5 Facts About Facebook
Updated: Aug. 06, 2019
When you say you’ll “message” someone, chances are you mean that you’ll communicate via Facebook. With more than one billion estimated users, the social media site has become a part of everyday life, but this “free” service does come with some strings.
You Can Check What Facebook Tracks
Want to know how much Facebook knows about you? Go to Account Settings in the Home menu and from the General menu, click “Download a copy of your Facebook data.”
Check Default Settings
You may not want to share your updates and other personal information with the whole world. But Facebook has kept the default setting as public. Go through the Privacy menu from the Account Settings page and review your settings to ensure you’re comfortable with the privacy levels.
Active Users Show Up in Feeds More Often
You may not see every post from your friends, and only a fraction of your friends may see all your updates. Facebook wants users to see posts that will keep them on the site the longest, so it moves up the posts that are the most liked, shared, and commented on.
Browsing Habits are Tracked
If you are signed in to Facebook, it tracks you while you surf the Internet. Anytime you visit a page that has a Facebook Like or Share button, Facebook tracks that information.
Big News Pops Up in Feeds More Often
Posting major life events such as your engagement, the birth of a baby, or your acceptance to grad school? Facebook will target those types of announcements by using something called natural language processing, and then Facebook makes sure they stick around in your friends’ news feeds until the next time they log on.
