Why did you send me that Facebook email?

Hey Midlife New Media Newbies, does this question sound familiar?

I was reminded today when a friend asked why he was getting a "Facebook direct message" from a friend about checking out a Facebook application….and that friend claimed that he did NOT send it.

When I first embarked on Facebook, I remember that my sister Dorothy sent me some weird survey and I thought it was odd.  I ignored it (it reminded me of those annoying chain letter emails) and then next time we talked I asked her about it.

"I didn't send it, but you are another of my friends who has said that I sent you a message about it.", she commented.  She of course was aghast that she had "spammed" her friends with a survey she had decided to try.

Well, those "fun" 3rd party applications that you like to try on Facebook have a fairly frequent convention. When you open them, if you look closely….

…you will see that they often already have checked something to the effect of "contact all my friends to let them know that I am using this".  or "invite my friends to use this tool too".

If you do NOT want to send messages to all of your Facebook friends and risk having them feel spammed, you need to find that little setting (often right where you sign up yourself) and uncheck it, select no, or otherwise stop it from sending something to all of your friends.

I don't use many of these Facebook applications because of how invasive they can be.  I don't care how "likable I am", nor how "close I am to others" nor how "hot" I am.

The latest one that a couple of my friends have used and thus keeps popping up for me is the "IQ Test".  It is very tricky….the little "x" at the upper right hand corner of the pop-up is a link that actually OPENS up the IQ test application.  And then after initiating it, and then wanting to get out, it warns me that my friends will think "I am stupid" if I "stop now".

Oh well, I guess I don't care about that either.  I think my friends are smarter than that!

Don't get me wrong, many of these applications are quite fun and some people love them.

I personally think that the basic Facebook tools are fantastic to gather, connect, and post information for people. That's my personal preference…..to keep it simple.  That is the beauty of Facebook, it is up to you how YOU want to use it!!

If you embark on all the cool special tools, just carefully look at your settings as you embark on their use.

Have a great day!

Barb