By @edent · facebook HTML meta metadata ogp standards twitter · 7 comments · 500 words · read ~1,314 times.
Facebook Meta - like many other tech titans - has institutional Shiny Object Syndrome. It goes something like this: Launch a product to great fanfare Spend a few years hyping it as ✨the future✨ Stop answering emails and pull requests If you're lucky, announce that the product is abandoned but, more likely, just forget about […]
Continue reading →By @edent · data facebook privacy · 13 comments · 600 words · read ~146,580 times.
Facebook has an interesting feature. It will let you see which companies have associated your off-Facebook activity with your Facebook account. If you visit: https://www.facebook.com/off_facebook_activity/ you'll see what companies are snitching on you to Facebook. #AirBnB shares your activity with #Facebook ?! Delete that @Airbnb app, folks! Mine didn't even allow me to change its […]
Continue reading →By @edent · facebook sex Social Media · 11 comments · 550 words · read ~716 times.
(Another in a long list of posts which will turn out to be touchingly naïve!) When teaching people about safe sex, one topic bitterly divides people - whether abstinence is a suitable method. Simply refusing to engage in sexual activity will protect you from pregnancy, disease, and trauma. Abstinence is particularly promoted by religious zealots. […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review economics facebook · 9 comments · 550 words · read ~142 times.
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is a deeply-reasoned examination of the threat of unprecedented power free from democratic oversight. As it explores this new capitalism's impact on society, politics, business, and technology, it exposes the struggles that will decide both the next chapter of capitalism and the meaning of information civilization. It shows how we can protect ourselves and our communities and ensure we are the masters of the digital rather than its slaves.
Continue reading →By @edent · facebook fake news media · 500 words · read ~895 times.
One of the most important tools in the war for your attention is the ability to critically examine media and discover its provenance. Take this example - a friend of a friend was tagged in this Facebook post, and so it appeared on my feed: WOW! Right! Nature is Coooooool! Or is it? If "The […]
Continue reading →By @edent · adverts facebook politics · 400 words · read ~496 times.
It was back in the late 1990s when I first got started with ad blocking. I don't remember if it was the "punch the monkey" adverts, or the pop-unders for weird security systems that tipped me over the edge. All I knew was my computer was slowing down and I thought animated ads were the […]
Continue reading →By @edent · facebook NaBloPoMo · 450 words · read ~193 times.
(…all analogies break down eventually…) On receiving a new credit card, there are two kinds of people in this world: OMG! FREE MONEY! SPEND IT ALL!!!!! This is a tool which can be used appropriately to make my life better. The first set of people quickly hit the limit of the card and are often […]
Continue reading →By @edent · facebook mobile · 2 comments · 250 words · read ~1,192 times.
Like many people, I can't be bothered using Facebook's mobile app. I live my life in the browser and don't need a battery-hungry, always listening, contact stealing app notifying me every five minutes. I check Facebook Messages when I want. If it's urgent, there are many better ways to contact me than Messenger. Until recently, […]
Continue reading →By @edent · facebook spam · 200 words · read ~4,466 times.
Like a lot of you, my Facebook feed often fills up with dodgy adverts for discount sunglasses. In this case, Mark's account has been hacked and the spammers are tagging lots of his friends. The post then shows up on my feed as "look what your friend is up to!" Annoying. So, here's how to […]
Continue reading →By @edent · facebook fiction Tales Of The Algorithm viral · 750 words · read ~1,284 times.
Last week I was on the In The Abstract podcast. I came up with a curious idea. If I were Tom Scott, I'd turn this into a performance piece - instead, here's a short and entirely fictional story. Facebook knew you were in love a long time before you did. It noticed you scrolling back […]
Continue reading →