scrubbedexpat091

I feel bad for teens and children of modern times. I suppose for many it's positive but for those who are bullied, it's now 24/7 with various electronic ways, and people in general can be far nastier online then they ever would in person.

At least in my day which was the 90's, one school was over one got a break from the bullying until the next school day, now seems the bullies can bully 24/7.

dbd33

Are you sure? If not on Facebook, where did the civil war loonies find you?

Shard

FB is getting the rap (and so it should) but all the platforms are becoming increasingly parasitic in nature. Case in point: Google, very few signed up for their "Circles" network, but their Plan B seems to be to quietly rope people into a social network via You Tube. We all use You Tube right ?! Very gradually anonymity is being eroded in favor of the powerful network effects that each of big internet companies crave. Linked-In, browsing used to be (and still can be) anonymous, but no more. I guess for millennials privacy is irrelevant as they're never had it.

JamesM

LinkedIn charge for most of their decent services. At least it's a marginally more honest business model.

Facebook, YouTube and Google track everything. Google can apparently track your movements even if you are not connected to a network on your phone.

But I don't know why this is any shock to people as these services need paying for and the data does that.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Someone pays somewhere.

If you want privacy stop using the internet and throw your mobile phone in the bin- while you're at it get paid in cash and put it under your mattress. You will not last long in the real world though. Orwell called it and Big Brother is here to stay.

MarkG

US or UK?

I met my US Civil War re-enactor friend on Usenet, about twenty years ago, though I haven't seen her since I came to Canada. I've known my UK Civil War re-enactor friend since I was at school.

It'll be interesting to see the Civil War II re-enactors in a few decades. By then, my friend might be old enough to play Clinton.

dbd33

LinkedIn may have the more honest business model but it has the least realistic descriptions and photographs. pof certainly offers more accurate descriptions of real world experience. I imagine grindr has less carefully orchestrated photographs.

The entertainment value of facebook depends, for me, on the tracking of data. It's an application for people of middle age or greater which means it presents as "friend" candidates people one once knew. It's amusing to see someone half forgotten from high school and to see them flouting their younger partner or flashy car. It's less amusing but interesting nonetheless to know who has died or joined the tories. This sort of connection can only be made if all involved supply some basic information.

A risk of not supplying information is that, when people google you, it may be that nothing turns up. That's going to look odd if the person googling is a prospective employer. I don't suggest structuring every post as if at interview but it might be as well not show one's self in the company of the facially tattooed or Chelsea supporters (assuming there are Chelsea supporters somewhere who don't have swastika tats on their foreheads).

dbd33

I have had very grim experiences with reenactors, I didn't suggest that you knew any such people.

I was referring to your idea that Americans expect civil war, you said you made the claim based on knowledge from internet forums and I've been wondering ever since where you found people who think like that.

moneypenny20

If you're using your laptop rather than a mobile, download Fluffbuster Purity and then you can remove all unwanted crap so it doesn't appear on your page. Unfortunately they haven't developed the app for mobiles yet, but my page on the laptop is empty of so much crap, it's great.

scrubbedexpat091

I'll do that. Thanks for the link.

Google very obviously tracks people, some of their services are useful, I do like the traffic updates google send me before work and before I leave work for home.

The annoying company is Amazon and their stupid emails suggesting products I just bought.

Siouxie

I use that too

I'm the same on the 'bolded'.. or almost.

The only current photos of myself/family are locked down to family only in private albums that others can't see. There's a few older family photos that are visible to friends and family only.

I'm not searchable, you can't find me unless through a friend or if I invite you.

I mainly keep FB for close friends and family in the UK and overseas; I rarely if ever comment on 'pages'; I have 1 or 2 groups that are 'member only', that I belong to..

It's useful, to me, but if I didn't have it it wouldn't be a big deal.

When an employer a few years ago did a search for me online, they could only find one mention/comment that I posted to a relative. That's how I like it!

Shard

What I don't get is why Google will send messages saying "We need some human help with this..." and ask some inconsequential question like, "Does this supermarket sell milk?" and if you answer, more messages will come asking more inconsequential questions. They're always questions where the answer is obvious or self evident.

I've posted this curiosity on BE before, and nobody actually responded. So, guys I "need some human help with this" Does anyone receive similar messages from Google (Google Maps I think) and if so, what does it all mean ???!!! Is the Google-Overlord already testing our weak human minds??

Teaandtoday5

I am currently being followed around on-line by George Ezra. But his face appearing on my calculator app isn't going to make me go back to paper and pencil. I am totally missing the essential 'truth' of all this. How does someone knowing that I 'like' pictures of my friends' kids/horse/birthday party help them make me vote for Trump?

dbd33

Who do you blame that on?

moneypenny20

Is he singing to you? I could live with that.

Teaandtoday5

All my own doing.