How does facebook know you?

[tongue_of_colicab]

Here I am in the proces of signing up for a facebook account because a friend of mine took a bunch of pictures from when I was at his place in Japan. I hate these kind of websites and I always do my best not to try and leave too much personal information on the net, let alone pictures. Anyway, as I'm signing up, and I really did not provide anything other than my name and age, skipped all the email syncing and school/company things and I'm totally freaked out by how it manages to find so many people I know based on that little info alone. Now it also has about a dozen of misses but it gives results about people I havnt seen for more than 8 years who cannot possibly have any other information about me other than my name. I also get one of the Japanese exchange girls from last year. I talked with her a couple of times but thats about it. She doesnt know anything other than my first name (well, she could have looked up my last name in the school mail system) so how can she possibly be there?

The weird thing is that my friend isnt there while he actually uploaded photo's of me and probably used my name somewhere.

How does facebook manages to show you people you actually know? I cant think of any other way than those people having to put my name somewhere because that is all they got from me. Weird thing is that all matches I get are the ones that are actually most unlikely to have information about me on their facebook as I have far less contact with them than some other people on facebook who are not there.

Please explain

 

[hoom]

Well, it was originally designed for tracking terrorists/communists/drug traffickers so I'm not particularly surprised if it'd have some sort of ability to link new people in.

Is pretty spooky though. (I also don't have one, don't want one)

 

[Silent_Buddha]

A big part of it is if someone mentions your name in their facebook page I'd imagine. Then all kinds of things. IP address from a similar part of the country. E-mail addresses. I don't know how facebook works or whatnot. But if they have an e-mail service with an address book that's another vector.

I have a feeling that if Google were to start up a social netorking site, you would be absolutely terrified about how much info they have on you and everyone you know. As well as every site you've visited on the internet. Probably one of the main reasons Google won't be starting one up, IMO.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook was purchasing information from Google.

Regards,
SB

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Yeah I thought about the name thing but that is what makes it so strange as all results are from people that I doubt have my name because I dont know them that well (apart from a few that are in my university, but I dont count them as good friends and neither do they I think, so them using my name is not that likely, surely alot less likely than my good friends that are not on the list given by facebook). Also some of them are from when I was in elementry school and high school so that is atleast 8 or 9 years ago the last time I spoke to them. IP adresses could be, but I got like 30 hits and I know more than half of them so I doubt it can really be IP based.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Um, the "people you might now" is based on your name, your location, your network and most importantly your friends. If your friends have mutual friends amongst eachother, it will often suggest that you know them aswell.

 

[tabs]

I purchased some training DVDs from a small family based company in the US (I'm in the UK) a few years back. Facebook the other day suggested a user to me who was the wife fof the guy who delivered the training.

Nobody I know (and in my friend list) has even heard of the company. I just recognised who it was because her pic had him in it too. Explain that.

 

[Dresden]

Facebook needs a B3D fan group.

I'd join.

 

[sham63]

I do not know how Facebook does this. I signed my wife for an account, and the next I know it was recommending friends. Mostly they were her relatives from B'ham. Seeing that we live Columbus, OH and I did not give any info that would even hint about her family down in 'Bama I do not see how it could have recommended them as friends. What is odd, that my family did not show up no where as near as fast as recommended friends.