The many faces of Facebook all need watching

How many faces are there to Facebook? One billion of us worldwide have Facebook accounts, and 7.5 million of those are under the age of 13, which by the way is a Facebook rule no/no. It begs the question, what other facades does this leading social network giant have lurking in the shadows?

I say “lurking” because we all are allowed to experience the resplendent side of Facebook. New friends, family connection, information, companionship, and all for free. In fact, more than 41 percent of Americans have an active account with Facebook.

Facebook, now incorporated, is worth more than $40 billion. They rent out database and server space to other online sites who need the power of “HAL” when it comes to storage and operation needs. That equates to a substantial amount of information in any one place. You know what they say, a computer never really forgets .... even if you “delete” an item properly.

So just how does Facebook make its money? Advertising, mailing lists, including information such as where you live, your phone number and much more. They custom design computers for other entities and write the programs for them. A very astute bunch, but that’s to be expected.

The founder, Mark Zukerberg, came up with Facebook by hacking his way throughout its innovation. Just how “secure” is your information and posts, say, if an entity wishes to know? Uncle Sam wants to become a “friend” of Facebook. I wonder if Facebook will accept, or has already? Uncle Sam has lots of “friends” also. Before you know it, you are on every “friend” list that you never wished to sanction. Let’s face it, the site is unsecured. A billboard in down town Sandpoint with all of your personal information on it would be less intrusive.

Facebook asserts that roughly 200,000 members are nixed from their accounts each day for breaking the rules, stuff like underage, profanity, pornography, sexual predators and scams. How many slip through the cracks, like maybe on your son or daughter’s Facebook page? Security software aside, someone unwanted is reading your stuff. No thanks ... I’ll pass on the whole thing.

Facebook is nothing more than a modern day version of “Big Brother,” except we willingly sign up for this one. I liken our love of Facebook to a human virus that continues to mushroom, bringing with it a false sense of popularity, loss of privacy, isolationism, and surveillance potential to scrutinize our every move. Don’t forget the further, faster decline of traditional communication and interactive skills.

My hope is that a few folks will read this and think twice before joining the flock. Once you become a member, it lurks in your computer, even after deletion. Facebook never forgets a face …

Laurie Wadkins is a resident in the Priest River area.