Why would anyone want a Facebook account?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by Colossus_Antonis

That's a joke, right?

I don't have my real name on there. Big deal.

Same here

Originally Posted by thepinksquid

I have my account private to the public and the Facebook network, and my name doesn't show up even when you search. I have to add someone to be friends with them, not the other way around. And those I am friends with I have divided into several groups with varying levels of visibility to my profile. Many just see my name and my "interests" or whatever, but not my phone number, email address or "status updates" or whatever it's called.

As bad as it sounds, one of the main reasons I keep my profile (because, in reality, Facebook is kind of dumb for aforementioned reasons) is that I like to see how people from my past are doing in their lives, and such.

Ditto. I've had a really good time catching up with people. I have caught up with a little girl I used to nanny for, as well as many friends. This is a big deal to me because I moved around a lot as a kid.

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

Facebook has been kicking users off for using fake names left and right:

They haven't kicked me off yet

Originally Posted by kygman

You want something that will make you super paranoid, even more than you are now? Google your phone number. It will give you your name and address, unless you have an unlisted number.

But all you have to do is ask for it to be removed.
No matter what you're doing, whether it is purchasing something, networking, whatever, there is a real risk involved in using the internet.
I choose to take that risk.
Zabasearch has all kinds of fun stuff on many of us.

[shannonM]

I use facebook and Enjoy it!! i have family and friends in various states and we stay connected this way. you can set your profile to private if you are afraid of being stalked!! and also you can get a user name if you want to now. they just added that feature. life has too many other worries and to worry about being stalked and or murdered because of facebook is ridiculous! sorry I haven't seen any headlines of facebook murders! craigslist yes!

[macroy]

Just want to clarify something about IP addresses. There seems to be some misleading information on this thread. IP address is simply an identifier for a computer (or any other network device) so that it can be used to communicate with other computers on a network.

The majority of IP's used by the home users are owned by their ISP's. So if you are a comcast customer, you're using a comcast owned IP. In that sense, if I did a lookup of your IP address - it would come back to me as comcast - and not YOU.

Can this information alone be used to find you? From a Law Enforcement standpoint - yes. But its not like they look up the IP address and your name come flashing back. If they have the IP to go by, they have to get a court order for the ISP to lookup the IP (and most likely the time the crime was committed) and determine who had that IP address.

Oh - and BTW - unlike a phone number, the IP address used by the majority home users are not permanently assigned to them. you simply "lease" one from a large pool of IPs from your ISP. So if you shut off your cable modem etc... and let it sit beyond that lease period (usually from 3-10 days ... but maybe more), you'll most likey get assigned a new one when you power back on.

So yea, if you have my IP - what that tells you is that I'm with XYZ ISP or I'm surfing from ABC company. Not much more. Its a start... but its not the holy grail.

[temptation001]

Originally Posted by macroy

Just want to clarify something about IP addresses. There seems to be some misleading information on this thread. IP address is simply an identifier for a computer (or any other network device) so that it can be used to communicate with other computers on a network.

The majority of IP's used by the home users are owned by their ISP's. So if you are a comcast customer, you're using a comcast owned IP. In that sense, if I did a lookup of your IP address - it would come back to me as comcast - and not YOU.

Can this information alone be used to find you? From a Law Enforcement standpoint - yes. But its not like they look up the IP address and your name come flashing back. If they have the IP to go by, they have to get a court order for the ISP to lookup the IP (and most likely the time the crime was committed) and determine who had that IP address.

Oh - and BTW - unlike a phone number, the IP address used by the majority home users are not permanently assigned to them. you simply "lease" one from a large pool of IPs from your ISP. So if you shut off your cable modem etc... and let it sit beyond that lease period (usually from 3-10 days ... but maybe more), you'll most likey get assigned a new one when you power back on.

So yea, if you have my IP - what that tells you is that I'm with XYZ ISP or I'm surfing from ABC company. Not much more. Its a start... but its not the holy grail.

Thank you. That means I was right all along. They kept telling me here that I didn't know anything.

[Interpol76]

Well...back 4 years ago when I signed up for Facebook you had to have an actual, legit University email account to even sign up for it. It was quite a useful tool to connect with fellow classmates.......

Now that everybody can use it, the "look at me!!!" crowd has unfortunately invaded to show off their spouses and babies.

[renovating]

Originally Posted by Ron.

I can find you just based on your IP address, I don't need your name and photo.

If you've posted online just 1 time using a fake name you are open to identiy theft. It's all about the IP address.....

OK, so how would you know someones IP address from posting?

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by Interpol76

Well...back 4 years ago when I signed up for Facebook you had to have an actual, legit University email account to even sign up for it. It was quite a useful tool to connect with fellow classmates.......

Now that everybody can use it, the "look at me!!!" crowd has unfortunately invaded to show off their spouses and babies.

heh
But don't forget that some people who were 20-somethings in 2005 are now marrying off and having babies.

And I joined in 2005 with just a Yahoo account. I have not been inside a University classroom since before the internet existed.

[Interpol76]

Originally Posted by BlueWillowPlate

heh
But don't forget that some people who were 20-somethings in 2005 are now marrying off and having babies.

True.