homework4

Honestly, I wasn't really surprised by much that I found. I don't use Facebook a lot, but it did have pictures that I'd uploaded years ago, which was fun to look at. Most all of the information is still on my profile today, nothing surprised me about what they still had. Overall, it was a very complete picture of my Facebook usage. Events and conversations that I didn't even remember were also stored. I'm actually impressed at the storage capabilities of Facebook, given that they have over half a billion users.

 I think the extent to which Facebook keeps information is somewhat creepy, but understandable. I'm their product, not the other way around. I don't expect a service like Facebook to have no cost. Honestly, I don't have much on Facebook that I really care about them keeping. Yes, some basic info such as my age and school are on there, but Facebook selling this information doesn't really hurt me. The costs of me using the site are all taken care of without me even noticing. I think it's a good deal. No, I don't think it is a privacy invasion. All the information they have has been given to them. Facebook, although popular, is optional. People need to focus on protecting their information on their end of the equation. Don't rely on Facebook to guard and take care of your personal information. Just don't give it to them in the first place. Ultimately, they are a business, and a big one at that. Their privacy policies shouldn't be a huge surprise to anyone.

Assignment 4

I've always been told that what you post on the internet will never go away, but I never truly believed that. Because of this, it was somewhat shocking for me to see that Facebook had a lot of information about me stored. I was really surprised to see all of my past conversations as well as posts, people, and pictures that had been deleted years ago. It is scary how much data they can keep about you throughout your life. I think it can be considered an invasion of privacy depending on how they use it as well. 

This clearly can be very beneficial for advertisers. Now it makes a lot more sense to me how Facebook makes so much profit. Before I never really realized how they were getting that much money. I think that they should make it more clear to there users about how they store and  use their information otherwise it is unfair to do so without permission. Everyone knows that there information is out there, but I don't think we really realize to what extent. 

It would be really interesting to find out which information they keep and why. While browsing my information I saw that there was some info missing. I was really confused as to why that was missing over other things because I feel as if some of that data would be more beneficial for Facebook and their advertisers. Also, I would like to know how much data they are willing to store per person and how long. 

Overall, I guess it is somewhat surprising, but it doesn't really bother me. I don't post anything private on my Facebook. I believe there would be a lot of people out there that would be truly bothered by this though.

Online Assignment #4

Seeing all the information that Facebook keeps stored about me surprised me. I originally thought all the information that Facebook kept was semi if not completely useless but upon looking at it from an advertisers perspective and seeing all the things I liked and talked about about that i would naturally be drawn to if it were in an ad was astounding. Facebook knew that I was a student in Madsion, Wisconsin, who spent most of his free time outdoors and has a large extended family. Facebook knew who i stayed friends with over the years and who i blocked/de-friended. Facebook knew my daily habits of when i woke up when a slept when i was bust and when i was bored and how much i procrastinated before a would start my home work for the day. It knew most if not all of my medical history too.
My thoughts on Facebook keeping and storing this information? Honestly I could care less, I willingly chose to put it on a public website, knowing full well that it will be spread around in some way, shape, or form. I am not the type of person that needs to have my information kept private, if i liked a page about midget porn I already know that my future employers and family members will see it. MWhat I'm trying to get at is that since I choose what I put on the site it becomes my responsibility to share it or not share it not Facebook's. Facebook is merely providing an opportunity.

Online Assignment #4

Most of my Facebook archive was not very interesting considering I never delete anything and it's already on my profile for me to see. The only part that I thought was fun to go through was my old messages. It brought back so many good memories (and some bad ones). Since I have had a Facebook since 8th grade there were definitely things I forgot about. During high school, I went to Costa Rica and my only way of communicating with family and friends back home was through Facebook so reading those messages reminded me of a lot of things I had forgotten happened on that trip. Reading the messages also made me miss everyone back home since it brought back so many memories from the past. I do feel like some of my messages were not in my archive because there are some people I have been messages for years and there weren't nearly enough there between us.

It doesn't bother me at all that Facebook store this information. I feel that when I sign up for a website, anything I post or do on there should be available to the company providing me with the service. I have been taught since a young age that anything posted online is not private so I have just accepted that that is just the way it is. If someone has a problem with Facebook accessing their information, then they should not post that info on that company's website.

Online Assignment #4

I had such a fun time looking at my Facebook archive.  I just got a Facebook a few years ago as a junior in high school, so I am sure there wasn’t as much information on their as most other peoples in the class; however, it brought back some good memories.  I had messages with my cousins from California on there as well as conversations with my best friends from high school.  It was kind of sad to read through all the posts and messages I had with my friends from high school because I am not as close with them as I was four years ago.  One in particular was the conversations I had with my ex-boyfriend that I haven’t talked to or even seen in over a year.  It was very interesting to see all the changes from then until now.  I guess the main thing I was surprised with was my use of words back then.  I feel like my spelling and vocabulary has gotten so much better since I’ve been in college.  Even though it is kind of embarrassing to look at some things I said to people as well as the conversations I had with people, it was fun to go through it all.

I don’t mind at all that Facebook has all these things kept on the Internet.  I guess since I created a Facebook a few years after all my friends did, I was well aware to not post anything that I didn’t want anyone to see.  Therefore, any information that advertisers use in regards to my activity on Facebook doesn’t bother me really.  It is a little weird to see all of the things I have liked, posted, or talked to my friends about, but I knew what I was getting myself into before I even created this type of social media.  I understand that anything I put on the Internet automatically is no longer private, even when it says it is.  That is why I don’t think they are ‘invading’ my privacy, because I put it there in the first place.

Online Assignment #4

When I looked at my archive for my Facebook, I wasn't expecting much.  Joining in 2010, I've hardly done any activity besides messaging people, doing things for my groups, and poking people.  I'll respond to a post someone sends to me or say happy birthday every once in a while, but otherwise my involvement on the site is very little.  I never log into the account except when I'm in Madison or at home, so my IP address is always one of two series of numbers.  I'm sure that if I looked hard enough, I could find all the posts I've ever made just by looking through my timeline.  It was fun to see some of the conversations and how many times I've ever logged in, but it didn't seem like anything I didn't already know.  It's always funny to see the ads on the sides for me only be about rabbits and video games, because that's the only things I've "liked" on Facebook.

As far as Facebook storing this information, I personally don't care what they do.  I hardly ever use the site, so whatever information they have on me can be used any way they want.  I can see some instances where some people may not want certain conversations or questionable posts to be seen by others, but under normal circumstances, the only one that should know about it is you.  There is tons of information about us based on all the sites we go to, so Facebook is not unique in doing this.  As long as you are responsible with your posts, then there should be no problem to worry about anything you do.  In my opinion, then I don't see any problem, at least in my case, for the storage of this information.

Online Assignment 4

            When I opened up my Facebook archive for the first time, the first piece of information I looked at was my messages archive. I got a blast of nostalgia as I scrolled through messages from 8^th grade all the way up to last week. I then viewed the three videos I posted on Facebook my freshman year of high school but completely forgot about until now. Other than the messages and the videos, none of the information presented in the archive was that surprising to me. All of it was information easily accessible simply by looking at my own profile. The data is presented in a much more concise and accessible format than it is on my profile, but it is still the same data. I was expecting statistics such as how much time I’ve spent on the website and how many times I’ve logged in.

            I have no problem with Facebook storing the information they presented in the archive. All of that data is material that I’ve willingly put on Facebook to share and let other people access. I am however concerned that Facebook is not sharing everything that they have on me. I know for a fact that Facebook works with advertisers to target specific users with ads, and I am worried that my information might be being sold to third parties. The only people I am comfortable sharing the information I posted with are the 705 friends I have either requested or accepted. The thought that some advertising agency could have access to the photos I posted is a disturbing one.

Assignment #4

            After going through my Facebook archive there were a few things I found to be very interesting. First of all, there were some messages in my saved messages that I know I had deleted a while ago, most of the time because I don’t want to remember that conversation I had. Yet, there were many of those conversations on my messages files. In addition, there seemed to be some messages missing. I know I have talked to some of my best friends a lot on Facebook, most of the time about useless stuff and some of those conversations were not on this log. I am kind of disappointed about this, because it would have been really funny to read some of those conversations. My question about this is what messages does Facebook choose to save? Or do they have all of them saved and didn’t disclose them to me when I sent in my request?

            I believe this is not invasion of privacy, as long as this information is not publically shared. When someone uses Facebook they need to realize that everything they send and do, Facebook can obviously see. This can also be useful for some people because of bullying issue and all the problems that can come from this technology being available. If Facebook is using my information to gather general information about my demographic, I believe that is fine as I see it no different than any other service people use. Yet, if Facebook were to specifically look at my information and give info about me specifically, which I hope they are not doing, then I would see a problem with that. 

Assignment 4

I first got my Facebook at the end of my Freshman year of high school. Just looking through the first messages I ever sent, I can't believe I sounded/wrote like that. It's kind of funny. The way I wrote was like text lingo now a days, like, you- u, are-r, be- b, and so on. As I looked through the messages, continuously making my way from Freshman year to now, it amazes me how my writing style has changed. I like the idea that we can see everything we do/have done in the past. I think it's neat. For me, it's a way to stay in touch with my old self and see how I've matured and progressed over the years.

Next I looked through my pictures and videos. I remember all the videos I uploaded, but some of the pictures of me I posted way back when I totally forgot about. Reflecting on it now, I kind of wonder why I even posted what I did. But I was young and stupid, so that's probably why!

My thoughts about Facebook storing all of this information is neutral. I understand and have been told numerous times that anything I put on the web is vulnerable and accessible to pretty much anyone.  Therefore, I am in favor of Facebook storing all of this information. For me, it's a way to control what I should and shouldn't post in the future. I'm not necessarily against Facebook storing all of this information, but it's just creepy. It's scary how much I've actually done on Facebook, and the fact that all of it is stored and visible for me to see is just too weird.

I know we've all been told that whatever we put on Facebook, Twitter, etc. is likely to be checked by our future employers.  With this in mind, I generally keep my Facebook pretty clean with regards to statuses, photos, and videos. If I do feel the need to use some vulgar language, for example, I'll use Twitter because I believe most employers place a heavier emphasis on Facebook instead of Twitter, but that's my opinion.  Seeing my Facebook archive today showed me that I indeed have kept my Facebook clean, and I will continue to do so in the future.

Online Assignment #4

Looking at my facebook info was pretty interesting, I actually sent some of my friends old, very strange, and very nerdy conversations we had when we were in eighth grade and really cool. It was nice having everything laid out so I could get a better perception of how I portray myself over facebook. However, it’s pretty unsettling realizing how much information facebook has about my life, now that I think about it; I’ve poured a lot of faith into the website with my personal information. All of the conversation’s I’ve had with friends are recorded and stored, many of which I had forgotten about a long time ago. I don’t like that fact that facebook has access to all of this information; it makes me wonder what authority the creators have to handle that immense amount of data. I do understand that it’s convenient for advertisers to pin point their target audience more accurately and effectively through the things we express interest in. I can understand the purpose of keeping tabs on the things we like and the music we listen to and other information we provide about ourselves (such as schools we attend, where we work, etc.) since it is something I’m okay with the public to see. As far as tracking locations of photos taken on iphones and keeping a log of every time we sign on like we saw in the video we watched in lecture, I don’t see the purpose. It’s unnecessary information for facebook to have if they only want to figure out what we’d be most capable of purchasing. Although we all agree to post our personal information on the internet, we do it because we are lead to believe that it is private and secure. If that personal information were provided to anyone other than me then it really would be a violation of privacy and we deserve to be aware of when people such as employers, future schools, or advertisers ever want to have a closer look at our pages.

Online Assignment #4: Facebook Archive

As I was looking through my Facebook archive a few things came to my attention right away:
1. I rarely go on Facebook and post or do anything noteworthy
2. Even though I am rarely "active" how much information they know about me
3. The type of information they know about me.

Like I said, I rarely use Facebook in general. I never post anything, I have less than 300 pictures and the majority of them are ones I am tagged in rather than ones I posted myself, I will sometimes message people if I dont have their phone number, and every once in a while I will post "Happy Birthday" to someone's wall. That being said I really don't have as much information archived as many people do just because I am less active and use Facebook in a different way.

However, I was amazed at how much information they do have based off how little I use it. Every conversation I have ever had with anyone, dating back to 2009 when I first got my Facebook, is in their archive of my profile. I was surprised how they differentiate the 'pictures' category too. It was separated by every album, then the pictures with me in them, and then the ones that were synced off my phone.

Another thing that I didn't realize until this week is that everyone of my "interests," "likes," or anything else to show what I find amusing is all right there for Facebook to use readily. It also makes sense to me now, seeing what I have as interests and matching them up with what advertisements pop up on my side bar.

Based off looking through all of the information I searched through I am split on the 'invasion of privacy' topic. I completely understand that Facebook is primarily a business and that we are using their product, but I don't feel Facebook should have the ability to archive every message I have ever sent. I don't think my messages I have with my friends or family on Facebook should have/do have any impact on what products I am advertised. By all means, the interests and 'likes' show advertisers what I enjoy and that is how Facebook makes money. I just don't believe every word I ever post or message on Facebook needs to be archived.

Online Assignment 4 - Facebook archive

I recently reactivated my Facebook account to look through the contents in my archive. To be honest, I was not surprised about the information that I found in my archive – that’s because I was not an active user of Facebook. I only used it to keep up with friends I wasn’t too familiar with it, and thus rarely made updates or posted pictures on my account. Moreover, because I refused to update or fill in my personal information list (including the various schools I have attended during my life, my political beliefs, etc.), I was relatively jaded by the information that I received from Facebook. In retrospect, most of the data from my Facebook account consisted of friends (and people that I’m not too familiar with) posting on my wall (or rather, attempting to) in hopes of getting me to use Facebook.

On a related note, I think that it is Facebook’s prerogative to store the information that individuals post (which, ironically, turns out to be the principal reason why I have declined to use their services). I do not think that it is an invasion of privacy. Rather, because Facebook’s user agreement and services (EULA) specify what the company is able to do, I have no complaints to make. As well, we are taught to be vigilant in the Internet, by many individuals (including various respected authorities, such as the local Louisville government), but also from several organisations, including government regulators. In other words, because so many authorities have warned us to be careful about posting data (that can potentially be sensitive), I am of the opinion that the storing of information of individuals is a ‘reasonable provision of services.’

Online Assignment 4 - Facebook

Facebook Profile Download Response

Let me be the first one to say that I thought doing this was probably the most interesting thing I have done on my laptop in a long time. 

The first place I went to in my downloaded profile was my videos.  I did not remember almost all of the videos that I posted on Facebook until I watched all of them again and relived those moments.  There was a video I made in high school for a class project, a video of my and my friends on my boat, and much more.  Needless to say those videos brought me back to those good times for sure.

Additionally, I made the mistake of going through all my messages as well.  You can definitely tell how many times I went through phases with girls during my Facebook career, as evident of the number of messages being exchanged back and forth.  Some flings were obviously better than others, and the messages were an interesting way of reliving some of those moments.  

One thing that struck me as surprising is that all the messages that I ever sent were not included in the packet.  I know this because I dated a girl for a significant length of time and there are only a couple conversations included in the packet.  Maybe Facebook knows something I do not know by deleting these messages so I cannot reread them! 

As far as judging how creepy or weird this is, I must say I really do not have a problem with it.  As long as my messages are not available for anyone to see, I do not have a problem with looking into my profile and giving me relevant ads to my page.  In all honesty I would rather have ads that are tailored to my interests than being bombarded by random ads for diapers or something of the sort.  I don't know how much information advertisers know about me, and I am really ok with that.  I believe this is a case where the least you know, the better off you will be.  

Facebook Archive (Online Assignment #4)

As scary as it is to know that all of that can be obtained by anyone if they try hard enough, regardless of privacy settings is slightly frightening, however I can’t say that we haven’t been warned. We are told time after time that everything you put online stays on there forever, so that part of it doesn’t seem to phase me too much. The scary part for me, was how cool I thought I was when I first got my Facebook. Between the pages I liked and my favorite quotations, I have now reconfirmed my suspicions of just how strange I was(/am).

I think Facebook should be allowed to store this information, again considering we knew what we were getting ourselves into and that they are willing to share with us all that they are collecting. It’s the information they do not display openly that slightly bothers me simply because I feel like we have the right to know what they are storing. I wish I could see what happens with pictures I am tagged in of someone else’s and also what happens when I untag myself from a picture, like whether it still identifies that picture with me.

All in all, I think it is somewhat reasonable for them to be able to collect and store this kind of information but I hope that they elect not to use this against its users in negative ways because I think that will be when there are revolts.