by ploggingdev on 12/30/16, 1:08 PM
When I see posts like these, they creep me out. Another reminder that Facebook and all other online services, ad companies know way too much about their users and can deduce more information about you (in truly creative ways) than you imagined would be possible.
When I show these posts to people who resemble the average internet user, they just don't care. This is something that is saddening and baffling for me. I think it's just that most people don't understand why this is an issue to begin with and people need to be made aware of what is going on. The easiest way to start would be to discuss privacy issues with your closest family and friends.
Worth mentioning RMS' blog post: https://stallman.org/facebook.html
by nacc on 12/30/16, 3:54 PM
Just to be pedantic:
Each of the data points is an average of many users (and potentially have huge errorbars they do not show). Therefore for single individuals, this result may not be very predictive.
In fact, given that the distribution of number of posts likely follows power law, the average is hugely influenced by a small number of heavy facebook users. I would say this figure summaries more about top facebook users rather than the majority of users. So when "you" (an average facebook user) fall in love, this is probably not what facebook sees.
by donquichotte on 12/30/16, 1:05 PM
This is from 2014. I'm not sure whether that is a selection bias, but very few of my friends "share timeline posts" with their partners (or future partners, or anyone really) nowadays.
by dhimes on 12/30/16, 4:06 PM
Somewhat related, my son showed me a program from Britain called "Black Mirror" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Mirror) The shows are an hour or so long, and it's not a series with a long-running plot, but each episode is separate (à la
The Twilight Zone). We watched one called "Nosedive" (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive), which was set in a future dystopia where everybody was socially rated and that rating was visible to others. Remember the almost-startup from last year, Peeple.com? Yikes!
by mrswag on 12/30/16, 12:49 PM
The graphics are misleading, the Y axis is stretched to make the change look big.
by amelius on 12/30/16, 1:05 PM
So facebook has an incentive to keep you out of a relationship, it seems.
by mcv on 12/30/16, 1:52 PM
Courtship over Facebook is so unromantic. In my day, we used email, SMS and phone.
by grzm on 12/30/16, 1:09 PM
by cbr on 12/30/16, 1:59 PM
"We only considered couples who declared an anniversary date (as opposed to just changing their relationship status)"
Seems like a strange choice; most dating couples I know don't seem to set an anniversary date.
by jkraker on 12/30/16, 1:10 PM
by andrewclunn on 12/30/16, 1:01 PM
What about private messages? I mean we know Facebook tracks those too. Do they just not want to admit as much publicly?
by ajkjk on 12/30/16, 5:59 PM
I think I'd like to see a law that requires all companies to share all information they have on you in an easily understandable format. I think that'd be a great start.
Any saved derived information, like what kind of person they think you are, or what they think you'd be likely to buy, must also be shared.
Basically a dump of all their databases under your user ID.
by gcr on 12/30/16, 5:15 PM
by jostmey on 12/30/16, 2:47 PM
So facebook, which needs us to spend as much time on the website as possible to maintain advertising revenue, has the perverse incentive of keeping everyone single. So this could be the answer to the Fermi Paradox
by carlmcqueen on 12/30/16, 1:36 PM
1.61-1.65 down to 1.4 something? What is the actual average amount of posts made a day, shared to the timeline?
small scale Y axis make it look quite large, but that doesn't seem a seismic shift.
by rdiddly on 12/30/16, 4:16 PM
Given the dubious statistical significance and the fact that predicting who's "courting" each other is really pretty easy, this article seems like a "the suit is back" adverticle for Facebook, touting its predictive abilities to advertisers like Jared, Netflix, Bed Bath & Beyond etc.
by NIL8 on 12/31/16, 3:59 AM
I'm curious to know if this type of data could be used to track infidelity. I'm thinking further than domestic trouble and more towards blackmail, espionage, etc. I can see how this type of information could be useful for the wrong reasons.
by angryasian on 12/30/16, 8:32 PM
I'm surprised Facebook hasn't specifically monetized this type of behavior. It seems to me that this is a very clear signal of intent and can be monetized.
by jondubois on 12/30/16, 5:20 PM
It sounds like Facebook has a vested interest in keeping people single and to break up existing couples.
I do think that relationships these days are more fleeting than they used to be. I think that Facebook (Instagram, particularly) tends to encourage this type of behaviour.
Constantly being exposed to other couples' luxurious lifestyles and holiday trips is not particularly good for relationships (particularly new relationships).
I do think that most people these days tend to value earning potential and physical appearance far more than personality when it comes to finding a match and I think that social media is probably responsible for much of this.
by chinathrow on 12/30/16, 12:38 PM
(2014)
by golergka on 12/30/16, 3:51 PM
Three full months of courtship? Really?
by moovacha on 12/30/16, 2:59 PM
Pardon the crassness but this statistic as well as the study behind is is utterly useless.