Wednesday, 13 June 2018

FB and me

What I read

In "Facebook privacy bug 'affects 14 million users'" (2018), the BBC's Dave Lee reports that while issues such as data sharing have recently been more serious, Facebook is now working to notify about 14 million users that they may mistakenly have posted as public information that was intended only for friends or a more restricted audience during the period May 18 to 22, when Facebook's system was hit by a computer glitch. 

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My FB page last week

My response 

Since I'm a Facebook (FB) user, this story interested me. My default setting for new posts is "Friends", so only my FB friends can normally see anything I post. It wouldn't have been a big problem if a post or two had mistakenly been made public, but I do post some personal stuff that I would prefer strangers not be able to see. In my case, personal means a visit with friends to a restaurant, or my response to a news article, such as reports on the recent US Supreme Court ruling on the Masterpiece Cake case, or books that I'm reading. There is nothing I would need to worry about in these posts if someone else saw them, I just like to keep my personal life private. When I quickly checked my few posts for the period, I was safe, but it would have been a very easy mistake to make — it's easy to overlook little things like a setting. 
Even when I'm writing, I often make small typing mistakes, as you will notice reading my blog posts. These are usually not serious, although I sometimes leave out the word not, and that can seriously change the meaning. I should spend a little more time reviewing before I post, but I usually do my blogging with my morning or afternoon coffees, so it's done quickly, and not always checked very carefully. Multitasking, even just drinking coffee at the same time, might not be the best strategy either, but it is a convenient time for me to browse the news and respond to articles or other things that interest me, such as the FB story I've just summarized above.
My FB page yesterday

At the moment I have exactly 32 FB friends; they are all good friends and relatives, so the stuff I post does tend to be personal. Most people would not be at all interested in it. I also have a couple of linked FB pages where I post for different audiences; for example, I have an FB page for AUA, to which I post bits that might interest my students, colleagues or others who follow that page.  I like that FB makes it easy to keep these bits of my life separate. My family and friends are not normally interested in the things that I post to my AUA FB page or to other pages I manage. 

Now my coffee is getting cold! 
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My question

Do you worry about using social media? 
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Reference

2 comments:

  1. Nowadays,a social media start to play more and more important role in our life.It makes people communication to be convenience, even they are far distantce.For example, I often communicate my family and friends or express some my opinoins about a case by the Wei Chat that is a kind of a Chiese social media software like the FB.I need not pay money for it again only can log in the internet ,it is very cheaper and convenience.
    On the other hand,I also worry about social media how to protect personal information.Because of software bug or hacker attacks these social medias,our personal information will be gained illegally.Now I hardly express my ideas on the Wei Chat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Of course. I really care for my inf. released to publish even in general friend, as these posts show what I am and what I think. Thus, I am aware of my image so bad which has a significant effect on me both present and future, and Some inf. also needs to keep secret in order to protect my private life from invasion.

    ReplyDelete

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