Facebook Connection for GW Forum Users

[dipsofjazz]

I hate this idea. There is enough clutter on my FB page as it is, and I certainly don't want my posts from here to be showing up there.

[aretood2]

Hi all,

The software we use for GateWorld Forum (vBulletin) has recently added a set of tools allowing forums to connect to Facebook. I'm interested to know what our regulars here think of turning it on and seeing how it ticks.

Features:

• You can post to your Facebook wall/timeline whenever you start a new thread;
• You can post to your Facebook wall/timeline whenever you reply to a thread;
• Adds a Facebook 'Like' button to all threads

Note that having threads and replies posted on your FB wall is not automated -- you merely have the option to do so.

New members are also auto-added to the GW Facebook group.

This is the free Facebook connection feature that comes with vBulletin, so it's just the basics. There's also a paid Facebook add-on that does a bunch more.

Thoughts?

I enjoy compartmentalizing aspects of my life too much to agree to support this. Would this seek out my FB account via my email or just make an "aretood2" account?

[Blencathra]

I'm another who hates this idea. I really don't want my posts or part of my posts ending up on FB.

Also if I was joining as a new member and it wanted to add me to Facebook GW Group automatically then I just wouldn't join. I'd find another Forum.

[fems]

If I wanted to connect my FB and GW accounts I would have added it to my sig/profile and would use my full name, address and phone number here.

So, no thank you.

[Naonak]

Note that having threads and replies posted on your FB wall is not automated -- you merely have the option to do so.

Lot of people don't really seem to have paid attention to this part.

[Blencathra]

Lot of people don't really seem to have paid attention to this part.

It's the part about threads that concerns me. I can disable my replies, but what if a thread in which I've posted goes on someones Facebook wall? Would it take my posts out or leave them? I prefer to keep my FB and GW identities completely and totally separate.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Lot of people don't really seem to have paid attention to this part.

I did. However...

It's the part about threads that concerns me. I can disable my replies, but what if a thread in which I've posted goes on someones Facebook wall? Would it take my posts out or leave them? I prefer to keep my FB and GW identities completely and totally separate.

The above is basically what I wonder about too.

[bailey1ak]

Lot of people don't really seem to have paid attention to this part.

Like Blen and SF_and_Coffee, I did see that part, but I also don't want part of my posts showing up on Facebook because they were in a quoted post of someone who does opt to use this FB option.

I do however like the idea of GW benefiting from the added publicity that FB could bring. So I'd be okay with it if it was restrictive enough that when I choose no, that it also strips out anything that might be quoted from a post of mine.

I do like the idea of people being able to like or link to their FB some of the articles and such from GW and maybe particular threads that deal with episode reviews of sci-fi shows, again as long as my posts (and others who don't wish for this option) can be excluded.

[maneth]

Yeah, exactly. The problem is just if such an exclusion can be implemented. Why not limit the liking on FB feature to the main news site? That should bring the publicity without the annoyance.

As I said, I don't mind links on FB to threads that contain my posts, but I do object to them being posted directly on someone else's wall.

[SF_and_Coffee]

Like Blen and SF_and_Coffee, I did see that part, but I also don't want part of my posts showing up on Facebook because they were in a quoted post of someone who does opt to use this FB option.

I do however like the idea of GW benefiting from the added publicity that FB could bring. So I'd be okay with it if it was restrictive enough that when I choose no, that it also strips out anything that might be quoted from a post of mine.

I do like the idea of people being able to like or link to their FB some of the articles and such from GW and maybe particular threads that deal with episode reviews of sci-fi shows, again as long as my posts (and others who don't wish for this option) can be excluded.

Right now, people already CAN link to articles and threads on GW simply by making a status update and including the URL for that item. So the need for a dedicated FB feature is, I think, murky at best and could potentially open up security and privacy issues.

Good grief, I just realized how much I'm starting to sound like the online security experts who spoke at a recent CIO conference I worked...

[dragongirl]

I would not use it at all! What I say on GW is for the people I am talking to on GW not on FB and since many of my friends on FB are also on GW it just means that they are getting the same info twice.

[Sapphire_Jade]

I am on facebook a lot, but honestly I wouldn't want to mix GW and FB.. A share or like button for the articles on the home page would be nice, but to share what we are talking about here is just pointless.. for one most of my fb friends are either on here or don't care for scifi and would be bugged by me constantly sharing posts here.. I say focus on the main site let us be able to share that stuff to get word of the site out there and let the site speak for it self.. but in my opinion there is no point to sharing posts..

[Rocket_Scientist]

I'm with everyone else on this...no FB! I like GW in part because of its anonymity. Being an amateur hobby computer scientist/crypto-analyzer has taught me one thing first and foremost: NOTHING on the internet is safe. If we link GW and FB, it seems logical to me that unsavory characters lurking on GW (not that there are any, but still...) would be able to backwards engineer the FB connection and access all FB info of users on both GW and FB. While the chances of this are probably slim, I personally don't like the idea that that would even be a remote possibility.

I prefer to keep ALL my accounts as separate and unequal as possible, simply for data security. If I'm being unnecessarily paranoid, feel free to yell at me, but the internet is a scary place.

In summary, I don't like the idea of linking with FB.

[Darren]

As I said, I don't mind links on FB to threads that contain my posts, but I do object to them being posted directly on someone else's wall.

This is all we are talking about. The contents of a thread do not get copy-pasted onto Facebook. Your posts don't get copied and publicized if someone else from the thread does it. Rather, a link to the GW thread is posted -- just like if someone manually copy-pasted it as a status update. This is simply a tool to invite members to do that, and to make it one-click easy.

(We already do this automatically through the GateWorld FB group for all GW news headlines.)

I do understand the privacy concerns, and the desire to keep your FB life separate from your GW life. I'm totally the same way -- I use FB for family and friends exclusively and don't post Stargate-related stuff at all. But in many of the reactions to the idea posted here so far, I see a lack of understanding of what this is and what it would (and would not) do. It's not going to expose your GW life to your FB friends if you don't choose to 'Like' or to post a GW thread. It's not going to allow other members to repost the content of your GW posts on their FB wall. All it does is enables people to more quickly and easy promote GW threads to their FB friends if they want to.

[Nolamom]

as I'm understanding it, Darren, it would be akin to one-click linking "magazine" articles from other sites? Providing the title of the thread and perhaps the first post (which generally includes the subject matter) but to actually READ the post one would have to follow the link off of FB and onto GW?