Facebook

[enemy anemone]

I was recently freaked out by facebook suggestions too. some of the suggestions were for people I thought I didn't know, but I searched gmail and found that I had emailed them/their companies before. I wonder if those people at some point had uploaded their email contact list (and with gmail, everyone you've ever emailed is a contact) to facebook and that's how facebook knew to suggest those people to me, even if the people didn't choose to invite me. what I mean is, they uploaded/gave facebook access to their contact list, chose who they wanted to invite/add, did not include me because they don't even know me really, and facebook stored my email address and connection to those people and suggested them to me in the invite that I eventually received from someone else.

I do not like this, but I would rather believe this than facebook has access to my gmail contact list.

[murlough23]

I seem to recall it asking me if it was OK with me acessing my Gmail account to get my contact list when I first signed up for FB and gave them my Email address. I said sure, but I assumed one could opt out of this. If they're not prompting people to make sure this is OK with them, that's a problemo.

[enemy anemone]

yes, I think I did this one time a long time ago just to see what would happen and who would show up. later I removed that email address from my facebook account (although I don't actually believe facebook "forgets" it) and switched to another one. but some of the suggestions I received were for people I have emailed more recently than that.

[NewDimension]

For the few days that I had a Facebook account, I got a few of those suggestions also, but only for people that I've talked to from different forums; it never suggested anyone I know off-line. None of it freaked me out, though. I thought it was strange that they would suggest people I knew online from other forums, especially since I had never tried to contact them through Facebook and I don't think the other people tried to contact me through Facebook either.

I wonder if Facebook records your IP address and attaches a memory to everything you click on, and say, you click on someone's profile (when you aren't signed into your account and/or don't even have an account yet) if you'll get those people as suggested contacts once you do sign into your account and/or create an account.

[murlough23]

I wonder if Facebook records your IP address and attaches a memory to everything you click on, and say, you click on someone's profile (when you aren't signed into your account and/or don't even have an account yet) if you'll get those people as suggested contacts once you do sign into your account and/or create an account.

It's possible most sites are going to log your IP in their web stats anyway. But this would only work if you had a static IP.

[Vlad!]

As Murlough said, IP addresses change. In that case you'd be just as likely to get a random wad of suggestions because of the stuff other people clicked on when they had that IP.

I suspect that Schil is right; I think that people will often add their address list to Facebook. Also, I think that if a person searches for you to see if you have an account, Facebook remembers that. The name of one of the VT people I didn't recognize was ringing some minor bell in my memory; finally it came to the front: she was the coordinator for the Raleigh area VT alumni association. The last time I went to one of their events, they passed around a sheet of paper and I put my e-mail address down. She probably either imported that list from her address book or tried to add each of us to the VTAA group.

(And one of the VT people I knew, the one I don't work with, certainly had my e-mail in her address book because we worked together when we were grad students, and she might also have searched for me to try and friend me on Facebook).

[murlough23]

As Murlough said, IP addresses change. In that case you'd be just as likely to get a random wad of suggestions because of the stuff other people clicked on when they had that IP.

These are all good reasons why you should never give out your IP freely.

[RavishingJohnny23]

http://www.facebook.com/Johnny23

there's my facebook. >.< If you feel inclined to add me.