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Facebook Really Wants You To Come Back (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the desperate-measures dept.

An anonymous reader writes: The social network is getting aggressive with people who don't log in often, working to keep up its engagement numbers, Bloomberg reports. Sample this for instance: It's been about a year since Rishi Gorantala deleted the Facebook app from his phone, and the company has only gotten more aggressive in its emails to win him back. The social network started out by alerting him every few days about friends that had posted photos or made comments -- each time inviting him to click a link and view the activity on Facebook. He rarely did. Then, about once a week in September, he started to get prompts from a Facebook security customer-service address. "It looks like you're having trouble logging into Facebook," the emails would say. "Just click the button below and we'll log you in. If you weren't trying to log in, let us know." He wasn't trying. But he doesn't think anybody else was, either. "The content of mail they send is essentially trying to trick you," said Gorantala, 35, who lives in Chile. "Like someone tried to access my account so I should go and log in."

22 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Creepy Zuck wants all your data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Say no to the Silicon Valley mafia.

  2. Die, Facebook, die, die, die. by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe we get lucky and this is foreshadowing of the beginning of the end for Facebook? :-)

    1. Re:Die, Facebook, die, die, die. by rl117 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I was shocked that when I received one of these facebook emails, that clicking on the link didn't prompt me for a login password. It took me straight into the account with zero authentication. I hadn't logged in in several years, so there were no cookies or anything local. Would not be hard to trawl for these and take over a lot of accounts?

    2. Re:Die, Facebook, die, die, die. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Doesn't anyone remember the first few years of facebook?

      Their modus operandi was to have new users log in and provide login/password for various email or instant messenger accounts. They would then grab as many contacts as possible and spam every contact with "join facebook now!" spam.

      This went on for years, until about 2008 or so with the CAN-SPAM act. If you didn't create a facebook account the spam would continue endlessly with no option to make it stop.

      If anything facebook is merely showing their true colors once more. Look into how the site was originally set up by creating fake accounts from public profile data of female faculty members. ...but this time you've given facebook access to your smartphone contacts, phone number and heaps of other data.

      CAPTCHA: circus

    3. Re:Die, Facebook, die, die, die. by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This isn't new practice on Facebook's part. They pulled a similar pattern of mails on me when I quit using it back in 2007. I'm surprised no one else has made this comment. When I complained about this to tech industry contacts back then, I was treated like I was wearing a tinfoil hat, but now some user experiences the same thing and an article gets written for a major news outlet. If you apply the rule that fear sells news, I guess this means that people are finally starting to be afraid of what they are "sharing" on voluntary surveillance media. Whoops, I mean, social media. Sorry.

      --
      Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
    4. Re:Die, Facebook, die, die, die. by omnichad · · Score: 5, Informative

      They use what's pretty much a permacookie for login. Not a session-based cookie. My latest-expiring non-session cookie on Facebook (according to Edit This Cookie extension in Chrome) is April of 2019. And remember that this cookie can be reactivated or renewed just by visiting a web site with a FB like button or conversion tracking code. You don't have to be on facebook.com for it to renew.

    5. Re:Die, Facebook, die, die, die. by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not being on Facebook is in itself evidence that you may be a space alien or a conspiracy theorist.

  3. It took me 2 years to get off Facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, 2 years to get off FB and finally stop receiving their junk emails. Get a life by getting off FB.

    1. Re:It took me 2 years to get off Facebook by Sperbels · · Score: 5, Interesting

      It was fairly easy for me. I changed my real name to my initials. They had a real name only policy (not sure if they still do) so they banned my account for using a fake name. I haven't received an email from them since.

    2. Re:It took me 2 years to get off Facebook by PKFC · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Confirmed. My name was changed to Jus D'Orange because I got bored. Years later they bust me for it. Require me to change my name before I can log in again. Bam: "Jus de Pomme". Week later banned and now need to upload a government issued ID to confirm my name.... oh hell no.

      Only problem is: I can't log in to be able to delete my account. I'm sure that password will get breached eventually (not sure if I can even change it in the current state), but the ID requirement will be there protecting my account.

      Terms of service say I can't create a new account to circumvent a ban so yeah

    3. Re:It took me 2 years to get off Facebook by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have a similar problem with MySpace. I want to delete all my stuff (and maybe try to delete my account if it's an option) but whenever I try to log in, it won't let me proceed unless I agree to new ToS. I want out but I can't say No without saying Yes first.

  4. Delete your account by rl117 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I got one of these last year. It was a good reminder to log in and completely delete my account for good, after not using it for several years. I did the same for Google+ just last week. I came to the realisation that while superficially convenient, they weren't adding much value to my life and were in many respects a net negative. Facebook in particular had become a cesspool of irrelevant time-wasting nonsense. Finally deleting them all felt quite liberating. Like I'm no longer being spied on by super creepy people, though I'm sure they'll still try their best to track me.

  5. Oh no! Better safe than sorry! by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Dear Facebook,

    That wasn't me trying to log in. Better delete the account right now, lest you have some fake profiles again. Better safe than sorry, delete it NOW, NOW, NOW!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Facebook Becomes The Jealous Girlfriend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stopped going on Facebook after being out of the country for a couple weeks without internet access. Facebook turns into the crazy jealous girlfriend, sending countless emails to you.

    It's been a while since you've been here. Come back....
    Why haven't you checked your feed lately?
    Your friend did this thing. You should really look at it!
    Something happened. You should really come see us and find out what.
    Why aren't you checking these things!? You're missing out!
    WHERE ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU IGNORING US!!?!?!?

  7. There's more to it than that. by waspleg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is an NSA/CIA/FBI/ETC wet dream for spying (on Americans and otherwise). I'm sure Facebook has deep in roads with the gov't.

    I remember the old Onion article calling Zuckerberg CIA agent of the year many years ago. It's supposed to be satire but ...

    1. Re:There's more to it than that. by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 5, Funny

      https://www.theonion.com/cias-...

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  8. Re:Unlikely by jwhyche · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about 'kiss my ass?"

    --
    I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  9. Re:Unlikely by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just because someone thinks Trump is a fraud or a joke doesn't mean he approves of Clinton.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  10. Re:Unlikely by admin7087 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not very likely in this case. Advertisement companies like Facebook have no real product and are easy to replace once they're gone.

  11. Re:Nice try ivan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Less successful in everything?

    Well, my wife loves me and likes spending time with me.

    I've never been divorced.

    I've never been disliked by the majority of my fellow countrymen

    I have genuine friends

    Sure he has more money, fame, and duped a bunch of people into voting for him. So if those are the things which are most important to you in this life...well that sounds like a pretty shitty life to me compared to genuine friendships and the love of a spouse.

  12. Shadow profile: info from members and analytics by tepples · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Web users who have never signed up for Facebook, such as myself, still have a shadow profile that Facebook infers from two kinds of data source. One is information that Facebook members provide to Facebook about a non-member, such as contacts on their phones and tags in photos. The other is a click-stream, or the sequence of URLs of documents loaded in a non-member's browser that contain Facebook analytic devices, such as its like button or comments plug-in.

  13. Don't use one email address by MobyDisk · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is why I use a different email address for every service. If you don't have your own domain, then use one of the many services that let you do this easily. Then you can just delete the email address when companies like Facebook start spamming you. It also lets you know who is selling your email address to advertisers.