Facebook has introduced its latest feature, known as “Friendship Pages.” The idea was developed by Facebook engineer, Wayne Kao. Kao’s announcement on Facebook’s blog states, “For those of us who have worked on it, the best part is the human side of these pages. They can bring back memories, conversations and times spent together.” Speculators believe that Facebook is trying to remind users of what the site was originally intended for. While applications and advertising may be more prevalent on the site than ever before, its original purpose was to be a social networking site.
The pages can be accessed via a link beneath a friend’s profile picture, and are essentially a compilation of any exchanges that have occurred between two friends. They include photos that the friends are tagged in together, events that the two friends have attended, wall post and comment exchanges between the two, as well as mutual friends.
Many people are wary of Friendship Pages because of privacy concerns. One Facebook user commented on Kao’s announcement of Friendship Pages saying, “Thanks, Mark Zuckerburg, for once again putting the magnifying glass on our private information without our permission and without an opt-out option. All for your personal gain, of course. You truly are the enemy of the people.”
The truth is that if your privacy settings are set correctly, Friendship Pages are only viewable by your friends, who by the way, already have access to all of the interactions you may have. Kao continued in his post “You’ll be able to see a friendship page if you are friends with one of the people and have permission to view both people’s profiles.”
If Facebook does not provide an option to opt out of Friendship Pages, and you are unwilling to let people see, in depth, your virtual relationships with others, there is a simple solution. By changing your privacy settings to the most secure options, you can ensure that only your friends have access to your information. If you still have concerns, you can individually block users that you especially do not want to have access.
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