Forum vs. Facebook (facebook update)

[Smaug]

https://www.wired.com/story/f8-zuckerberg-future-is-private/?CNDID=57152059&CNDID=57152059&bxid=NDAxMjg1MjA1OTA2S0&hasha=a765f9a7556c70cbf0b5b0fe03931132&hashb=ea7cd4a1c7248695e0af90e8e4fdabcad42dd188&mbid=nl_050119_daily_list1_p4&source=DAILY_NEWSLETTER&utm_brand=wired&utm_mailing=WIRED%20NL%20050119%20(1)&utm_medium=email&utm_source=nl


Facebook Groups, (of which MSTA has several) are kind of like forums. Except not as private. 
[/size]
[/size]He seems to be talking about going "semi-private."

[Patmo]

They are really more concerned about how the data on members is kept private v the content being able to be read by members and non members of FB.









Actually FB group pages CAN be made private by making it a closed group verses a public group. Even today the way things are set up, it is semi-private.  All new members must be approved by the administrator before they are able to post, and the posts may be deleted by the administration.  In addition to deleting a post the poster may be blocked from further posting by the administration.  People can also set up their own FB profile so that only selected people can see their posts to their own time line.  But, like the forum here in most cases the rule of thumb is.....if you don’t want someone to be able to read your post, don’t post it.  And...if you don’t want to see posts from some people on FB, don’t “like” and/or “follow” them and you won’t .

Not saying that any of this is unknown or a surprise to people that use FB a lot (like the OP), but I think that there are a lot of misconceptions about FB on the part of non-users.  Even group members, but non administrators generally don’t know about all of the controls FB has.

[Smaug]

I guess by 'privacy' I meant that in Facebook, someone (Facebook) is harvesting our information and using it, even if it isn't visible to the general public.


Here, in a private forum, I don't believe that's the case. (I could be wrong)


Or maybe I'm just getting old? 

[Patmo]

I guess by 'privacy' I meant that in Facebook, someone (Facebook) is harvesting our information and using it, even if it isn't visible to the general public.


Here, in a private forum, I don't believe that's the case. (I could be wrong)


Or maybe I'm just getting old? 

Virtually anything you do is being monitored.  What happens with that data is the question?

Short story....about 8 years ago I started searching for an aunt and some cousins we had lost touch with decades ago.  It wasn’t until this past winter that I actually was able to find and contact them.  I did it by using google and tapping into some websites that are dedicated to background searches.  In one afternoon I was able to locate the aunt and one cousin, find out where they lived, their phone numbers, where they worked, how much they paid for their house (which I could see on google earth, where they worked, and even find a couple of old photos of them.....and I never even used any location services for this, or paid anyone for this information.  The aunt had even remarried and had changed her last name!  And they aren’t FB users.

There is no such thing as “private” information anymore.  Everything you ever do that deals with the government is going into a database somewhere.  It’s just a matter of who can see that information and what they do with it.

[STLTHMSTA]

That's scary Big Brother!!

[stevegrab]

In the old days you had to go to county clerks office and ask to see records to find some of this stuff out. Now that information is all online from the actual source, aggregated and searchable thru many other sources.

The amount of information available online is mind boggling. Add in posting to social media platforms, forums, news story comments and we're all leaving some trails out there to be followed if somebody is looking.

The vast majority of people have internet access, only some portion of that group is on Facebook. That (to me) is another thing that makes FB use less appealing. (Maybe compounded by my decision to never join FB.)

[Patmo]

In the old days you had to go to county clerks office and ask to see records to find some of this stuff out. Now that information is all online from the actual source, aggregated and searchable thru many other sources.

The amount of information available online is mind boggling. Add in posting to social media platforms, forums, news story comments and we're all leaving some trails out there to be followed if somebody is looking.

The vast majority of people have internet access, only some portion of that group is on Facebook. That (to me) is another thing that makes FB use less appealing. (Maybe compounded by my decision to never join FB.)

An even smaller portion is active in this forum, or Forums as a whole.  The fastest growing segment of FB is actually the 45-65 age group, and forum usage continues to go down.


Each communication platform has its strengths and weaknesses, and news ones are being developed everyday.  I just found out about an app called WhatsApp.  It allows people to message back and forth through the app and never pay txting fees....very popular in Europe.

[Traxx]

I prefer the forums, much less BS to deal with on them.

[Ride4MS]

'WhatsApp' that Pat mentions is fantastic when people are overseas.  Our youngest son, Dan is deployed this time to the Horn of Africa, Djibouti and he has turned his phone off with Verizon.  He can still use it as long as he has wifi service.  WhatsApp is free to download and free to use.  We can text, send photos, videos and call and talk to him at no charge for either of us.


Denise and I took a trip and cruised to Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand in Jan-Feb, just before this pandemic started.  We could communicate with people back home, or our son overseas, and even with our nephew who happened to be in Sydney on a work visa at that time.  Lucky for him, the state dept sent him a message saying his visa was to expire in less than 6 months, and he should go back to MN while he still could.  So he came home in early March and did not tell anyone, as he went into self quarantine for 3 weeks.


Ben sent messages to everyone during that time, and we all thought he was still in Sydney.  That shows how things have changed in not too many years.  Isn't technology great?


FB is for the 45-65 age group?  No wonder I am not on it, as I am not in that age group yet.


Oh by the way, if you search names on the internet, and use my name, I am not the Carl W that won a Noble Prize.

[GoVFR]

A few weeks ago the mass email that evolved into a temporary "list serve" got some old-timers excited. Like Steve, I am not on FaceBook Probably missing alot, but will likely survive. I think the forum would be more active if people would use the notify button and follow the current topics.


And couldn't Facebook users export interesting items on FB to the forum? (I admit to knowing almost nothing about FaceBook.)


Dan
GoVFR

[Patmo]

And couldn't Facebook users export interesting items on FB to the forum? (I admit to knowing almost nothing about FaceBook.)


Dan
GoVFR

Not automatically, no. 

Here’s something to consider....on Facebook one can interact with several different groups from their own home page.  But forums don’t work that way.  Each one must be opened up separately and it’s very hard to share information between them.  FB software allows someone to share a post or event with individuals, groups, or just put it up on their own timeline with just a few clicks and in just a few seconds.

[NinjaBob]

Prior to 2016 SMF forums could import content from Facebook groups but facebook discontinued that functionality due to a lack of content control exploited by some bad actors. I read yesterday that Facebook plans to further inhance user privacy.