I received many emails with regard to the Gmail “Tips & Tricks” I wrote about for the past couple of weeks. Thanks for the encouragement. I will write some more in the future but today something that could be much more important for Facebook.com users has come to my attention.
This is most likely according to the latest information on user statistics from the Pew Research Center, 2018 (caps count in this link: ). They state that about 68% of everyone in the US now say they are Facebook users. About 75% of those users access Facebook on a daily basis. The exception being those age 65 and older. (Wow, I missed that demographic by a year.) It is only outdone in popularity by YouTube.com which has nearly 75% of US adults, of which, 94% are in the 18 to 24 year old population.
But back to Facebook. This article is not a denouncement of Facebook itself but the nefarious other people using it to “get” us.
Have you recently received a message in Facebook or email starting with something similar to, “Hey friend, how are you doing? I haven’t heard from you in a while.” or “How is the family doing, we haven’t spoken in a while?”
Are you one of the unlucky many who have responded to your old friend? I did it with someone who is a friend but has never reached out to me. Just like you I thought, that is pretty nice and I would love to catch up with ole Martha. I replied with, “Hey Martha, great to hear from you. What’s going on in your life?” A couple of days passed and she messaged back, “Everything is good! Thanks for asking. But I want to introduce you to something…” At that point I knew this was not the Martha I knew. She would not reach out to me to help me find love, make money, new friends or whatever else they may say.
Before I go on this next trick and the one above, are not approved, condoned or wanted by Facebook. Do not fall for them!
The next gimmick, which is becoming quite prevalent now is another neat one. How about receiving an email from someone you know (this has only occurred via email as far as I can tell) saying you may want to click a link to become friends with them on Facebook. DO NOT click it or respond to the first one mentioned above. They are deceiving you by making you think that “Facebook” is trying to help you find old friends. In reality Facebook is trying to connect you with friends but only through the “Friend Request” button in the Facebook app itself.
I am not really sure where those emailed links will take you but I am pretty sure it is not a good place. I noticed that I have received four or five of them in past weeks. And all of them were already my friends in the system. Another clear message that they are not true.
Take care out there. Be careful, suspicious, aware and a bit of a cynic everywhere online.