FB Over-sharing

[talon]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/01/18/facebook.phone.privacy/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Since I don't have a phone, I don't have to worry about FB handing it out to app developers, spammers, or telemarketers (a step below spamming); but they also want a physical address to share with those same people.

Not gonna happen.

I don't do those apps on FB, Farmville, Yoville, Whoville, whatever. I don't play games on FB.

I don't want FB to be a hub, I want it to be a club or a neighborhood bar; a place where you've "arrived" and can socialize with others there, make connections, share laughs and pics, and make arrangements to go elsewhere. A "hub" implies someplace hectic and fraught with TSA agents, with exhausted people who can't make their desired connections, trapped by forces beyond their control, and help desk personnel who aren't.

Whether FB becomes a "hub" or not, I will continue to treat it like a neighborhood bar. That's what I want from FB, and that's what I will make it be, for me.

If you're concerned about what info you've already given away on FB, you can "To see what info you've already given up to developers, go to "account," then "privacy settings" and then, at the bottom of the page, "apps and websites." You'll find a list of "apps you use." Click on "edit settings" and you get to look at that list, see what info you're giving over, to whom, and what info the app most recently accessed. Click on an individual app name and then on "show details" to see what data was most recently accessed. " and "You also can control the information you give to app developer -- again, if you know what to look for. When you enable a new app, a "dialogue box" pops up on screen that lists the information you're about to give away." If you don't want the app to have that information, don't approve the app.

Since I'm not on FB for the apps, I don't play games, or shop there, or fill out surveys and questionnaires, my "apps and websites" list is empty. I plan to keep it that way.

FB is my neighborhood bar, and that's exactly what I want it to be.