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Gadget by The Blog Doctor.
Read more: http://www.blogdoctor.me/2009/01/random-rotating-post-gadget-with.html#ixzz1X8tUqQzR

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Facebook: A Whole New Way to Stay in Touch or A Hacker's Wet Dream

  Well, it made Mr. Zuckerberg a billionaire very quickly.  Facebook has changed the Internet as we know it; there's hardly a single site that doesn't have a Facebook "like" button at the very least embedded in it.  You are expected to have a Facebook profile now; even my seventy four year old grandmother has one.  It's become a daily, if not hourly, routine for millions of people; wake up, check your fb to see what's going on with your friends and family.  When you go out with friends, of course you will check in on fb to let everyone know where you are, what you're doing, and who's with you.  It's really mind blowing when you think of it. I read a joke that said, and I am quoting here,

If Facebook ever shut down, you'd see people aimlessly walking round streets, scribbling on walls, poking each other, searching for their friends, thumbs-upping and commenting at everything they see and tagging one another.

Now, besides the obvious exaggeration in that, it's amazing to realize how true it is. People have come to depend on Facebook for a lot of things, whether to organize a party or event, to just asking your friend how the movie was; it would be truly interesting to see what would happen if Facebook shut down for a few days. I know how lost I was after losing my phone and not having one for a few days; in fact I didn't make it two days before I went out and bought a temporary one.  Communication is so important in this day and we want access to it at all times.  I'm sure I'm not the only person who would feel totally isolated without their cell phone.
  Yet while Facebook is a great way for staying in touch, especially with loved ones around the globe, it has its issues.  I don't know much about computers so I'm not exactly speaking from experience here and can't explain very well, but from what I've heard Facebook is full of privacy flaws.  I was talking to my computer teacher a few months back and he was telling me how bad their privacy settings really are; that's not to mention their privacy policy.  From the way he said it, it seemed that anything on your profile is not only yours, but is owned by Facebook as well.  Meaning they can use it how they please.  Maybe I misheard him though, because I really don't see how they could do that.  I know lot's of people that don't use their real last names for privacy; I always thought that was going a little bit to far, but if there are people out there you don't want to talk to it's a good idea.    Besides that, there's the issue of never being able to fully delete your profile, especially if you were an active user for a long time.   Every time you "like" something, that info appears in your Facebook profile as well as on the website.  You don't even have to log into Facebook before liking it; if you stayed logged in on your computer anywhere, it will automatically log you in there as well.   Kinda freaky when you think about it.  
   Of course there's always the stories that hackers can view your profile and instantly know everything about you; that's not exactly true.  And for the ones that are advanced enough to do that, no amount of privacy settings can stop them.  But just think about it for a minute, what do you have on your Facebook page?  I know my number's on there, as well as my blogs, and the schools I went to; the place I work and where I've worked before that.  Now, I'm a trusting person when it comes to people in general; I think most people on this earth are good at heart.  Yet there are those few who ruin it for everyone, so to speak.  
  I've heard and read that while you can "deactivate" your Facebook profile, you can never truly delete it from their servers.  Therefore, information about you can possibly be floating around in cyber space for years to come.  Of course Facebook has a very long Privacy Policy you are supposed to read before you can sign up, yet no one can be bothered to take the time to read it.  I'm sure some of us, if not all, would be surprised at how much information they can really use.   
  After everything's said and done, however, I still think that Facebook is an amazing and innovative way to keep in touch with the world.  After the 2011 Stanley Cup Riots, it was essential in organizing and gathering volunteers for cleanup of this beautiful city of ours; it is a great way to support a loved one on the other side of the world, a wonderful way to promote a new business.  People just need to keep in mind that everything they put on Facebook isn't necessarily going to remain private; in fact, like everything else on the Internet, it won't. So just be careful what you tell the world about yourself, and have faith that ninety nine percent of people are good; it's the other one percent who have put such mistrust into our eyes.

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