Friday, December 11, 2009

Can I know who’s viewing my FB profile?

FB Answer: (Merely browsing won't track you down (unless you consent to install an app that may track your moves). Good news for stalkers???)
Facebook currently does not provide an application that allows users to track profile views or statistics on the views of any specific user content. Third party developers, however, may offer applications that provide some of this functionality. Please keep a few things in mind for these applications:

Applications CANNOT track profile visits for users who simply go to another person's profile; Facebook has made this technically impossible.

In order to be tracked by an application, you will need to specifically agree to allow the application to track your actions.

Adding an application that provides this functionality is purely optional. If you do not want to participate, please do not add the application to your account.

Apparently, if you develop a such FB application to track users who visits your profile, it's a violation of terms.

I have seen claims about being able to track visitors your profile in FB, they simply seem to be incorrect. I have also seen claims about this ability in other social networks, but I don't know the truth behind such claims.

A question for social networks in general:
Is it good or bad for FB to provide the functionality to see profile stats to profile owners? pros/cons for FB? pros/cons for users (owner, viewers)? [IMO, this is a multi-faceted question; there is no definitive answer - need to consider many different aspects; and I am not in a position nor knowledgeable enough to answer this question.]
I, as a user, personally prefer if FB provides at least some anonymous statistics.

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