Facebook Adds Friend Stalker Tool

nk497 writes "Facebook has added a new tool that brings together conversations and photos between friends onto a single page, but — as usual — has crossed the creepy line. Not only does clicking the See Friendship tool let users view photos, comments and events shared between themselves and their friend, it also offers a search tool to do the same between any two mutual friends, making it easy to see everything any two people have ever said to each other Facebook. As usual, the site should have tested the function out on their users first, with one saying: 'I've always wanted this! And yes, I'm a creepy stalker.' Also, as usual for Facebook, all users are automatically opted in, and there's currently no obvious way to turn it off."

Comments

"there's currently no obvious way to turn it off."

[somersault]

Well duh. If you don't want your friends seeing who you're talking to, either don't friend them, or change your privacy settings so that they can't read your wall posts etc. Otherwise they have exactly the same information already available, just in a slightly less convenient format.

Sure it's a little creepy, but you already see a lot of this stuff on the main updates page anyway, this is just making it more comprehensive.

Re:Put this on the list

[finarfinjge]

I suspect this thread will become populated with any number of "thereottabealaw" comments. This is not the answer. The purpose of facebook is to provide to marketers as much information about you as legally possible. But it isn't the marketers that will keep facebook policies skewed towards "openness" and away from privacy. Government, by its nature, is in favour of knowing as much about you as they can. Thus, governments like facebook. Many companies, such as insurance companies, like to be able to go to facebook and find out as much about you as they can. They LOVE facebook.

So in addition to stalkers and thieves, who already find facebook to be a treasure trove, there are some big time money interests that will make sure that there never is a law. If you are on facebook, everything your "friends" write and post about you is searchable and can be related back to you and your profile. If you are OK with this, more power to you. One day, there will be something that you don't want shared. If you stay on facebook. . . well tough luck buddy, it's shared.

JE

100% dead on

[circletimessquare]

you don't get to post things on the internet, and then complain when people see it on the internet

if you don't want people to see something DON'T POST IT ON THE INTERNET

because the fine level of control you desire: "only this person, at this time, in this context, can see this piece of info" is a nonstarter, because it takes 10x more time and effort to define the context of the info you are sharing than it takes to post the info. there is no better way to completely and utterly destroy the pleasure of a social life than weighing it down with such weighty micromanagement

so just don't post the info! no one is going to micromanage their social lives to the point where no information is leaked in the wrong context, mainly because people aren't machiavellian supergeniuses with omnipotent future sight to know every miniscule fine grain social context in which their information is not being told to someone they didn't want that info told to

the better solution is far simpler: SHUT UP and DON'T POST. or post freely and talk freely, AND GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT MISUSE. that's really your only choices

the control you seek starts with your mouth, or your keyboard. blaming facebook is just shifting responsibility and personal accountability away from you when things go wrong because you weren't discreet

Re:100% dead on

[circletimessquare]

any potential employer or significant other that would judge you so harshly for simply having a life is frankly an employer/ S.O. you don't want to have anything to do with

live your life, and stop worrying so much about micromanaging your public image. us who are well-adjusted simply doesn't care as much as you think we do about pictures of you drunk. its just simple not that big of a deal. the misperception is yours: that anyone cares. we don't care

the internet is what it is: it shows more of our lives, longer, as permanent mementos. adapt to that new reality and accept it, because you can't manage or alter it

anyone who would reject you or fire you based on what the internet contains about you is someone without a level of tolerance you don't want to be involved with in the first place. and if you don't want that behavior of yours made a permanent part of your "internet record", then learn the art of discretion

because this is not about other people, or facebook, or the internet affecting your image in ways you don't want. it's about YOU affecting your image in ways you later regret

you have no one to blame if something is out there you don't want to be out there except yourself. take responsibility for your image. or shift blame onto others, and whine about it, to no effect whatsoever, because you can't do anything about it

Re:Solution

[slim]

You can disable that if it really bothers you.

Re:If people seem stalkerish..

[Cederic]

Advertise carpet cleaning products and offer discounts on Doritos from a specific online retailer.

Who in turn will seek to leverage their relationship, selling your vetinary services and cheap student loans for your child.

Information is valuable.

Re:Put this on the list

[Monkeedude1212]

I feel like I'm going crazy re-iterating the same point - sometimes its NOT in your control.

Your friends can post things about you - and your employers can look them up... You can have all the privacy settings on their most restricted settings and it does not change this fact...

Re:Solution

[Anonymous Coward]

...neither does deleting your account. People can tag you in photos even if you don't have a Facebook account.

Re:Put this on the list

[Anonymous Coward]

It's not a discreet ruined/not-ruined state, a lot of things can simply mar your career. The corporate boss being aware that you enjoy any sort of recreation is essentially a gray-to-black mark on your record. Do you enjoy games, books, comics, ren faires, star wars conventions, furries, or heaven forbid, political rallies? If so, then your boss will see that as a distraction from work, or worse, a liability. Unless of course it co-insides with HIS activities. So.... golf, pretty much.

That's a little extreme, but welcome to corporate life.

But in all honesty, if my boss ever finds out that I'm an atheistic democrat, then although he won't fire me, he'll assuredly make me wish I wasn't working here anymore. And the guy has enough soft power around here he can casually make sexual jokes in front of the female head of HR.