Over the years I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Facebook: I love to hate it. As an early adopter, I always have felt that my interaction with the social network was very different to what other people were using it for, and the change in the platform has only made Read more
Translation into Spanish of this article. He estado viendo diferentes versiones de la siguiente declaración de privacidad en Facebook: “Hoy día X, haciendo pleno uso de mis facultades mentales y de mi titularidad de esta cuenta en Facebook, declaro, a quien pueda interesar y en particular al administrador de la Read more
Since yesterday, a blog post I wrote about a Facebook privacy hoax has been getting a surprisingly large number of hits, so I assumed that the hoax was making the rounds. It is, but this is a slightly different version. This one is even more laughable than the old one: Read more
I have been seeing different versions of the following legal-looking privacy statement on Facebook popping up through my timeline: “Facebook is now a publicly traded entity. Unless you state otherwise, anyone can infringe on your right to privacy once you post to this site. It is recommended that you and Read more
So, Facebook’s Timeline is upon us, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Well, in theory one can quit, but I’ve been there, done that. Still, I find Timeline so disturbing that I’m seriously considering giving up on FB again altogether. The thing about the new interface Read more
Last Sunday Fidel Gamboa, the lead singer of Malpaís, died at the painfully young age of 50. I wish I had known him enough to call him a friend, we had met several times and I admired his music, his sensibilities, and now I must carry the regret that I Read more
“Hell is other people” says Sartre. If that is so, then Facebook is a glimpse into hell. I’ve had a rocky relationship with FB (“it’s complicated”); after leaving Facebook for almost two years and then coming back, I have been very self-conscious about my use of the social network, and Read more
(via Andrea Glorioso) I received an interesting Facebook invitation, and it answered an important question that I have had about my FB timeline. I reproduce the message here: “Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your newsfeed from t…he same people lately? Have you also noticed that Read more
Back in May 2009, I publicly quit Facebook in one of the most read and linked articles that I have written in this blog (apparently it still comes up quite high when people search for that topic). There is no need to go into a lot of detail into the Read more
I have been feeling quite smug in the last few days. That is, more smug than usual, a certain kind of cultivated perennial smugness is required if you are an academic, but I digress. My disproportionate sense of self-satisfaction comes from the fact that I quit Facebook one year ago. Read more