Facebook introduced Timeline about half a year back during their F8 conference to mixed opinions. I am one of those not entirely convinced of the need to put so much information about myself. Back then, you could opt to convert your wall to Timeline, but just recently Facebook has announced that all profiles will be converted to Timeline over time despite many protests.
So, there's no escaping Facebook Timeline anymore, but I can still hold out with my current Wall layout until it is upgraded (if "upgraded" is the right term to use). But that doesn't mean Facebook is not doing their part to "persuade" you to convert to Timeline. I noticed on my news feed that my friends are sharing news articles they have read and videos they have watched which, inadvertently reveal what their interests are and what kind of stuff are they reading/viewing. I'm sure they don't intend to share some of those articles, especially the embarrassing/awkward kinds, but I have to admit that some of these articles do catch my attention. When I tried to access them and the result is the usual "give approval to the app before you can use" confirmation box. Seems usual, but take a closer look below at the screenshots I took of some of these apps:
That's right. If you didn't read it properly, you'd have "upgraded" to Timeline and it's no turning back, though it could be a welcome change to some people.
But more importantly is what you're giving the app permission to do, as shown in the second box: "The app may post on your behalf". That's not what I want! I want to be able to share only interesting articles and videos, not have the app share that I've read an article about "10 Ways To Spice Up Your Sex Life", "Justin Bieber Spotted Without His Shirt" and other articles which may embarrass me or put me in an awkward situation should my friends give their comments. Granted, I've not actually used any of these apps and I'm sure you can delete the post or customise the app to stop sharing, but the default state is to have the app "post on your behalf" and the more apps you use, the more trouble you have to go through to customise each one. And sometimes, you may just forget that one app, which so happens to post something that you don't want your friends to know until it is too late.
Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do now except to be extra careful about the permissions you give to each Facebook app (which obviously many people wouldn't usually do). As for me, I'll worry more about the Timeline "upgrade", which is the main reason why I choose not to use these apps in the first place.
4 comments:
The "post on your behalf" permission is actually the easiest one to workaround -- for EVERY app you give such permission to, change the setting in your Privacy/Apps to "only me." This way, no one can see what I read. However, since most people don't bother changing this setting (or don't know you can), I can see what THEY are reading, which leads me to some interesting articles!
hey andrew, thanks for your comment. yes, i know you can change the apps privacy settings. it's a hassle but necessary step. however, what i'm more worried about is if i have 50 over apps to adjust the settings, i might accidentally miss out one and that "one" may post some embarrassing stuff. but then again, i could always remove that post (hopefully)..
and i totally agree with you that you can discover interesting articles by your friends. =)
I'm not sure how but... my account seems to default to "only me" for apps posting on my behalf. You should test it out.
You will never same info at Amaze Invent
Post a Comment
Write your comments here! ^.^