does this by storing all historical name searches done by any user.  If the search target finally does register, FB "knows" all the people who have searched before for that person.  It's just programming, no need to get spooked !   If you don't like it, then stay away from FB - it's not compulsory, but can be very useful in Family History if you understand and set your privacy rules.

[Chilternbirder]

I don't use FB but I tried to contact an old school friend on LinkedIn and got a polite reply which was effectively the well known mis-quotation of Genesis 1:22

[LizzieL]

We then fell out a couple of weeks later because she posted on her page that she was at the airport going to Italy for two weeks holiday and I told how stupid she to do that. She had never considered the possibility that burglars could find out she was away via FB.

I told OH off last year for posting on his FB page that we were in Scotland on holiday. He said that it could only be seen by his friends, not by anyone else. But I think you have to set it specifically so that only friends can see it.

[crazydaizy]

We then fell out a couple of weeks later because she posted on her page that she was at the airport going to Italy for two weeks holiday and I told how stupid she to do that. She had never considered the possibility that burglars could find out she was away via FB.

I told OH off last year for posting on his FB page that we were in Scotland on holiday. He said that it could only be seen by his friends, not by anyone else. But I think you have to set it specifically so that only friends can see it.

You can even set it so only certain friends can see whatever you post..... but how foolproof it is I don't know.  No doubt those that WANT to see someone's personal details have a way of tapping into their info somehow??

[ThrelfallYorky]

I'm afraid I'd not touch FB with a (2 metre?) pole!

[Kiltpin]

I did try once. My grandmother's sister's line. A disaster.   

She accused me of stalking her and her husband and sons. She cursed and swore and said that she was contacting the police and was going to complain to Facebook and get my address so she could sue me privately.   

I replied by sending her a link to the Ancestry tree and that if she wanted full access all she need do was ask. 

That was 5 years ago and have heard nothing since. 

Regards 

Chas

[Andrew Tarr]

She accused me of stalking her and her husband and sons. She cursed and swore and said that she was contacting the police and was going to complain to Facebook and get my address so she could sue me privately. 

Aren't some people weird?  I have never resorted to 'social media', being far too elderly to feel the need for trendy modernity.  As for using them as a family search tool, I'm sure there are better-suited systems for that, such as Lost Cousins (which I haven't used either, but my wife has).

[guest189040]

New FB users are shocked when they register to get all these (sometimes) accurate suggestions for "friends".  FB does this by storing all historical name searches done by any user.  If the search target finally does register, FB "knows" all the people who have searched before for that person.  It's just programming, no need to get spooked !   If you don't like it, then stay away from FB - it's not compulsory, but can be very useful in Family History if you understand and set your privacy rules.

So true.

It is not just Facebook.

Google, knows more about you than you do, your identity is known to them, all your searches are known, all the sites you visit are known, your movements are known.

Major Supermarkets know more about you and your buying preferences than you do.

Your mobile phone company knows who you call, hence your social grouping, they know where your phone is, so again more data on you is held and processed.

Your broardband company  knows your online history.

You simply cannot escape data being collected about you.

Data is power and many companies like Cambridge Analytica collect, process, manipulate and sell your data.

Burying head in sand does not stop data being collected.