Facebook doesn’t chose what to show you

yes it does.

“events near me” is one for starters. I don’t choose which ones it promotes to be my top story. It puts them there, I hit remove, it puts them back again 🙄

It seems that Guildford, Bath, and Chester are all near Frankfurt.

Facebook doesn’t chose what to show you.

You ask it to show you stuff.

Damn right.

It’s not a TV channel that you passively watch. People need to be aware that what’s on their feed is there because they put it there.

Oh and it’s also useless at remembering preferred sort order.

I choose reverse chronological. It decides to randomly insist that I see top stories. Well half the time they were top…. 2 weeks ago.

nealglover – Member

My life, as far as I can tell, has not been compromised by not reading the barrage of shit that FB provides. I asked Facebook to provide me with

Facebook doesn’t chose what to show you.

You ask it to show you stuff.

Only true to a degree – yes, the “friends” I have on there were willingly requested / accepted. And yes I can block elements of what others post. But ultimately if I reach the point, which I did, where I literally couldn’t care less about 99% of what comes up on it the choices are either block everything everyone posts, never go on it but leave my profile “live” or deactivate / eventually delete my account.

So far the latter is working pretty well for me.

molgrips – Member

Facebook doesn’t chose what to show you.
You ask it to show you stuff.

Damn right. It’s not a TV channel that you passively watch. People need to be aware that what’s on their feed is there because they put it there.

I think you’ve confused “show you stuff” with “let you show others your stuff” there. * And it can be the former if you never put stuff on it, which I bascially didn’t.

*edited because it turns out I can’t read. But see above anyway.

You are stealing the bread from Mark Zuckerberg’s family’s mouths footflaps.

To be honest he’s just not very good at targeted advertising – I’m never going to take up betting nor play farmbuild games, no matter how many ads he shows me, hence I just browse FB in a browser using ad avoidance software.

EDIT: I’m actually surprised at how crap Facebook advertising is. If they actually used all the data I posted / liked they could profile me very well. As it is, it’s fairly obvious they don’t do anything like that and just flood everyone with the same ads….

If they actually used all the data I posted / liked they could profile me very well.

Remember it’s not necessarily just what you post or hit like on.

There’s also embedded FB gadgetry now on almost every single website you visit. Now those site don’t get to see your profile details (afaict), but the other way around is (potentially) true.

With my tin foil hat on, I use 1 browser exclusively for FB, and another for everything else (and make sure there are no FB cookies).

Of course they don’t necessarily use just cookies, but can also track by IP etc. and all manner of other methods.

EDIT: I’m actually surprised at how crap Facebook advertising is. If they actually used all the data I posted / liked they could profile me very well. As it is, it’s fairly obvious they don’t do anything like that and just flood everyone with the same ads….

A lot of the advertising (don’t know if it all is?) is targeted by the advertiser, not by Facebook.

I can choose from loads of different options on who to show my adverts to.

Right down to individual postcode areas, or people with more than four kids etc.

So if the ads are targeted “wrongly” then it’s more than likely the advertisers fault.

Although they only pay if you click on the advert anyway, so a lot of the time they don’t really mind if its badly targeted.

anytr – install ghostery on your browser (there’s an add-on for most) and it blocks all those types of background harvesting processes. Very interesting to see how much would be going on otherwise.

There’s also embedded FB gadgetry now on almost every single website you visit. Now those site don’t get to see your profile details (afaict), but the other way around is (potentially) true.

Which you should be blocking using Facebook Disconnect!

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fbdc/

but can also track by IP etc

Not as useful as you think eg everyone in my office appears externally as the same IP address. With a campus university you might have 1000s of students masked behind each public IP address.

Although they only pay if you click on the advert anyway, so a lot of the time they don’t really mind if its badly targeted.

Except that too much poorly targeted advertising turns the user off the medium eg I no longer use the FB iPhone ap….

I put a post on my FB feed a few weeks ago ranting about it. The main jist being that is just seem to be be update pics of babies, new cars & holidays in the Seychelles……blah blah, what was the point etc.

In an ironic (probably should have predicted) twist, the people that I was probably most aiming my rantette at were the first to comment saying how brilliant FB is, but it is annoying that people just post stuff to show off etc……

The thing I find annoying is that people put ill-thought out comments on there, then get stroppy when you reply saying ‘well no, actually….x, y, z’ – I think a lot of people on there are seeking attention/in need of approval/think they are better/more important that others and only expect cooing & praise for the guff they post.

Anyway. Must dash. I’ve got a new phone that I need to tell all my FB friends about….

I have no desire to start a twitter account, I’m sure there are some worthwhile postings on it somewhere, but the overwhelming impression I get is that it’s an outlet for Vapid dickheads to spout.

I can see the appeal of a blog if you have something to say that others may want to hear about, but an awful lot of them have very little that anyone will really care about, there seem to be a lot of failed journalists in the world whose blogging of inconsequential nonsense is probably actually holding them back from any sort of success rather than demonstrating their abilities, it’s sort of tragic…

Facebook is a bit of a joke now IMO, it’s not very “social” TBH, it’s simply another form of media.

I use it to share pictures from time to time with friends and family and very occasionally comment on others pictures but it’s become rather dull and seems to be full of “Force it down your throat” extreme political cobblers (from all quarters) unsubtle advertisers trying to flog stuff, and Stalkers it’s ceased to be “Cool” sorry Mark…

Then we come back to the boring old Forums, I actually sort of like Forums, because they don’t suffer the fabricated sense of urgency and their content generally comes from normal people with an interest in the topic, and they pick up a bit of “atmosphere” is that the right word? They have a “feel” to them, normally due to their core topic(s), the type of people that use them and the way’s in which they are moderated (or not), that I sort of like.

I don’t want to “follow” a film star or politician, I’d actually rather discuss 29ers, Maggies legacy and concepts of social justice with you lot…

Don’t get your news from any of these outlets that’s what we fund the BBC for in part…
They should really be for discussion and in my view a Forum is a far better place for reasoned debates (or unreasonable arguments if you like) than twitter/facebook or blogs those all seem to be the online equivalent of lot’s of people shouting all at once with no bugger stopping to listen (or read) discuss or think…

Except that too much poorly targeted advertising turns the user off the medium eg I no longer use the FB iPhone ap….

Advertisers should learn to target their adverts better yes.

Mine are all targeted very specifically, and I keep a close eye on the ratio of Displays to Clicks to make sure that my targeting is putting my adverts in front of people who are interested in the service.

If the ratio is wrong, I change something and see what happens, until it improves.

Others don’t seem as bothered.

rather discuss 29ers

This is the Chat forum, all bike related chuff is explicitly banned. Apparently there is another forum somewhere for bike related nonsense….

Others don’t seem as bothered.

You’d think Facebum corporate would be though as they’ll alienate their user base with stupid William Hill ‘Aren’t I cool losing loads of money betting’ style ads….

I find the Facebook human summariser add-on works brilliantly – I have a rarely used FB account but my wife is a frequent flyer. I trust her to filter out the dross and only pass on useful information about friends and family using the medium of conversion. She gets to feel all powerful and the font of all knowledge; I get to feel smug that I have contracted out one of life’s tediums.

This is the Chat forum, all bike related chuff is explicitly banned. Apparently there is another forum somewhere for bike related nonsense….

It was the general point, I like the fact that a forum (such as STW) allows it’s users to join a topic or start one that they are interested in, and that there is discourse and debate with others who are genuinely interested, rather than short and punchy popularist chucking about of opinions without any real discussion.

Discussion and debate is what forums have over pretty much all other online social media…

+1 Convert.

You’d think Facebum corporate would be though as they’ll alienate their user base with stupid William Hill ‘Aren’t I cool losing loads of money betting’ style ads….

To a certain extent they do.
They give you loads of information an targeting and statistics of every element of what you are advertising and who to etc.
Betting sites such as William Hill don’t need to target as much as someone like me does though, because their service is virtual and their market is global.
And to be honest, you probably do fit into their target demographic perfectly. So their targeting is probably working well generally.

It strikes me that saying that social media is crap is like saying that books are crap because there are some rubbish books out there.

If you find fb crap then it’s because you’re friends with people who post crap…

It strikes me that saying that social media is crap is like saying that books are crap because there are some rubbish books out there.

I tend to find its the same people who sit in the corner of the canteen/pub/etc grumbling about how rubbish it is in here…

clubber – Member

If you find fb crap then it’s because you’re friends with people who post crap…

That’s absolutely 100% true, and is the root of the problem. I always assumed that reflects everybody’s experience of Facebook.

What sort of dynamic, provocative and compelling nuggets do you and your friends post? I’m finding it hard to imagine the social heights you’re implying exist elsewhere…

Well I could be a lover of inane celebrity chat and maybe that’s all my friends post. Or maybe my friends all post about bikes non-stop or maybe some of it’s a bit dull but easy enough to ignore while enough is of interest that I find it good overall. Or I could have a lot of friends around the world that I’d lose touch with most likely otherwise.

FWIW, I have turned off the feeds of a couple of people who I know and like but do seem to post stupid stuff on fb. No harm done. Maybe you know more of them than I do.

It’s bizarre people complaining about junk from their FB friends. Just block them ffs. It’s not rocket science.

I like to hear about new babies and where people have been on their holidays because they are my friends and family.

I am a casual FB user dipping in maybe two or three times a week. Very rarely post. My kids are more permanent residents and it is a medium that supports their social group in a wider context without the limitations of texting. It has become a social phenomenon and has stayed rather longer than some would have predicted. This is probably down to the way it has / is evolving and because companies are getting on board with it.

I see no compelling reason for me to sign up to twitter – so I haven’t. My life seems no emptier or fuller in my blissful ignorance. Twitter does seem to be more geared to vanity though with the ability and willingness of people to indulge whatever stream of consciousness may be gripping them at any given moment.

What seems to be more “worrying” is the apparent trend of businesses to be adopting social media style interaction internally through tools such salesforce and yammer. Just don’t understand it, at all.

However, as Molgrips points out, there are some uses to it. Public opinion is now more easily gauged and grievances have a more public platform. Look at the cases posted on this site of complaints about some service or other that was posted on twitter and there was follow up by the company. Perhaps us poor people are starting to get a bit more publicity when things are not going well. Probably won’t last though…

That’s absolutely 100% true, and is the root of the problem. I always assumed that reflects everybody’s experience of Facebook.

Not mine really.

I follow a few companies I’m interested in for product development etc, some of my real life friends that are interesting people and post good stuff, some people who are friends of people I know that post interesting stuff.

I get invites to stuff and find out what’s happening and what’s coming up.
Rides and riding weekends away get discussed and organised.
Birthdays and holidays get planned organised.

All pretty good stuff really.

I use Ghostery add on with Firefox (and also NoScript). I have found it to be very good. What it reveals about how we are spied on is alarming though. At the moment it has a block list of over 1000 different tracking programs trying to spy on what people do on the internet and which it seeks to block from doing so. Terrifying really – the Guardian newspaper always comes up as one of the worst as it constantly gets caught out by NoScript and Ghostery – loads of tracking every time you look at one of the papers pages. Unless you load protection programs you just don’t realise the scale of the problem.

Unless you load protection programs you just don’t realise the scale of the problem.

I appreciate that people are looking at what you do on the Internet.

But if those people are legitimate companies rather than Nigerian Scammers, what are the issues ?

Genuine question by the way.

I binned facebook and twitter, just because I didn’t like the headline nature of them. Tbh they’re just a variation on forums anyhow… so I stick with forums where things can get deeper and more interesting.

Plus anything interesting from fb and twitter end up on forums 5 minutes later anyhow.

Does anybody actually click on adverts?

Intentionally that is, I’ve clicked them identically.

I usually get my Fb and Twitter feeds via Flipboard, but even when I use the actual apps I still rather think of the feeds as a bit like a newspaper or magazine, in that I scroll through, skip the crap, and view what’s interesting to me. Possibly because I only view on my phone or pad, it’s easy to just flick up and down, scanning what’s posted.
The ads are a pain, but so are ads on TV, and I generally don’t watch those either. My Twtr feeds are pretty well chosen, so I get very little garbage, and I ignore any crap that’s chucked up on Fb by my friends. The postings by musicians and bands I find very useful, I really enjoy the SuicideGirls postings, and Col Chris Hadfield’s posts from the ISS are spellbinding; his photos from orbit are so damned good I’ll happily forgive any other flaws that Fb has.

I appreciate that people are looking at what you do on the Internet.

But if those people are legitimate companies rather than Nigerian Scammers, what are the issues ?

Genuine question by the way.

As well as the commercial data mining you may or may not find acceptable there is also a few companies developing “future crimes” software. Here’s an article in everyone’s fave the Guardian.

meh..

I’m squeaky clean these days but have had a very chequered history..

I think that unless you’re up to no good, or at the very least doing stuff that you’re ashamed of, then what have you really got to fear from data mining..?

Is this to avoid some sort of dark future conspiracy, or are you just worried about your granny finding out what you’re tossing off to..?

Read the article, its not about catching you knocking one out, it’s about what someone thinks you may do because you talk to people who have a chequered history.

There’s a difference between being aware of something and worried by it that’s possibly beyond you.

As well as the commercial data mining you may or may not find acceptable there is also a few companies developing “future crimes” software. Here’s an article in everyone’s fave the Guardian.

Can’t really think of a reason I should see that as an issue.

Quite impressive, but I’m not too bothered by it.

They will be able to predict that I Valet cars all over Yorkshire 6 days a week and take pictures for the Facebook business page.

Occasionally go biking in various locations, and some of my mates have cats and kids.

There’s a difference between being aware of something and worried by it that’s possibly beyond you.

😆 ok

I guess, from reading between the insults, and looking briefly over the article you’ve posted, that some people fear that they have more to lose than others..

I don’t think I’d be able to enjoy a fully rounded and open minded life experience if I felt I needed to be that paranoid about who I associated myself with socially..

Can you be found guilty purely by association..?
Surely only if there is enough evidence to indicate that not only do you occasionally ‘like’ an alleged wrong ‘uns status update, or argue philosophy online with them, or occasionally meet for a game of darts and a pint.. but also that you have participated in criminal activity with that person..?

Am I being naive or are you being paranoid..?

I suppose that in some jobs maybe people feel they are obliged to conduct their lives with a certain level of defensive social insecurity.. But as a rehabilitated character, it’s up to me really to be able to defend my actions and associations, and as long as I have personal integrity I don’t believe that I should have to limit my experience or live in fear of the judgement of others..

meh..

I’m squeaky clean these days but have had a very chequered history..

I think that unless you’re up to no good, or at the very least doing stuff that you’re ashamed of, then what have you really got to fear from data mining..?

Is this to avoid some sort of dark future conspiracy, or are you just worried about your granny finding out what you’re tossing off to..?

I have two laptops 😉

I wonder how easy the grumpy neighbours wifi would be to hack

having just re read the article, it’s not even that is it?

It’s just people guessing where you’re going or what you might want to buy..

Well.. I’m going to the shops, or the pub, or the woods for a ride, or taking my kids to the park, or even attending a protest march or an illegal rave.. and I’m going to buy stuff that I need or want

but you knew that anyway surely..?

You’re right Ian.. this thing is way above my head 😕