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Facebook ID Probe Shows Things Getting Worse

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the what-is-a-friend-anyway dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to Sophos, Facebook users are getting sloppier with their personal info, not better. Revisiting a 2007 survey in which a plastic frog got 87 hits out of 200 friend requests, this time a rubber duck and a cat got 87 out of 200 friend requests, plus a bonus 8 friends who decided to trust them anyway. The research also suggests that older Facebook users are sloppier than the young, being keener to build their list of friends. (The older users had more than 4x the friends each, on average, than the young.)"

7 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Are they being friended to REAL accounts? by djrosen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I personally have 2 accounts. I use one strictly for games where I will accept any and all takers. I post to lists to increase my numbers and can see from 20 to hundreds of requests per day. That account has no real data.

    My other REAL account only has REAL friends and Family. I scrutinize every request and all personal settings are very tight as to only allow friends to see the data. I'd consider myself an 'older' user @ +40. From what I have seen, this is not uncommon.

  2. Re:Nah - I think you can blame Mafia Wars, Farmvil by spamking · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's why I don't use my real contact info for my Mafia Wars account . . . I'm not sure why anyone would.

  3. Re:Possibly because... by suso · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes and clearly Facebook isn't about "who do you know now", its about "who have you known through your whole life who can come back to haunt you".

  4. That, or we don't give a shit. by A.+B3ttik · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'd probably accept anyone who cares enough to "friend" me, whether I know them or not. Mark me in the 43.5%, a guy who once accepted a friend request from "Some Pencils" and a random girl in Arizona (thousands of miles from me) just because she was a girl. What are these people going to find out... my hometown? My college? My favorite tv shows? Who cares? I don't think I'm really stalker material, and iIf my favorite movies are that important to some guy writing a corporate spambot, whatever, he can have it. He can't even find my address or my phone number on facebook, two things I consider more personal, and _those_ you can already find in any phonebook site.

    Hell, maybe we're _more_ careful about our personal info since facebook doesn't really have anything on it that we value.

    1. Re:That, or we don't give a shit. by Bottles · · Score: 5, Funny

      Daer Friend We rite 2 u as reprazentative of the King Of Pencils who has lately been deposed in horrible sharpening accident may he rest in pease. After grate searchingz we have found u 2 B long lost relative with business sometimes related to requirement of writing and/or shading in. The King has in receipt of great funds to the amount of 750,000 of American Dollars which he wishes to translate to your country of origin in order to pass on to a selection of HB and HB2 illustrative and artistic pencils whom he holds dear in hiz hart. As for helping the King (rest his shavings in pease) to transfer this funds to your country of origen we, as many penicls, are authorized to give you a ten porcent of his great funds, for 75,000 US Funds Dollars. Please do not delay contact immeatedly this pencils or we must find another fine friend and business colleage to do with this business! Contact immedatily! Send by e-mail. Your Respect Friend Some Pencils

  5. Re:Nah - I think you can blame Mafia Wars, Farmvil by Buelldozer · · Score: 5, Informative

    I assigned all of my "game friends" into their own group and then used Facebooks group security to limit the personal information that they can see. It took all of five minutes to setup. Someone in that group can see as much information about me as someone who isn't my friend at all, which is to say not much.

    Now I'll accept every friend request that comes my way. If I don't recognize the name and the friend doesn't leave a note saying how they know me then I push them into the game friend group. Problem solved.

  6. Re:Olders users know more people? by shadwstalkr · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually it's "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." -- Mark Twain