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You might think clicking “Like” is the only way to stamp that public FB affirmation on something—you’re wrong. Facebook is checking your private messages and automatically liking things you talk about. Without asking you.
The scanning, which is either an oversight on Facebook’s part of a deliberate effort—we’re waiting to hear back from FB—increases the Like count for a given page just by you talking about it. Auto-scanning is nothing new: Gmail has done it since day one to serve us ads. But there are serious potential personal consequences here—what if I’m talking about something disgusting, loathsome, and offensive with a friend? Do I want Facebook to automatically chalk that up as a Like? No. And I doubt you do either.
The auto-liking could also be a big deal for those who want to artificially inflate their popularity online—say, people with something to sell. “Yeap, it won’t drive any traffic to your website. But if your [sic] visiting an online store and you see a lot of likes under the product then this might cloud your judgement,” notes one commenter on Hacker News, where the mechanism was first reported.
To test the auto-scanning, message this link to a friend—it should increase the like count by two. I was able to independently verify the same effect by messaging a link to singer The-Dream’s official page to a friend. It increased his Likes without me ever clicking the button. This isn’t how it’s supposed to work, Facebook. [Hacker News via Forbes]
You shouldn’t be on facebook to begin with.
You havin’ a larf?
No.
Something we can agree on.
Thank you Darrell. If your comment is not sarcastic then I’m glad that we can agree on some things from time to time. Have a good day.
Not in the least bit sarcastic. Dislike Facebook. Love G+.
Yet another stubborn person who refuses to stay with the age. Social Networking is what this era is about, whether you like it or not. Then again, you’re entitled to your opinion. On the other hand, your opinion is unjustified and arrogant.
>> In the other hand, your opinion is unjustified and arrogant.
Please explain to me as to how you came to this conclusion.
*On
Parapraxis >_<
You have just made a judgement on me without knowing anything about me, my life or my background. That is, as you said, in my opinion, unjustified and arrogant. Facebook is a massive money-generating, advertising engine, used by its creators to get rich and the Government as well as ordinary people, to spy on all of us.
A common argument for its use is that it’s essential for keeping in touch with friends. I don’t know about you, but I have a mobile telephone and several email accounts, as do all of my friends and family. When I want to tell one of my friends I really enjoyed that film last night, I caall them, text them, or send them an email.
While I enjoy certain group discussions on forums like this one of Gizmodo about topics of interest, I am happy enough in my life and secure enough in my own personality not to need to constantly publish my every thought, photograph and catchphrase on a globally viewed medium in the hopes that a few people I genuinely know, and several hundred people I don’t really know or care about, will care about my life, think it is greater than it is and make me feel some sort of comfort that I’m not as miserable and bored with life as I actually am.
I don’t need to spend 2-5 hours per day snooping on other people’s every thought, photograph and publishings to see if their life is better than mine, if their partner is more beautiful than mine or if their party looked more fun than mine. I’m not interested in how many “friends” you have or how many people “follow” your friend Steve. I am too busy living my life or working or experiencing the world to have time to sit at home posting illusions of what I wish my life was about to massage an imaginary version of my ego.
This isn’t new, they’ve been doing this for years, i remember back when i had a like spree on all the stupid pages e.g. “I LMFAO when i saw this on Google!”. When all my friends liked one, my facebook liked it too, even if i didn’t want to
Admit it Sam, you left your Facebook logged on at work and Kat’s trashing your cool online persona by ‘Liking’ Justin Bieber from it, so now you’ve made up a global conspiracy to clear your name…
But seriously, auto generated likes isn’t great…(although if Facebook took over all of my social obligations by autoconversing with my friends and then auto-going to the parties it auto-accepts invitations to, it would certainly free up a bit of time for me to do other things!
)
Facebook, are you trying deliberately to push people away from using your service?
Let’s hope there’s not a facebook page for fleshlights…
This isn’t true.
I did this test and I haven’t ‘liked’ the page at all.
Your article doesn’t take into account other people liking the page in the meantime.
Another waste of time article on Gizmodo.