Facebook

[catavino]

Ok so I've tried friendster, myspace and a few others. I guess i"m not a young enough person to understand this whole phenomenon of Social networking sites. On the other hand when Facebook opened to the world I had to check it out. Previously only for Students and companies, it attracted me. So I signed up here's my profile. (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503366873)
Anyways I post it here becasue I'm in the "Spain" ring or what ever they call it. I also noticed that there are not a lot of others in this yet. I thought it would be nice to see more forum members in this group and maybe we can help spread the word about NFS in it a little by adding some links. I wouldn't complain if anyone linked to me either, but I do think NFS would be a nice asset for other Spain memebers(mainly college kids) to find out about...Plus the photo albums allow for great photo sharing opprotunities...

Oh and the UI is amazing as compared with myspace, I have no clue how myspace succeeds with that unusable GUI

FYI I have no affiliation with Facebook, though I am affilitated with NFS;)

[greytop]

Pity you have to register to see the page. I object to those sort of strongarm tactics!

[catavino]

Pity you have to register to see the page. I object to those sort of strongarm tactics!

Most of the time I would agree, but in this case I really like it. I makes it more personal. I hate the fact that Myspace is basically a free online bulletin board. Here you join a Network and then you can only browse through that network. Therefore you find people who can relate to you. I know this is not for everyone, but it's ease of use is what got me, I'm sure in a week or two I'll be onto something else, but who knows...

It's also cool that when I search for peopl with like interests they only return results from my "network" so I dont' end up finding a ton of wine lovers in some far away place!

[Ben]

Pity you have to register to see the page. I object to those sort of strongarm tactics!
Agreed, but I registered and added myself anyway!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=503845899

[Ben]

Excellent British English language error on facebook. I was browsing people on my network as Ryan suggested, and saw that each person has a list of options by them. Have a look and see if you spot the error:
http://www.notesfromspain.com/wp-content/uploads/pokeher.gif

Now I don't know what 'poke her' means in this context, and I don't dare click it just in case, but where I come from poking can have pretty, err, saucy connotations!

[Ben]

From their FAQ:
What is a poke? (http://www.facebook.com/help.php#)

We have about as much of an idea as you do. We thought it would be fun to make a feature that had no real purpose and to see what happens from there. So mess around with it, because you're not getting an explanation from us.
Still not sure I dare risk poking her :D:D

(sorry, but this totally appeals to my schoolboy humour!)

[Cynthia]

Yay, more friends for my facebook! I've added you both to my friends list on Facebook now. I think it's organized better and more efficiently than MySpace, and I also like that you have many more privacy options on Facebook than MySpace.

As far as the poking... I get poked by random people every now and then and it's a little odd. If they could send a message as to why I was poked, I'd feel a little better about it :)

[catavino]

From their FAQ:
Still not sure I dare risk poking her :D:D

(sorry, but this totally appeals to my schoolboy humour!)

Mine too, been a long time since I had free will to "poke" strangers....Maybe this forum needs an "off off topic" section!:D

Either way, again not sure what I think of this site, but I have met some people in Spain I might not have otherwise....

[catavino]

Spanish Expat Group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2211574915)

[cubix]

Poking is pretty harmless, sometimes you won't really notice, you just get a little message when you login. Some of my friends and I have been in poking wars non-stop for a while.....

Watch out facebook can get addicting

[Flexichick]

From their FAQ:
Still not sure I dare risk poking her :D:D

(sorry, but this totally appeals to my schoolboy humour!)


Between you "poking her" and Marina staying home "cocking" all day, it's a wonder you two have time to keep the site going! :D ;D

p.s. I swear I was a 12 year old boy in a former life, as stuff like this still makes me giggle

[Edith]

After having registered, people will be able to see your personal email, right? :o

This just means more spam...

[Brian]

This just means more spam...

Lovely! I'll have a double-order of mortgage rate spam, with a healthy slice of Nigerian Money Scam Spam. And don't forget a side order of V1agra spam!

:mad:

[Ben]

After having registered, people will be able to see your personal email, right? :o

This just means more spam...
You can choose to hide your email address if you want.

[greytop]

Pity you have to register to see the page. I object to those sort of strongarm tactics!
I think they read this site. I tried to register but it's failed!

[Edith]

Lovely! I'll have a double-order of mortgage rate spam, with a healthy slice of Nigerian Money Scam Spam. And don't forget a side order of V1agra spam!

:mad:


Hmmm, SPAM! :D

[gary]

Now I don't know what 'poke her' means in this context, and I don't dare click it just in case, but where I come from poking can have pretty, err, saucy connotations!

Oooer, missis! I havent heart that expression for a while - Frankie Howerd and the Carry On team live on!!

[Edith]

:D

[cubix]

Actually you don't get spam, because your email is show as an image if you put in on facebook.

[catavino]

no spam from a an image email, and it's hard to make it in, even for a spammer, due to the registration controls.

[Ben]

Actually, I have heard that there are spambots that can read image emails now, and I thing some have from our contacts page at NFS... but they would never get into facebook, and you can choose to hide your email.

[gary]

Actually, I have heard that there are spambots that can read image emails now, and I thing some have from our contacts page at NFS... but they would never get into facebook, and you can choose to hide your email.

I have no evidence that my email has been harvested from NFS and used to spam, I get almost no spam email even though I have a catchall mail address. I use the name of the site I sign up with as my name, so you will notice my email address on this site starts with nfs@...... If a particular email address ever causes problems I can black hole it or bounce it at the server.

I also run a google mail account for times when I think giving my personal email might lead to probs

[catavino]

I have no evidence that my email has been harvested from NFS and used to spam, I get almost no spam email even though I have a catchall mail address. I use the name of the site I sign up with as my name, so you will notice my email address on this site starts with nfs@...... If a particular email address ever causes problems I can black hole it or bounce it at the server.

I also run a google mail account for times when I think giving my personal email might lead to probs


I hate promoting google, but I have to say I never get spam. I have my email all over the place(unfortunatly) and I never get spam. Ok once in a blue moon a Lottery win spam message will get through, but before I had google host my mail I was getting upwards of 100spam messages a day. Now I get none. They go into a spam folder, and I delete them when I remember to.
I hear Spam horror stories all the time, and well they don't affectme. I love it. The filter they use is pretty good if I went from 100 a day to none a day .

BTW I have my catavino main account hosted by google, a relatively new service. I was hesitant, thinking of downtime and headaches with transfers and such. But it was seemless, no problems and now no spam. Also anytime I need an address for a shady new site I want to comment on, I put what ever I want before the @ sign and I have a new address forwarded to my primary account.

Google maybe evil>:D, but sure has some nice products/features

[gary]

I dont mean I get spam I dont see - I mean I dont get spam at all to my main account. I am my own ISP - it makes me wonder if some ISPs are selling addresses to the spammers

[Cynthia]

I hate promoting google, but I have to say I never get spam. I have my email all over the place(unfortunatly) and I never get spam. Ok once in a blue moon a Lottery win spam message will get through, but before I had google host my mail I was getting upwards of 100spam messages a day. Now I get none. They go into a spam folder, and I delete them when I remember to.
I hear Spam horror stories all the time, and well they don't affectme. I love it. The filter they use is pretty good if I went from 100 a day to none a day .

BTW I have my catavino main account hosted by google, a relatively new service. I was hesitant, thinking of downtime and headaches with transfers and such. But it was seemless, no problems and now no spam. Also anytime I need an address for a shady new site I want to comment on, I put what ever I want before the @ sign and I have a new address forwarded to my primary account.

Google maybe evil>:D, but sure has some nice products/features

Gmail actually fully lobotomized me into the Google way of life... "Tryyyyyy it, you'll be one of uuuuuuss!" :computer2:

I actually used to never get spam there, but I have been recently. Not nearly as much as when I had a hotmail account, though, so I'm still pleased.

[gary]

Gmail actually fully lobotomized me into the Google way of life... "Tryyyyyy it, you'll be one of uuuuuuss!" :computer2:

I actually used to never get spam there, but I have been recently. Not nearly as much as when I had a hotmail account, though, so I'm still pleased.

The spammers know that there are millions of addresses that end with @gmail.com so they send out millions of random emals - called phishing - if you EVER reply they know you exist and the flood gates open...

[Kate B]

You can choose to hide your email address if you want.


As a college student that checks my facebook as often as I check my email, I definitely have to agree that it is a great networking social tool (much better than MySpace or Friendster).

As for the poking feature, nobody really knows what that is about. And you can hide your email address. But, I have never received spam via Facebook. The only people that can see your profile are people in your network. For example, since I am a student at Alma College, anybody registered in the Alma College network can see my profile, but nobody else (unless I have added and confirmed them as my friend - unlike MySpace). You can always change your privacy settings to limit the people that can see your profile.

Facebook has been really good about privacy and not letting people see your profile that shouldn't.


I suggesst you sign up, add your friends and check it out. But be careful, Facebook is VERY addicting!!


here's my profile (with photos from my semester in Spain):
http://alma.facebook.com/profile.php?id=69500389


:)

[Cynthia]

As a college student that checks my facebook as often as I check my email, I definitely have to agree that it is a great networking social tool (much better than MySpace or Friendster).

As for the poking feature, nobody really knows what that is about. And you can hide your email address. But, I have never received spam via Facebook. The only people that can see your profile are people in your network. For example, since I am a student at Alma College, anybody registered in the Alma College network can see my profile, but nobody else (unless I have added and confirmed them as my friend - unlike MySpace). You can always change your privacy settings to limit the people that can see your profile.

Facebook has been really good about privacy and not letting people see your profile that shouldn't.


I suggesst you sign up, add your friends and check it out. But be careful, Facebook is VERY addicting!!


here's my profile (with photos from my semester in Spain):
http://alma.facebook.com/profile.php?id=69500389


:)

I agree that Facebook is much better for privacy. You can also set different levels of privacy for different things on your profile and control which group of people can see what. Very very useful--especially if you're active in the Facebook groups, as you might irritate someone who might want to use your private information for some nefarious purpose. Before Facebook added all these different levels of privacy, I had irritated someone in a forum on there--by using logic to demonstrate why his argument was wrong--and he signed me up for a bunch of spam. Luckily, the staff is very responsive to your concerns and now you can hide your email addresses and contact info. :thumbs-up:

[Ben]

I have set up a group for people who love learning Spanish, the aptly/obviously named I LOVE learning Spanish (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2212988404)! group - let's see the power of facebook and see how many people we can get to join!

[alanmalarkey]

I have tried to register with facebook twice and each time it tells me there is an email on its way to complete registration but it doesn't arrive - any thoughts - I have checked the obvious reasons

[greytop]

I have tried to register with facebook twice and each time it tells me there is an email on its way to complete registration but it doesn't arrive - any thoughts - I have checked the obvious reasons
I've had the same problem. I thought it was because I'd insulted them in a previous post!>:D

[Ben]

How annoying of them! You could try setting up a new gmail test account and see if it gets through there...
Here is another new group by the way, the Notes from Spain group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2212892845)!

[alanmalarkey]

I have a yahoo account which I'll give a try but am a bit dubious - maybe you could report the problem for us Ben?

[Ben]

I think the best thing is to follow the instructions under their "Why haven't I been confirmed?" link on the facebook help page (http://www.facebook.com/help.php).

[alanmalarkey]

Well its not among my spams -and it didn't work on the Yahoo account either - but have you seen the way your email has been translated onto the NFS forum - it looks a bit nonsense to me!

I think its just a cynical plot to limit so called social networking to younger participants!!!!

[que]

I've never been one for the myspace sites etc. it always seems so much hastle. But after a friend who is on their travels abroad sent me a link to their bebo space, i got thinking. As ive moved away away from old friends and family, ive decided to join one of these groups so they can track my goings on. i hope to keep it updated. Its actually quite usable, the interface is easier than others. Not bad if you just want to set up albums for people to look at. And of course its free.

http://dcrebbin.bebo.com

[alanmalarkey]

Well - I need to eat my words..... como se dice en espanol? - Necesito comer mis palabaras??? 'cos I'm in and no longer the excluded one - I feel much better now!

[Tony]

Well now you are in Alan... what happens now?

I registered recently but cant really see what we are going to do either as a group or as individuals ..... am I missing something obvious? .....does anyone have any ideas?
:confused:

[Ben]

To be honest I'm not entirely sure what is going on in there either! In theory it is about making contact with like minded people, I think, but I think that happens much more in here. I wonder if there are any hardened social networkers out there that can tell us what it's really all about!

[alanmalarkey]

Maybe I should get my daughter to help since she is always on the case -

I think it is more about building up personal portfolios and attracting other group members within the facebook community which is, after all, a significant pool of users other than those that happen onto NFS. Essentially it enlarges the world. It is also a handy collective space for blog material, photos etc. and there is a lot of stuff from NFS that could be cross referenced. Possibly there are other spanish related groups that could be contacted to, again, enlarge the pool - sort of organically.

Anyway, this is my non-experienced understanding

Alan

[que]

I guess you uplaod pictures etc, and write small entries on your travels in and around spain, then other members of the group can track this. That was, they'll be many different people all sharing their different experiences of their time in and around spain?

[cubix]

Facebook calls itself a social networking site, but really it's just a way for friends to keep in touch. I really don't know anybody who has made friends from facebook, if I got a friend request from someone I didn't know or didn't know through a friend I would turn you down.

It is really just a way to keep up with your friends, post photos, the blog(though it's not used very much), join groups(you join them for fun, they don't mean much or have a huge purpose, that's why I am in 82 of them(i would prolly be in 200+ if I didn't go thru and quit some
Such groups as
-ADD no I a OH!!SWEET let's go climb that tree
-I went to a public school B*TCH
-I'm addicted to Nutella group

Facebook is a great thing for kids in school or university, but I couldn't imagine using it outside of that...

[alanmalarkey]

Mmmm ..... that rather confirmed my fears - probably a bit of a distraction from anything remotely interesting --- or am I being too harsh? The point being that people seem to make a reasonbly good job of keeping in touch here eithe via the forum or PMs. And one can also find a way to use the site to share a few photos via flikr or similar

[Ben]

I would never suggest that facebook was better than the forums (obviously ;) ) for finding people that are interested in Spain, but it's certainly interesting for a while... but maybe not too long... can't say I rush there every day to see what is going on...

[Tony]

Me too... not impressed.....I would rather rush to see what Marina's got cooking or what Ben is recording on podcasts or on pics...

Glad you guys have decided to stay with your winning formula by the way and looking out for your next podcast en español.. hasta luego

[Ben]

OK, time to try MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/notesfromspain)!

[landlady]

Well, registered at facebook, just to take a look at Ben & Marina's piccie, if truth be told - wasn't too impressed with it though - the facebook site - not their piccie http://www.world-of-smilies.com/html/images/smilies/love/11_4_127v_1_.gif. Also tried out my space for a while, but have just un-registered as I didn't like it. All I seemed to get were people in the music business trying to promote their music, (which was very good b.t.w.) some please fund me messages, and one young African lad, trying to 'be my friend' -God knows why as I'm old enough to be his mother, but the cynic in me could probably guess.
My favourite , and one I will stick with is still stumbleupon - great concept. Has anyone heard of the swicki search engine? I am trying it out on my site - seems to be a good idea, but early days yet.