Six Things You Need to Know About Facebook Connections

[UpInArms]

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/things-you-need-know-about-facebook

"Connections." It's an innocent-sounding word. But it's at the heart of some of the worst of Facebook's recent changes.

Facebook first announced Connections a few weeks ago, and EFF quickly wrote at length about the problems they created. Basically, Facebook has transformed substantial personal information — including your hometown, education, work history, interests, and activities — into "Connections." This allows far more people than ever before to see this information, regardless of whether you want them to.

Since then, our email inbox has been flooded with confused questions and reports about these changes. We've learned lots more about everyone's concerns and experiences. Drawing from this, here are six things you need to know about Connections:

Facebook will not let you share any of this information without using Connections. You cannot opt-out of Connections. If you refuse to play ball, Facebook will remove all unlinked information from your profile.

Facebook will not respect your old privacy settings in this transition. For example, if you had previously sought to share your Interests with "Only Friends," Facebook will now ignore this and share your Connections with "Everyone."

Facebook has removed your ability to restrict its use of this information. The new privacy controls only affect your information's "Visibility," not whether it is "publicly available."

...more...

[Stuckinthebush]

1. But can I still see who has a new baby calf

or who has found a stash of weapons in Mafia Wars? And can I still get "bling" from a friend?

I'm beginning to despise facebook. Sometimes it is ok to lose contact with certain people forever. Bah! Humbug!

:)

[snagglepuss]

2. k & r. nt