Something odd about Facebook's "People You May Know" list

[ImpulsE69]

If you have people posting all sorts of shit about you on Facebook then I don't know why you're surprised that they have information about you.

You people do realize Facebook is effectively just a database with a GUI overlay, right?

Who said Facebook was doing anything for you? From their end you're just taking up space since they can't push ads at you or offer you to advertisers (fairly sure they can't do that unless you opted in with them, so if you don't have an account they can't; but maybe they can, wouldn't surprise me considering there's no real consumer protection for a lot of this shit).

I think you were quoting the wrong person for the wrong reason. I'm not on Facebook. I've done a lot of research on it though. I was explaining to him how it doesn't matter that it happened prior to him being on it, it's still possible simply due to everyone he knows that was on it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm still calling BS. You in some way gave them permission to do that, as I've had multiple Google accounts and none of them automatically had friends added unless they were already listed as friends in some Google program and even then I'm almost certain I had to ok the sync. GMail and Android contacts are the only ones I can recall that might have done it automatically, but you had to have them added as contacts on there (meaning it wouldn't do it just because you had e-mailed them at some point, they had to be registered as a contact on there).

There's a lot of people claiming shit while they forgot that they ok'ed it. A lot of people don't pay any attention and just ok all sorts of shit.

Nope I barely ever use my google account for anything but youtube, so if anything it would only make sense if those contacts were other people who have youtube channels. So Google had to do some extra digging to link me to IRL people. I may have legally allowed them to do it because of some license agreement or other BS like that, but I sure as hell did not willingly allow them to do it.

I still get notices sometimes that people add me to G+, no need to approve. With Facebook at least the party who you sent the request to has to approve first.

What may have happened is those contacts already there may be people who added me before I made the account, as the account technically always existed as a shadow account. Either way just because I legally allowed them to do this crap through some long winded license agreement somewhere does not make it right. Nobody actually reads those things and they know it. They purposely make them super long so that people don't read them. But in any kind of legal case they can then use it against you.

 

[rachel200]

I sent this message to facebook re the People You May Know list:

This is not about the privacy settings per se, but more about privacy in the "people you may know" section. It's extremely intrusive, esp when it suggests people whose profile that you looked at but don't want them to know you were looking. Let me tell you my experience: I like this guy, but for many reasons (professional and personal) I do not want him to know I like him, so I've never friended him, nor he me. But I do check out his profile as I thought that there was no way that he would know I was doing that. I also wanted to learn more about his life, so I checked out the profiles of his friends and family as well, many of whom live in other countries. Again, I thought that this was harmless and safe. Then, suddenly, he and his family and friends started to show up in my "people you may know list" even tho we have no mutual friends in common, live in different counties and do not correspond via email or thru any other means. So fb is suggesting them to me strictly on the fact that I am viewing their profile. And if they are appearing in my PYMK list, surely I am appearing in theirs, which would be professionally fatal for me if he knew. So facebook, please stop this intrusive feature. I can understand when you send me ppl with whom I share mutual friends, but if this person knows that I am doing this, it could spell an end to our professional relationship. Pls stop playing with peoples lives in this manner. It might appear harmless to you, but it does have deeper implications for the people involved.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Would be interesting to setup a bunch of test accounts just to see how "people you may know" and other FB features work. For example if someone searches for you or views your profile will they show up in your list, or do you only show up in their list? Guessing location may play a role too, it's probably less likely to suggest someone that's in a completely different state or country.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Time to get me that $2400 tablet that Samsung, IBM and Blackberry are releasing this summer.

 

[Newbian]

Semi-necro spam post.

 

[Ichinisan]

This comes up all the time with *every* social network.

She had your info in her email contact info or you had her email address in your contact info. At least one of you allowed Facebook to access contact info or updated an associated email address with your FB account and it was finally able to establish a link.

 

[waffleironhead]

old thread, but she looked you up. Thats why she showed up.

 

[kranky]

I sent this message to facebook re the People You May Know list:

This is not about the privacy settings per se, but more about privacy in the "people you may know" section. It's extremely intrusive, esp when it suggests people whose profile that you looked at but don't want them to know you were looking. Let me tell you my experience: I like this guy, but for many reasons (professional and personal) I do not want him to know I like him, so I've never friended him, nor he me. But I do check out his profile as I thought that there was no way that he would know I was doing that. I also wanted to learn more about his life, so I checked out the profiles of his friends and family as well, many of whom live in other countries. Again, I thought that this was harmless and safe. Then, suddenly, he and his family and friends started to show up in my "people you may know list" even tho we have no mutual friends in common, live in different counties and do not correspond via email or thru any other means. So fb is suggesting them to me strictly on the fact that I am viewing their profile. And if they are appearing in my PYMK list, surely I am appearing in theirs, which would be professionally fatal for me if he knew. So facebook, please stop this intrusive feature. I can understand when you send me ppl with whom I share mutual friends, but if this person knows that I am doing this, it could spell an end to our professional relationship. Pls stop playing with peoples lives in this manner. It might appear harmless to you, but it does have deeper implications for the people involved.

Welcome to AnandTech.

When you think about it, doesn't it make perfect sense for FB to do what they did? If you viewed someone's profile, it suggests you may know them. So it's no surprise that could get you put on the other person's PYMK list. Although I don't use FB, frankly I would have expected that to happen. Isn't FB all about pushing more connections?

 

[OverVolt]

About 5 years ago (Just before I had joined Facebook), I was dating online and there was this one girl I was texting for about a week or so and set up a date at her place to watch a movie. The date didn't go over very well and the relationship fizzled out very quickly after that.

Now 5 years later her face mysteriously shows up in that "people you may know" list. Which itself isn't strange except that we have no mutual friends, and I even checked to see if there were any friends of friends and I found nothing. She lives about an hour away from me. We never at any point lived in the same town, went to the same school, nor worked for the same company. I've never given my number to Facebook and the email associated with my account hasn't existed in at least 3 years or so.

I'm not even that active on facebook. I mostly use it to read news feeds, share random thoughts that pop in my head and occasionally troll my dull witted conservative friends. Most of the pics I have on FB are old with only 3 of them being from this year.

It's been bugging me all day. How the hell does Facebook *know* about an acquaintance of whom I had a very brief relationship with 5 years ago before either of us had joined FB? (yes I checked her join date too)

The only other explanation that I can come up with is that people who look you up or repeatedly view your profile show up in the "people you may know" list which Facebook officially denies but I take their word with a truckload of salt TBH. But even then I didn't even remember her last name and pretty much forgot about her, and I can't imagine why she would have been interested in (or even remembered) me after all of these years. Just about everyone else on that list is someone with mutual friends, former co-worker, classmate, etc. That I'm not interested in friending. But it's obvious why they show up on that list, and I'm at a loss to explain this unless it's just an amazing coincidence.

She has probably mentioned you by name on FB. "I went on this terrible date with XYZ"

 

[foreverguy]

I had the same issue. I have a separate facebook account. and I use this dating app called coffee meets bagel. I exchanged phone numbers with someone from the app but we never went out . The dating app is linked to my primary facebook account and i just made a second facebook account. I get a email from the 2nd facebook account and it's saying that the girl I exchanged numbers with is someone I may know. I like what the hell. I didn't even get a chance to set up my 2nd profile and it's asking me to be friends with this girl number I got a few weeks ago. I tried contacting face book but no answer. This is creepy and freaking me out because the 2nd facebook account is not linked with the dating app. Any suggestions?

 

[Rakehellion]

About 5 years ago (Just before I had joined Facebook), I was dating online and there was this one girl I was texting for about a week or so and set up a date at her place to watch a movie. The date didn't go over very well and the relationship fizzled out very quickly after that.

Now 5 years later her face mysteriously shows up in that "people you may know" list. Which itself isn't strange except that we have no mutual friends, and I even checked to see if there were any friends of friends and I found nothing. She lives about an hour away from me. We never at any point lived in the same town, went to the same school, nor worked for the same company. I've never given my number to Facebook and the email associated with my account hasn't existed in at least 3 years or so.

I'm not even that active on facebook. I mostly use it to read news feeds, share random thoughts that pop in my head and occasionally troll my dull witted conservative friends. Most of the pics I have on FB are old with only 3 of them being from this year.

It's been bugging me all day. How the hell does Facebook *know* about an acquaintance of whom I had a very brief relationship with 5 years ago before either of us had joined FB? (yes I checked her join date too)

The only other explanation that I can come up with is that people who look you up or repeatedly view your profile show up in the "people you may know" list which Facebook officially denies but I take their word with a truckload of salt TBH. But even then I didn't even remember her last name and pretty much forgot about her, and I can't imagine why she would have been interested in (or even remembered) me after all of these years. Just about everyone else on that list is someone with mutual friends, former co-worker, classmate, etc. That I'm not interested in friending. But it's obvious why they show up on that list, and I'm at a loss to explain this unless it's just an amazing coincidence.

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. Chatted with a girl online, never learned each other's full names, then two years later she adds me on Facebook.

 

[cabri]

Same name, different person.

The Facebook system does not care.

 

[slayer202]

there are plenty of ways.

but how about if YOU are in HER phone? facebook adds you to her suggestion list, and maybe vice versa. there's an obvious reason somewhere

 

[TwiceOver]

Pretty obvious that Facebook integrates with the EBDB.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I really wonder how many people read the entire post before commenting.

This is ATOT - we don't need to read anything, we already know how to respond.



Anyway, I am not on Facebook, but my obsessive compulsive friends tell me that when this happens, it means they are looking at your Facebook profile. So, Facebook suggests you friend request your stalker.

Also, what does she look like?

 

[WelshBloke]

The only other explanation that I can come up with is that people who look you up or repeatedly view your profile show up in the "people you may know" list.

Not reading the full thread because facebook threads always smell of paranoia and sweat but thats the reason there.

If you search people you will show up in their people you might know list.

 

[Crono]

This is ATOT - we don't need to read anything, we already know how to respond.

Not reading the full thread because facebook threads always smell of paranoia and sweat but thats the reason there.

If you search people you will show up in their people you might know list.

 

[core2slow]

if you have facebook installed on your phone (bam! contact list!)
if you sign up with an active email account that you use (bam! more contact/sender list!)
2nd/3rd/4th level mutual friends (bam! more contacts!)

see, it's all very easy. They have their algorithms to find out the users, it's not all magic and witchcraft. Just because you dont have her number stored on your phone or email sender list, doesn't mean you're not in hers (that's what she said).

 

[88keys]

But again. Never once have I had my phone number available on facebook.

Just saying. Generally speaking, my facebook info is vague and I don't even update it with things like my employer info, high school, hometown or any of those things.

 

[core2slow]

It's not WHAT you put on Facebook, it's WHERE you install Facebook and HOW you sign into Facebook that matter.

 

[OriginalFunster]

Oldish thread but hey...

I just had the exact same thing, with people who I share nothing with!!!

I moved to Australia from the UK, 7 years ago, before I moved I set up a facebook account to stay in touch with friends,

I have lots of pymk appear on my timeline, but about a week ago noticed an ex girlfriend (23 years ago) yep pre facebook, pre any email addresses that I had and almost pre www. even...
She did not have a mobile phone, although I had the Motorola brick that you needed a wheelbarrow to cart around... So in short no direct or indirect means of communication exchange.
We have no shared mutual friends.
Yesterday I noticed someone else on the pymk, someone I used to deal with at work, we worked for different company's, and although we did have each other's mobile numbers, these were lost when I moved to Australia.
My facebook account uses a hotmail email account that I made just for Facebook, and not used or given to anyone else. We have no mutual friends etc, but he appeared in my list!.
I do not doubt for one minute if he had bothered to look me up on Facebook that he wouldn't have sent a friend request..

 

[Router_help]

But again. Never once have I had my phone number available on facebook.

Just saying. Generally speaking, my facebook info is vague and I don't even update it with things like my employer info, high school, hometown or any of those things.

Thanks for posting this. I know this thread is old but I've had some similar strange experiences.

I have Facebook installed on my iPhone. I did not allow Facebook access to my location, contacts. I also did not allow Facebook access to any emails I have. In fact I have a junk email that is never used for anything else, for my Facebook account.

So basically Facebook is walled off from my real world info. And, my facebook account is completely private and unsearchable, and I use a different name on the Facebook account than my real name. So there is zero association between Facebook and my real life.

So I'm traveling on a business trip, and meet a realtor out of town for some property I drove by while I had idle time. I gave the realtor my email address that is completely non-Facebook related, and I gave the realtor my Google Voice account that has nothing to do with my iPhone (only rings to Google Voice). So there is zero correlation between the realtor and any Facebook related info.

A week or two later, I see the realtor show up on my list "friends you may know"... I'm like what the hell?

Keep in mind my Facebook app does not have access to my location, my contacts, my email, nothing. The email and phone # I gave to the realtor was completely different from anything I used for Facebook. The realtor can't look me up on Facebook because I don't use my real name. The realtor and I have zero other connections. I happened to drive by a house with "open house" sign and spoke with the realtor for a few minutes, that was the only connection.

So how the hell does Facebook know there's a connection between us?

 

[Ichinisan]

Some of your other Facebook friends have the same Google Voice number in their contacts and FB has figured that the number is somehow associated with you.

 

[Feneant2]

Funny how this thread keeps coming back up... people just have to accept that this is the world we live in now and it'll only get worse as we get more connected.

Its the same for advertisements... you buy a product and next thing you know, that exact same product is showing up on every page you are browsing. You buy a single item from some sex shop and next thing you know, google is full of dildo's flashing at you on every website you frequent.