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Users Can't Distinguish Scams From Facebook's Features
Anyone who's seen social media sites like Facebook has probably also seen scam ads that promise new features or insider access to the sites themselves. rudy_wayne writes Zdnet reports that a new whitepaper from antivirus company Bitdefender, which examined 850,000 Facebook scams over two years, shows that Facebook's own user experience enables these scams to flourish. The researchers found that scammers have infected millions of users with the same tricks over and over again — just repackaged. The most common tricks, such as 'Guess who viewed your profile (45.5 percent)' and 'change your background color' (29.53 percent) rely on a combination of the obsessions encouraged by the Facebook experience, and a general lack of understanding about Facebook's functionality — which, as most users know, is a constantly moving target. Users would be none the wiser that a given scam isn't just a new "feature" or another of Facebook's psychological experiments being done on users.
Advertisements should always be marked as such. I do not trust any service that does otherwise. (Not that this was the only thing keeping me from trusting Facebook.)
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
rely on a combination of the obsessions encouraged by the Facebook experience, and a general lack of understanding about Facebook's functionality — which, as most users know, is a constantly moving target.
The FB UI is half the reason I don't have an account.
Thier UI is so CLUTTERED, so absolutely ANNOYING, with a constant FIREHOSE of SHIFTING posts, videos, content, etc, etc;
I get a headache just thinking about it...
Combine that with, as the article points out, the fact that their settings change constantly.
I honestly don't have the time or inclination to become a CFE(Certified Facebook Engineer) just to watch cat videos and read nutty political rants...
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Yeah, that's all well and good, except for the fact that Facebook has reached a critical mass; resistance may not be futile but it's damn hard:
1) I have friends all over the world; literally, on every continent. Is there a better centralized method of communicating with them? Should I send out a broadcast e-mail to all of them every time something noteworthy happens in my life? (Noteworthy actually means noteworthy in my world, I'm not logging check-ins every time I go to the grocery store....)
2) I have friends that only communicate via Facebook. They won't talk on the phone, they don't text, and they rarely check/answer e-mail.
3) Ever tried dating in the modern world without Facebook? It's instantly assumed that you're hiding something, which to be fair is frequently the case for people that refuse to share Facebook with would-be mates.
4) There's an ever growing list of companies and events that decline to maintain a webpage or otherwise keep it updated. If you want to stay abreast of their developments the only way is via FB or Twitter. This ties back into the critical mass comment from earlier.
Facebook is a necessary evil. It would be nice to see G+ displace them, because the G+ interface is light years ahead of FB's crappy software, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards does it?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
) I have friends all over the world; literally, on every continent. Is there a better centralized method of communicating with them? Should I send out a broadcast e-mail to all of them every time something noteworthy happens in my life?...
Anything a friend broadcasts me is rarely worth reading. And a broadcast email etc for something like a baby being born etc ... is fine.
2) I have friends that only communicate via Facebook. They won't talk on the phone, they don't text, and they rarely check/answer e-mail.
Easy. Those aren't friends. :) Seriously... they WON'T communicate with you except on facebook, so therefore you MUST be on facebook?
3) Ever tried dating in the modern world without Facebook? It's instantly assumed that you're hiding something, which to be fair is frequently the case for people that refuse to share Facebook with would-be mates.
No. But then I'd consider that a handy filter. Anyone who thought I needed a facebook account isn't worth my time.
4) There's an ever growing list of companies and events that decline to maintain a webpage or otherwise keep it updated. If you want to stay abreast of their developments the only way is via FB or Twitter. This ties back into the critical mass comment from earlier.
I've yet to encounter one. Several local businesses have facebook pages instead of websites, but its public and it comes up when i search for them, even though I don't have a facebook account. Of course I can't "follow" them... but that's their loss not mine.
Facebook is a necessary evil.
No, its really not. I'm living without it just fine. No one in my household has an account. The kids think its stupid, and don't even want accounts.
Sure when we visit an aunt at thanksgiving we're a few months behind on the news... so what that we didn't know my niece has a new boyfriend the day it happened or that my brother in law has a new job? Catching up, gives us something to talk about.
The function and purpose of Facebook is what I want it to be. That's the trap I was talking about.
If it allows you to share all your shit, it doesn't mean you HAVE to.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)