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AN EDITORIAL ABOUT FACEBOOK.

 
 
Facebook rolled out yet another round of changes to its privacy settings last week, creating another blitz of reporting in the media.
If it were a country, Facebook would be the third largest in the world behind China and India. The 500-millionth person is expected to sign up this week. TIME made a good point in its cover story: “Google helps us search out data. YouTube keeps us entertained. But Facebook has a huge advantage over those other sites: the emotional investment of its users.”
It’s true. People are obsessed. But they’re seemingly obsessed with something that they know little about. I’m continually amazed at how much information people make available publicly on Facebook – even to people they have not ‘accepted’ as friends.
Facebok started off at Harvard University and it is still most popular with university-aged people around the world. A cursory glance around the Central Library will quickly reveal that it is no passing craze here. Over 7 000 students are members of a group that posts quotes overheard from other students right here at Otago.
You would think that at somewhere like the University of Otago, where people are supposed to be smart and stuff, that people would be careful about what they put on Facebook; who they accept as friends; and how they set their privacy.
For starters, employers do look at your Facebook when hiring. Trust me. I employ people. If you’re going to post pictures of yourself coma’d out with dicks drawn on your face, don’t be confused when you don’t get that Grad job.
The other thing of which you should be aware, is that Facebook is raking in the cash. So those groups you join saying you would like, totally delete your profile (on a side note: you can’t actually delete your profile) if it started charging are stupid. The stuff you put on Facebook is personal to you – but the data is pumping up the company coffers. As long as you understand that and don’t care, then there is not a problem.
I don't think Facebook is evil. I spend half my day on it. But it pays to know what you’re signed up for. Check your settings (And, as Richard Cheese pleads on pX, stop being so friggin’ annoying).
According to various news reports, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been caught out at his own game (another reminder that everything you put online lasts forever). The following is an alleged online exchange between him and a friend soon after Facebook was launched.
Zuckerberg: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard
Zuckerberg: Just ask. 
Zuckerberg: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS
[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?
Zuckerberg: People just submitted it. 
Zuckerberg: I don't know why. 
Zuckerberg: They "trust me"
Zuckerberg: Dumb fucks.