Err, when you first sign up to Facebook how does it know who you know?!

[Jackeens]

I promise, I've been Googling the question (eg http://www.topix.com/forum/com/facebook/TIM2PL2T0O5BQJO1C) - but have yet to find an answer that makes sense.

I've zero interest in Facebook but signed up tonight for the first time because I was being nosey about someone. :blush:

As soon as I signed up I was given a bunch of 'friend' suggestions - and I know most of them. A couple of them, though, are people I just know through work, we would never have emailed each other. Another is a cousin (with a different surname) I haven't been in touch with for 10 or 15 years - and we definitely never emailed each other. So the 'Facebook searches through your email account and helps itself to your contacts' charge doesn't make sense in my case.

My sister, for example, is on Facebook and she emails me every day - but she wasn't a suggested friend!

Another theory was that the 'friend' suggestions are people who searched for you on Facebook - but I didn't use my name when I registered, I just picked a random couple of words.

It's kind of weird....or is there a perfectly obvious explanation here that I'm missing?

Thanks!

PS I should have mentioned I didn't give Facebook any info about myself when I registered, eg where I went to school/college etc. All it has is my email address.

[lamp_shade]

1. delete dupe

[Jackeens]

2. But I've never emailed some of these people - that's why I'm flummoxed!

:shrug:

[Hepburn]

6. Same here ~~

~~ and I was doing the same thing you were doing...snooping about someone!

:blush:

Creeped me out!

[create.peace]

76. i think if other people have your email address in their address book that they

allow facebook to fish, then their name will come up to you.

[Hepburn]

3. So even if you use a BS email addie, it can get into your computer and snoop around?

:wow:

[Jackeens]

5. Yikes! But....I'm certain some of these people who I do know are not in my email contacts. Puzzled!

[Hepburn]

8. Same here....

...and the thing about giving personal info...it was totally BS what I put in to get the membership. And, yet, wham, there were people on my list that I actually knew!

YIKES! I got off of there ASAP when that happened.

[Jackeens]

10. It's flippin' bizarre! Freaked me out completely!

[Hepburn]

11. Ever get the feeling that BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING?

I don't know how it did that, but it did. I will NEVER go on that site again.

[Jackeens]

14. I just deactivated my account, and honestly: I'm not usually paranoid!

[Hepburn]

17. Same here ~~

~~ but Facebook certainly gave me that emotion! :scared:

[Salviati]

13. It looks for people who share a lot of the same friends as you

So if you are friends with, and have emailed A, B, and C, but have not emailed D, then D may be suggested to you as a friend if A, B, and C are already friends with D.

[Jackeens]

16. Ah.......that makes sense. So Facebook DOES have access to your email account?? Jesus!

[Hepburn]

20. But I used a hotmail account ...

...so how did it get to the people in my Outlook Express addie book?

:shrug:

[Salviati]

21. If you give it access.

I never have. I manually found a few of my friends and then went from there. It can access your email account, but only if you let it.

[Kerrytravelers]

4. Whenever I sign in, I get a list of "suggested friends" from my email lists, others who live in my

area and people who have graduated from the same college.

It's really annoying.

[create.peace]

77. you can remove the use of your address, i did it today.nt

[doc03]

7. Same here, I think they asked what high school I

attended. One person on the list was in my class, a couple of others I have heard of but never really knew them. They may have all graduated from my school in different years?

[Jackeens]

9. Sorry, just updated the OP - I didn't give them any info about where I went to school/college, etc.

[doc03]

12. I'm really not sure if I did either, it a couple weeks ago. The one

person that I graduated with I never cared much for and have never had any contact with him since high school.

[thecrow]

29. Maybe it peruses your address book?

I refuse to join because I don't need one more website to have any of my personal information

[Booster]

15. Frankly, Facebook scares me. My neice insisted we all join and

right after I did, up popped a lawyer I had hired 2 years ago. I really don't believe that lawyer put in her entire list of contacts, including clients, and I didn't authorize FB to look at my contact list either. Odd thing is my best friend just signed up for FB, and FB suggested HER cousing might be someone I know but it didn't suggest she might know her own cousin. That website scares the willies out of me. I post very little on there but I do go on and read what some people are doing.

[Jackeens]

22. Oh heck, that's freaky.

I'm guessing I'm the last to know that Facebook can, somehow, get info about your email activity: that's the end of my brief relationship with Facebook, I will never again be nosey!

[JSK]

18. You have to give FB permission to access your email contacts

Are you sure you didn't do that? You are asked at some point. It's called the "friend finder."

It looks at your email contacts and finds the people who used that email when they signed up for FB.

on edit: I just reread your OP and I see that you already know what I just said. My new answer: I have no idea!!

[Viking12]

19. ISP Address. If you signed up using a work connection, FB may have matched to others from the server

I get all sorts of random, unknown friend suggestions. However, the Big Ten University that is on my profile serves 50,000/year so it's likely that many of them are just people that went to the same college.

[Hepburn]

23. Well that is starting to make some sense...

...but Facebook scares the hell out of me.

[Viking12]

26. Facebook isn't that much different than other sites....

It only is "scary" to you because it mirrors back to you info in ways that other sites do not.

[parasim]

31. Exactly.

If more sites did that, some people would avoid the internet (and email for that matter) completely.

[Jackeens]

41. I see what you mean, maybe Facebook is just more open about its powers than other sites!

[Jackeens]

24. Signed up from home! But that sounds like a good explanation for how they match up most people.

[TwilightGardener]

25. I won't register for Facebook--this is one reason why. Creepy and invasive.

It's like we're all voluntarily submitting ourselves to a giant master database, who knows who controls it? :tinfoilhat:

[omega minimo]

27. Oldschool is cool

:toast:

[Teaser]

35. meh, I like it. It's Bayesian AI in action

.

[parasim]

37. And you also have no credit cards, a driver's license or car loan, etc, right?

In my opinion, the info they get from "trusted authorities", you know, banks, retail outlets, internet service providers, cell phone companies, (who I call, what websites I go to, what books I read, etc) is much more accurate in describing me than the data they glean from finding out what my favorite color is or which True Blood character I am.

[TwilightGardener]

57. Of course I have those things. They're necessary. Voluntarily telling

the world all about yourself...isn't.

[TNDemo]

28. If other people give it okay to access their email and you have emailed with

them, it makes the connection that way.

[Jackeens]

34. Oh, okay, thanks. Do you agree with Salviati's theory (post 13), ie

"It looks for people who share a lot of the same friends as you, so if you are friends with, and have emailed A, B, and C, but have not emailed D, then D may be suggested to you as a friend if A, B, and C are already friends with D"?

eg Two of my 'suggested friends' know each other and, I assume, email each other. But I only email one of them - so did they match the three of us up that way?

[TNDemo]

67. It does do that.

If you are facebook friends with someone, it will suggest folks off their list to you, especially if your other friends are friends with them too. It is always suggesting people to me that are complete strangers and I just ignore it. It started freaking me out when it would bring up some distant relatives (no names or contacts in common) and people that are part of a message board I am on but have never emailed with. It was freaking me out as to how it knew I was part of that board. Eventually I discovered that a couple of times there had been a round robin email about something and all our email addresses were on there and one of those people let facebook search their email. It is rather creepy, so just keep your pictures, comments and information discreet. If one of my friends comments on one of their friend's picture (who I am not friends with), I can still look at that person's pictures that I am not friends with.

[1Hippiechick]

30. You are in for a fun-filled journey on FaceBook...I absolutely LOVE it...the only problem is....

I am 62, and not many friends my age are on there. It truly is geared for the younger generation. Both our sons (35 and 37) started accounts this year, and already have hundreds of contacts. It's a great way to stay in touch w/out having to write everyone. Sure, I can't get excited about all the quizzes, and you have to get used to people just popping up w/random thoughts (which is still really bizarre to me), but what the heck! Some of my friends I haven't seen in over 40 years, but found them on Facebook where they have posted pix of their children, grandchildren, etc. I absolutely love it. Come on in, the water's fine! :)

[Lisa0825]

36. Actually, I read that the over 40 set is growing faster than other age groups!

I am 41, and my FB friends include people in their 50s through 70s! I like it because it is so much less *gaudy* than MySpace. If I block most of the games, it is just all about seeing what my friends have been up to, and sharing my own updates.

If any DUers who know me would like to add me, PM me :-)

[pipi_k]

75. I have to laugh at the age divide...

I'm almost your age and I'm not shy about posting pix of my various family members, including my mom, who is still living.

My kids are 37 and 39. They have photos of me on their Facebook albums.

But last night I was looking at the pages of two nieces to see their photos. Not one picture of my sister (their mom) to be seen. One is 28, the other is 18. I guess below a certain age, it's just not cool to post pictures of your mom on your Facebook page...

:7

[Emit]

32. In your Google search, did you come across this?

"Does what happens in the Facebook stay in the Facebook?"

http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/

[Jackeens]

42. Okay, now I AM paranoid! I think I shall remain deactivated.

[Emit]

48. lol!

Weird, huh? Probably just one of those 6 degree of separation coincidence thingies, no doubt. :shrug:


Hey, gotta run. I'm getting a message on Facebook...lol...

[Jackeens]

51. Suggested Friend: Emit

:rofl:

[Emit]

53. lol!

funny!

BTW, did you know, too, that both the CIA and NSA have their own Facebook pages?

[Jackeens]

59. Yikes...

...funny, the CIA wasn't a suggested friend for me!

[ContinentalOp]

33. Sorry, but this is ridiculous.

There's no way that you signed up under a fake name with an email account you never use, didn't put in your age, location, school, etc. and it STILL gave you people you know. Impossible. Unless you just looked at one person and it started to show you that person's friends and they happen to be people you also know. There's really nothing scary or "big brother" about Facebook. The government, your bank, credit card company, etc. all have WAY more information on you and any corporation can buy all of that info if they please.

[Jackeens]

39. I didn't say I registered with an email account I never use - I use it regularly.

I would assume that's where their info came from, except I never email some of the suggested friends (who I do know). I'm guessing post 13 is the answer to the 'mystery'.

[ContinentalOp]

49. So it came from other people sharing their email contacts...

and your email was in there. Then it put together additional connections -- if you're friends with A & B you might be friends with C, etc. Makes sense. Since you're using Hotmail, Microsoft could essentially do this same thing already.

[Jackeens]

50. Yep, that seems to be the answer.

[Hepburn]

43. Maybe you may think so...

...but I used a hotmail account, did not use my real name and gave NO personal info and Facebook suggested people I knew ~~ who were in my Outlook Express Addie Book ~~ as contacts for me.

I don't know how it did that, but it did...and I am staying away from it.

[ContinentalOp]

52. Did you use a Hotmail account that you use to email your friends?

So it got your email address from other people's contact lists that they voluntarily shared. And then it figures out that people A & B both know you and they both know person C, then you might know person C too. It's no scarier or more big brotherish than Hotmail itself. Arguably less so, since Microsoft has all of that info on you and everybody else who uses Hotmail but may not use Facebook.

[Hepburn]

55. No....

...I use it for things like signing on-line petitions, etc.

[ContinentalOp]

61. And you used a fake name, age, location, etc? -nt-

[Hepburn]

78. Not on petitions...

...but my primary email account is for business some personal correspondence and I do not want it mass emailed with political or other mailers. That is why I also have a hotmail account for things that I feel could lead to a lot of mailings.

[hfojvt]

79. that's the web though

just like various websites can search YOUR computer for pictures to post online, if your computer is on the web and unless you have a really top-notch firewall, then things like your Outlook Express Address book can be searched. The scary part is not so much Facebook as it is potentially malicious hackers who can presumably do the same thing.

[I Have A Dream]

38. Maybe these are people who had searched for your name in the past. nt

[Jackeens]

40. But I didn't use my name when I registered!

[I Have A Dream]

44. Maybe this...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31684082

[Hepburn]

54. But I used a bogus hotmail account ~~

~~ it can still get to my Outlook Express addie book?

:shrug:

[ContinentalOp]

60. I find that really hard to believe.

You used a fake name, bogus hotmail account with no personal contacts, didn't put your age, school, location, etc. and you signed up with no friends and it suggested people that you actually know? I find that VERY hard to believe. You gave them some information somewhere.

[BlooInBloo]

45. From information you gave them.

[Jackeens]

47. Only gave them my email address, nothing else, so that's obviously the source of all their info.

[TransitJohn]

46. Data mining. n/t

n/t

[DatManFromNawlins]

56. Social networking

You enter your information. Tell them where you live, what your age is, and probably where you went to school. It looks for people with similar demographics along those lines. As you add friends, it suggests more friends based upon your friends' friends list.

[southerncrone]

58. When you sign up, if you listed where you work, where you attended

HS, college, hobbies, organizations you belong to; then it searches the FB database looking for matches. It also looks in your email contact list, too.

[Greg K]

62. Here's how it works.

When you sign up, it asks you if it can use your email contacts to find potential friends.

When people you know sign up, it asks them the same thing. If they have YOU in their contacts, and they allow facebook to upload them, it will suggest them to you as a friend, and vice versa.

So what likely happened is that the people it is suggesting as friends uploaded their contact lists.

[Jackeens]

66. Sounds right Greg, thanks for that - but flip, how do they dip in to your email contacts?

Do they not need your password to gain access to your email....or is that question spectacularly dumb? :blush:

[AnOhioan]

63. Never seen so many tin-foil responses in one thread

It is Facebook folks....a pleasant diversion, nothing more

[Jackeens]

64. But are you not curious about how they gather information about you??

[pipi_k]

70. No kidding...why would Facebook target some but not others...

I used my regular Verizon.net email address to register. I've got lots of people in my contacts list.

Not ONE of them was suggested to me based on that information.

What was suggested was some relatives (cousins) who have the same last name as the ones I used in my profile (first, maiden, married). Once I added them to my "friends" list, then to my "family" list, things really get going. Facebook suggests more people based on commonalities, like the friends/relatives I have who are connected to some of the same people. If six of my relatives bearing the same last name as mine have this or that person as a friend or relative, then chances are I might know the person too.

Then I list my High School and the year of graduation. I get more suggestions.

and the network grows.

Nobody in my email contacts list was suggested to me, and in fact there are some in there I had to look for on my own.

Honestly, I agree with you... I can't believe the paranoia...

:eyes:

[HarveyDarkey]

65. I did, and it gave me several possible "friends"

People I graduated high school with over 40 years ago. HEY PEOPLE, there's a reason I haven't contacted you in that time. It's eerie & I deleted my account immediately.

[harun]

68. They are people either in your address book or you are in theirs.

It absolutely is NOT a list of anyone who has searched for you on Facebook, that's ridiculous. One, they wouldn't save that search data for every user and two it is too hard to match. I.e. did they spell your name right? did they mean you or the other fifty people with your name? did they enter your email address, well if they did you are probably in their address book so they can use that method? etc. etc.

[ipfilter]

69. Do you have a gmail account?

I remember providing my gmail username and password for it to check my gmail address book.

[pipi_k]

71. My two dogs have a Gmail account

OK, sounds strange, but they do. They also have a Facebook page.

I've never never never used that Gmail account to email anyone in my regular Verizon.net account. In fact, it's not used to email anyone at all. It's just sort of a "trash" email to give when certain nosy places ask for an email address.

so I sign my dogs up for Facebook.

And I add myself as their first friend.

And then, because Facebook knows all my friends and relatives, the circle widens.


there's really nothing ominous going on over there at Facebook besides the really lame quizzes invented by 14 year olds.

[ipfilter]

72. Yeah, the quizzes really need to go.

They are not amusing at all.

[pipi_k]

74. Well, there are some gems in there, to be honest...

like the Meyers-Briggs personality test and a few others that amused me.


But yeah....the majority are really really stupid. They sound good on the surface...like the titles are interesting, but then you get to taking them and realize they're pretty idiotic. At that point I just end the quiz and do something else.

[demgurl]

73. Is does ask you about using contacts.

When I joined an old friend immediately popped up because she had entered my name in the system. I was alerted she wanted contact with me and so I accepted.

It also checks people you mark as friends and suggests people those folks know this is very random, though.

I did not allow them access to my email and have never been asked about people I know are on FB and on my email list.

Another thing that happens is that when you accept a friend FB asks if there is anyone you would like to recommend this friend to. Your old lawyer may be a fluke. I have quite a few friends that I met because of my Buddhist beliefs. They often recommend friends who they believe I will get along well with or that I may like. Someone may have done this and it is just a coincidence that this was your lawyer.

My hubby does not like FB at all but I went to an all girls school and women tend to change their last name when they get married. I could only find two old friends through Google. I have found over half of my old classmates due to FB!!!! I even found another classmate who had always felt picked on and ostracized. I did not know she was also a victim of a bully who picked on me. It has been very healing and I now have a new friend!!!!