I’ve been on Facebook about 6 months now. Some things really freak me out.

I used to work in residential childcare but left that work about 5 years ago. I am not in touch with any of my old colleagues. I don’t have them as friends on FB or in my email contacts. I was looking today a ‘suggested friends’ on FB and it suggested one of the kids I used to look after. No mutual friends, no ability to link contacts and no idea how it came up with his name. This is not a friend request from him, it is a suggestion from FB that I know him

How does FB know that I know him??? It is just slightly too big brother for my liking.. I honestly cannot work out how it made that connection.

Little tip, do what I do and simply never use it 🙂

I was like that for a long time. I try to be smart about how I use it and everything is pretty much locked down. I only have a small number of ‘friends’ and these are family or genuine friends. It is good for keeping in touch with people I was losing touch with as they are spread arounfd the country and world

Probably he did a “Find My Friends” thing on Facebook where it scanned his entire email address book. You may not have been on Facebook at that time, but your name and email address was in his address book so it was noted down deep in the Facebook meta-conscience.

Some time later you come along, either using that email address or with some link to it, and Facebook spots the connection.

Quite spooky isn’t it?

Tin foil hat time 😳

There is no way he had my email address though.

Probably he did a “Find My Friends” thing on Facebook where it scanned his entire email address book. You may not have been on Facebook at that time, but your name and email address was in his address book so it was noted down deep in the Facebook meta-conscience.

Some time later you come along, either using that email address or with some link to it, and Facebook spots the connection.

This will be it. Linkdin and other social networks do this too. Its not a one way relationship, you maybe didnt have any ties to him or let FB access your email, but he maybe did.

I laughed recently when FB suggested I tag a face in a photo I’d uploaded. The face was in a painting in the background of the photo.

There is no way he had my email address though.

Mutual contacts would also trigger this sort of thing. FB basically builds a graph of connections and then extracts and extrapolates from it. You never notice the ones it gets wrong, but the ones that are right appear to be spooky.

I think I need one of those cages that Gene Hackman has in Enemy of the State

There is no way he had my email address though.

Extend to one hop away then: he has email addresses of people that have your email address.

Extend to one hop away then: he has email addresses of people that have your email address

possible, but I would be surprised. Most people in social work keep their distant from service users outside of work, certainly don’t socialise with them!

Ha you sound like you speak from experince right there.

Franksinatra – You are on my list of suggested friends. That’s a cracking sunset that you have on your front page.

Also – you dont really have it locked down that much…

Searching for them and looking at their profile also puts them on your list of ‘suggested friends’. This does not make it any less creepy, mind.

Someone connected to you could have their place of work or a project or service they are involved in as part of their profile and the connection is perhaps being made through the place not a person.

He can see you. He’s looking at you now…

Franksinatra – You are on my list of suggested friends. That’s a cracking sunset that you have on your front page.

That will be through friend of friend connection – no?

Searching for them and looking at their profile also puts them on your list of ‘suggested friends’.

I just search for old girlfriends. I wouldn’t be looking up kids I used to look after at work!

Franksinatra – looking further closer it is through the KGB. 😉

if he’s been searching for you, then facebook might suggest him to you?

look on the brightside, before facebook he would be up a tree looking through your bathroom window.

Would a “client” have a contact for their social worker? – esp these days with telephone and email contacts on smart phones…

Very easy then to link that phone address book contact to you… Client has social worker “firstname lastname” in phone directory. Uses smart phone for FB, which then uploads all those contacts to the FB servers. If social worker “firstname lastname” has shared contacts / place of work / friends with you, then you get added to the list of possible connections (- for all parties I assume???)

if he’s been searching for you, then facebook might suggest him to you?

Does it work that simply though? The various stuff on FB privacy rules etc suggests that all of the “stalker tracker ” type apps are a scam, because of the privacy rules.

Another thing I find odd is how some “work” contacts always show as possible connections, whilst others never do. Some of those contacts (both from the always suggested and the never suggested groups) are on my phone list, some are not….?

FB privacy

haha rofflemayo

There was that FB app update that pilfered entire iphone/android etc. contacts, and then when there was a massive outcry they did a mass cover up claiming it was a bug. yeah right.

Very likely to be something like that.

Despite what FB like to claim about privacy, and lots of controls over privacy, at the end of the day it’s not what you put in to FB, but what others put in to FB about you. The “privacy” controls are designed to make it look like you have control, but in reality they are misleading, and you really don’t have control. (tagging is one of them)

It’s free because they’re selling you.

Another thing I find odd is how some “work” contacts always show as possible connections, whilst others never do. Some of those contacts (both from the always suggested and the never suggested groups) are on my phone list, some are not….?

Could be because some colleagues have uploaded their address books (intentionally or not) to Facebook, and those are the ones that appear in your suggestions.