Facebook - any opinions?

[birdieman]

Was asked by a pal working in Japan to join facebook so we could exchange family pics, news etc.
Anyway did join and put up a few pics etc. Seems quite good and soon discovered loads of old acquaintances asking to be 'friends' which is a bit of fun as half of them I havent seen in 20 years!

However someone else suggested facebook can leave your computer system open to infiltration from hackers etc - is that the case or just a rumour? Apparently you shouldn't join any networks there like your old school or university etc so I'm told.

Does anyone have much experience of this website and what the pitfalls may be?

At first impressions it seems quite good to me.

 

[minty18]

Birdieman,

You'll get a mixed response on here mate however I've used it for over a year, caught up with a load of old friends. My best mate has gone traveeling for a year so i've managed to stay in touch with him for no charge and i've never had a problem with my computer as a result.

Only advice i'd give is not to put too much personal info on the site like your full d.o.b etc...

 

[EchtLoon]

birdieman, we dinna dea facebook in aiberdeenshire min!

Actually in all seriousness, I find it all a bit geeky, but like yourself was contacted by a friend who now lives in Kenya that I worked with a few years back, she wanted to share some photos as well, so I grudgingly signed up.

Unlike minty, I did a search for a lot of my Aberdeen area mates, and found not a single one on there. Good lads thought I, it's only recently that we've all got mobiles as well, we fought that tide for a long time too

Personally, what was wrong with email? That's where all my long distance mates still communicate on.

Progress eh.

 

[minty18]

Ectloon,

My mates can see me dressed as one of the bushwackers putting a tag team belt round my mates head on facebook on my stag do in ibiza, thats what it was made for.

Its great to share pics with friends, plus you have instant chat on facebook, quicker than email.

 

[HTL]

Facebook is ace mate stick with it, its a bit of fun and provides some great procrastination.

 

[minty18]

not sure what that word means but it ace.

 

[medwayjon]

Like it, not into it big-time like my mrs but its another way to keep in touch with some of my Yid brothers.

 

[birdieman]

my Yid brothers.

Just checking here but for a non Tottingham supporter such as myself are we allowed to use the Y word? I imagine it could be mildly derogatory to some actual Jewish people - Yes/No?

 

[medwayjon]

my Yid brothers.

Just checking here but for a non Tottingham supporter such as myself are we allowed to use the Y word? I imagine it could be mildly derogatory to some actual Jewish people - Yes/No?

I know a lot of Jewish people and none of them object top the term "yid" which is derived from the language, yiddish.

Not just Tottenham supporting Jewish people either btw, I know a couple who are gooners! Yuk!

 

[Cernunnos]

Although I have a facebook account I really consider it to be a waste of time. Loads of workmates are on it, but they seem to spend most their time playing online poker, or silly online & naff games with it.

To be honest I now just ifgnore anything new that comes up inviting me to do this or that. And I try to simply use it as a blog page & a way to PM my workmates for golf.

There certainly used to be security issues, hence why I still don't agree to any of the invitations to do this or that.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I got in touch with everyone I wanted to via friends reunited. Seemed much easier and without looking at silly pictures or having people wanting me to add myself as a friend every 20 seconds.

 

[AlchemyGolf]

Im a big fan of facebook!
Great medium to keep in touch with friends abroad and see pics of where they are and what there doing!

 

[Herbie]

I got in touch with everyone I wanted to via friends reunited. Seemed much easier and without looking at silly pictures or having people wanting me to add myself as a friend every 20 seconds.

I agree, I got goaded onto it(Facebook) by younger family members and regretted it from the first 500million notifications and add as friends requests and other rubbish, I think you need a certain frame of mind or be of a certain age range to be able to deal with it.

As for friends, real friends you never lose touch with, maybe casual ones can drift away, but not real friends.
And to be honest, I dont want everyone and their uncle in my past who are probably having lonely lives suddenly trying to get in touch claiming to be a friend they never were in school, work etc.

 

[TonyN]

HNJ, did you try turning the notifications off, I have, I am very rarely bothered by anything other than a friend request.

 

[Herbie]

HNJ, did you try turning the notifications off, I have, I am very rarely bothered by anything other than a friend request.

No Tony I didnt wait around long enough to find out after all the deleting I guess I just got fed up

 

[theeaglehunter]

I used to be anti social networking sites feeling I already have friends and their mobile numbers so why would it be necessary but I saw the error of my ways due to so many people saying "did you see that picture on facebook" etc so I thought I would get in on the action and I use it all the time now- to organize events / nights out, talk to people, view photos and play poker etc. It is far superior to bebo and other networking sites which I saw friends have but never signed up to.

 

[Cernunnos]

I got in touch with everyone I wanted to via friends reunited. Seemed much easier and without looking at silly pictures or having people wanting me to add myself as a friend every 20 seconds.

Don't get me started on friend re-united. How the hell are you supposed to contact friends on there if you don't want to pay their exhorbitant fees to actually contact those friends, even though they allow you to sign up.Friends re-united can sod off as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Leftie]

I think that you will find that it is free now.

 

[forefortheday]

Shouldn't all us on fb join this???

http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=10000000...?gid=7456142501

 

[Herbie]

I think the fundimental problem I have with it is the transmitted information/photos not between family members, but between hundreds or even thousands of strangers known to your friends and relatives and their friends and relatives etc. Harmless it may be to some, but I have a thing about info/pics etc freely given to one person being freely given to others without my authority, like pictures of my kids for example. If I wanted some 500th friend twice removed of my nieces husband to have access to my family pics its up to me to offer that and not a system that cannot control it. Once you accept someone as a friend, you have accepted their friends and family in a way by virtue of the info they can access.

I only stayed on there a short time, but the info and pictures I could view of complete strangers to me was huge, all because I was viewing pics on my nieces page, had I accepted the countless friends requests after, no doubt I would have access to countless other images and info.

Its just something I find plain wrong, but it seems to be the way of the world today and what a world its becomming????