Facebook: Major Privacy Violation

I am discontinuing my Facebook profile, because when I was helping my aunt set up Facebook, she imported her address book, which contained ONLY my legal-name email address, and Galiana Chance was one of her suggested friends!

Let me be clear what happened: Facebook somehow connected my personal, non-Galiana email address, which my aunt had, to a Facebook account which never contained that email address. I triple-checked the csv file we used to import her contacts into Facebook, and NOTHING galiana was in it. Nothing.

I have no clue whatsoever how Facebook knew that the two of us are connected, but it freaked me the fuck out.

So Galiana's FB profile has been discontinued. Permanently. I was only using it to announce blog posts to about 30 people anyway, so I wrote to all of them encouraging them to subscribe (see that box on the left side of the blog to enter your email address? or the orange RSS button to add me to your RSS reader? Use those!)

Thankfully, my aunt knows what I do for a living. I'll tell you a secret: she's considering joining me as a GILF! But still, NOT THE FUCKING POINT. One of my sister's friends who happens to have my email address from a wedding shower I helped with 5 years ago... everybody has better things to do than to deal with that hassle.

If you want to test this: have a friend search for all your email addresses and see what comes up. Or, go a public library, create a temporary yahoo mail address, create a Facebook account off your new yahoo mail, then enter in all your emails and see who comes up.

HOLY CRAP. I was sooooo mad.

However, in happy news, I had a lovely vacation in Hot Springs with my aunt and sister and younger niece. We wandered around the hot springs, then ate at a Mexican cafe practically carved out of the side of the mountain (Rolando's - it was amazing). We swam in a creek full of perch and minnows and skipping rocks and happy family memories.

I should be back at home tonight, although weather may turn that into tomorrow... but either way, I look forward to being my normal, not-completely-horrified-at-Facebook self again soon.

Facebook Uncertainty

I have a Facebook account (http://www.facebook.com/galiana.chance), but I can't figure out what to do with it.

So far, it's been a place for me to peruse through other people's personal information if they choose to share it with me. I make friendly, banal comments, like wishing someone well on their A+ certification test, or empathizing with back pain.

If I make a comment on someone's post, I don't want their FB friends clicking on me and figuring out what I do (why is a phone sex operator congratulating you?), so I have no PSO information on Facebook. Someone would have to Google me with their adult content filter off to figure it out.

My friend list is private; nobody else should be able to see it. And when someone sends a friend request, I accept it, then go to my wall and delete the notice, so nobody can read through my wall and see who else has friend-ed me.

One interesting phenomenon: because I accept all friend requests, I often don't know if my new friend is a caller or not. I haven't figured out to ask "Who are you?" without exposing why I'd be asking that. Again, I'm sensitive to the potential of friend-of-friend awkwardness.

Side note: I don't un-friend people without letting them know why I un-friended them. Usually it's for negativity that I just don't need in my life, like wishing bodily harm on others (usually politicians or pundits). I don't mind being bored by someone's posts (most often via sports enthusiasm which I don't happen to share), but I don't want to be assaulted by my news feed.  

I don't want to create a lot of original content on Facebook or Twitter (@GalianaChance) because I like putting my thoughts here, on the longer format of the blog. I don't want to get confused about what I've put where. I think blog readers should get the best of me.

If I made a "page" (as if I were a celebrity), which people could "Like", maybe I'd be more explicit, like Dan Savage, who uses Facebook to announce new blog posts and podcasts. But then I wouldn't be able to peek into the interesting posts of people friend-ing me.

I'm certain there's a way to use Facebook for something interesting, but I haven't thought of it. Ideas?