The Facebook love affair shows no signs of slowing down despite its time-wasting properties and irritation factor . Founded in February 2004, anyone can sign up for a free Facebook account and the site currently has more than 200 million active users. The fastest growing demographic for the site is not hip youngsters, but the world weary 35 years and above group.<\/p>\n
According to statistics, the average user each has 120 friends on the site. But who are these people? And are they really your friends?<\/p>\n
In April 2009, new research by OnePoll.com, revealed that the average Brit only has three true friends they can rely on. While people claimed to have 16 good friends, 48 per cent actually admitted that most of those people were friends out of habit rather than genuinely close mates.<\/p>\n
When signed up, Facebook users create content about themselves on their profile page, adding as much or as little personal information that they wish to disclose. Then they choose friends or accept friend requests. There are privacy options which lets them share and restrict information based on specific friends or friend lists. It is possible to leave your profile open so anyone\u00a0 across the world can read it, or restrict it to selected people only. Some Facebook users have found difficulty with restricting some users accessing their profiles.<\/p>\n
Facebook user Jon says: \u201cI had lots of problems since the new Facebook. I found that despite my profile being private that it kept going public again. I also found that some applications allowed other people with the same applications to read my profile, even though they were not allowed to. I only let my friends see my profile, not strangers. ”<\/p>\n
Despite being able to exercise some control over your own profile, it is worth bearing in mind that 850 million photographs are uploaded to the site each month. Some of which are likely to feature you.<\/p>\n
Facebook user Amie says: \u201cI was really alarmed when I found someone who I had known in the dim and distant past, and was not even one of my Facebook friends had uploaded an ancient photograph of me. No harm was done, but I was really freaked out to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to photographs and media it can be more than just your pride at steak.<\/p>\n
If you are creating a profile to share family snaps of the kids for great granny who upped sticks and moved to Australia, then beware. When you take a photograph you own the copyright. If the subject of the photograph is yourself and your family, you also own the privacy rights.<\/p>\n
When uploading your own photographs to your Facebook account, you are agreeing to give Facebook\u00a0 license to use any Intellectual Property content that you put on your profile. This agreement and right for Facebook to use your property lasts as long as the photographs remain on the account, or your account is deleted. Basically, they claim the right to use your photographs as long as they remain on your Facebook account.<\/p>\n
Be wary about Facebook’s suggested friends. For Facebook it is not enough to rely on mere humans searching out their own friends in their own time. Now Facebook makes its own friend suggestions to the user. Facebook comes up with these friends based upon the networks you belong to, mutual friends, work, education and contacts imported using friend finders and ‘many other factors’. But are these people really potential friends or cleverly calculated nightmares waiting to happen?<\/p>\n
Facebook user Jen says: \u201cI was horrified when I logged on recently to find a Facebook friend suggestion for an ex I hadn’t seen in a number of years. Believing friend suggestions to be based on people you may know from your own friend’s list, I spent a paranoid hour flicking through friends who may have possibly known him in this incredibly small world. I found none. Even more alarmingly, during this fruitless search, Facebook then suggested another friend to me, someone who I once worked with in 2003 and didn’t even have an email address for. How can this be?\u201d<\/p>\n
Because Facebook can accesses your personal email account contact list when signing up it makes sense to set up a separate email account free from any email addresses or contacts lists, and use this account purely as an email address for setting up social networking accounts.<\/p>\n
It is also possible when searching Facebook for friends to search for them using their email address. Who could be searching Facebook for yours?<\/p>\n
Facebook users have even lost their job due to what they have written on their Facebook profiles. It seems unlikely that you would friend a boss on your account and then slag them off, so perhaps some of your friends are not quite as friendly as you think.<\/p>\n
In February 2009, a 16 year old office administrator was given the boot from her job after moaning about how boring it was on her Facebook status updates.<\/p>\n
In December 2008, there was concern raised by the relatives of elderly people living in a Trentham nursing home, after three members of staff were sacked for their comments and exposing photographs of the home on their Facebook pages. The staff say their place of work was never identifiable, and there was obvious concern with the way the home was run after receiving a zero rating at its inspection.<\/p>\n
In November 2008, Virgin Atlantic sacked 13 cabin crew after slagging off the airline’s passengers on a Facebook discussion.<\/p>\n
We asked some Bristol parents about their own Facebook experience:<\/p>\n
Sarge \u2013 I don’t normally go on Facebook. I don’t have the time, but after having a random dream about an old school boyfriend, I found myself looking for him on Facebook. There he was! I checked out his profile. Then I searched for a few more exs. One was getting married. After a long laugh I read through his wedding plans whilst drinking a cup of coffee. I felt a bit weird doing it, kind of like car crash web surfing.<\/p>\n
Mark \u2013 I have been using Facebook for a few years, keeping in touch with friends I don’t see too often. I always kept my profile private, locked down, and blocked a few people I didn’t want knowing what I was up to and when. When I started getting some random friend suggestions who could not possibly be linked to any of my friends I deleted my account immediately. It could cause more trouble then it was worth.<\/p>\n
Amanda \u2013 I use Facebook as a bit of a time waster at work. Sometimes you just need a five minute break from what you are doing. My mates go and have a cigarette outside. I log on to Facebook instead. I haven’t had any problems, though I do find friend requests from people I haven’t spoke to in twenty odd years. Why would they want to be friends now? It’s like they go around collecting people.<\/p>\n
Hayley \u2013 I get friend requests from people I don’t know, and when I look they are all men who just go around friending lots of women, I assume to look popular! Why on earth friend people you don’t know and by doing so revealing all about yourself. It’s madness.<\/p>\n
Emma \u2013 I don’t have a problem with Facebook really, but I don’t think too much about the potential. I use it mainly to keep in contact with friends and family who move away. I can write on their wall, and its easier and quicker than an email or phone call. It’s lazy friendship really, but nice that its easy to keep up with people you so easily lose contact with.<\/p>\n
Martha \u2013 I don’t use Facebook. I used to but had problems with an old boyfriend who wanted to meet up. He was very persistent. In the end I just thought stuff it, and deleted the whole profile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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