I think we're clear about sharing questionable pictures or getting into heated fights or slandering someone on a Facebook page (I hope so, anyway), and we're aware that potential and present employers and college admissions people can see what we post unless we have our privacy settings set up right... But just how 'safe' is your personal information online?
It's good to remember that anything you post online in any way, is permanently out there, with the potential of any number of people or companies finding and using what you share for whatever reasons they might choose.
When it comes to ''mining'" data from Facebook, what information was helpful to those who wanted to influence the election?
- Ages of people
- What ethnic background these people have
- Where they live
- Whether they tend to share posts that have a liberal or conservative 'lean' to them
- Their support of organizations that also indicate their preferences
- What posts they share
- Who their friends are on Faccebook
- Which apps they use
- When people click the 'Like' button, and about what
- When their Facebook friends click a 'Like' button and about what
- Where they work
- Their incomes
- What their religious beliefs are
- If they have had health issues
- What schools they attend or have attended
- After-work activities they enjoy
- Possibly, pictures that indicate a political preference
- Whether they have children
- Ways in which they volunteer
Why? Because all of these things are thought to influence the way a person votes in an election..
Here's someone who, as an experiment, 'liked' absolutely everything he saw on Facebook for just two days, and the results were remarkable. It really is an interconnecting web: If he 'liked' one thing, Facebook suggested something related, then something else related to that, then something else.... (note: There may be topics or words that offend you in his article): https://www.wired.com/2014/08/i-liked-everything-i-saw-on-facebook-for-two-days-heres-what-it-did-to-me/
So, what can we do to avoid sources mining our information?
- How to tighten up your privacy on Facebook: http://www.winknews.com/2018/03/22/use-facebook-privacy-settings/
- If you want to delete your Facebook account, it can be done, but it's not exactly simple. Facebook has two options, delete or deactivate. Here are steps to completely, 100%, delete your account. https://mashable.com/2014/07/02/how-delete-facebook/#pHFaaLpb5OqW
If you're unsure about closing your Facebook account, remember, you do have some control over it on a daily basis.
- You can choose who sees what you post: choose specific people only, Public, Acquaintences, Friends, Close Friends
- You can create a 'Restricted' list of people who see nothing unless you allow it. You could use this for people you're not comfortable 'unfriending' just yet.
- You can change these selections with every post if you want to.
- You can un-follow people who post things you don't want to see, and re-follow if you want to give them another chance.
- You can create a 'blocked' list of people you don't even want to find you on Facebook, and add to it whenever you want.
- Remember, it's your account, you can set it up the way you want it.
- Also, consider who you allow to be Facebook friends with you: do you know the person well, and trust him or her? If not, perhaps don't be Facebook friends. People sometimes 'friend' absolutely anyone that asks, and wind up with several hundred of them. The maximum amount of friends and pages you follow is currently 5,000. There may be times when a business page merits that many, but truly, how many 'friends' do you actually have? You can always weed out your list and un-friend a batch that you barely know.
- When all is said and done, it's just Facebook.
Your information, pictures, anything you've posted, is 'out there' forever, so be selective and smart with what you share and with whom.
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