Hover Over My Name: New Hoax Spin Added to Viral Facebook Status

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Just when I think this one will die, it comes back even stronger…

Back on September 23 (yes, more than three months ago), I first wrote a post called Facebook Scare: Uncheck Comments and Likes about a viral Facebook status that was circulating. Long story short, it’s when friends ask you to hover over their name and uncheck comments and likes. They believed this would help your privacy or some other complete nonsense (see the blog post).

Today, I am again seeing spikes to that blog post. I ran a Facebook search of “hover over my name” and it is absolutely out of hand. When I run the search, there are 15 public posts over a six minute span. That’s public posts only.

Originally, this seemed to be simply a well-intentioned (though ill-informed) attempt to help friends and right a wrong. But as it’s evolved, it has taken on the flavor of a hoax. The new copy and paste is as follows:

With the new ‘FB timeline’ on its way this week for EVERYONE…please do both of us a favour: Hover over my name above. In a few seconds you’ll see a box that says “Subscribed.” Hover over that, then go to “Comments and Likes” and unclick it. That will stop my posts and yours to me from showing up on the side bar for everyone to see, but MOST IMPORTANTLY it LIMITS HACKERS from invading our profiles. If you re-post this I will do the same for you. You’ll know I’ve acknowledged you because if you tell me that you’ve done it I’ll ‘like’ it. Thanks!

A couple of the tell-tale signs of a hoax (as I outline in this post) are now evident:

USE OF CAPS
Attempt to scare you with completely untrue statement about protecting you from hackers
Of course… Asking you to re-post

Let’s be clear about what happens when I hover over your name and uncheck comments and likes. I no longer see your comments and likes. Period.

What doesn’t it do? It does not stop my posts (comments and likes) from showing in your newsfeed, though this status promises that. I have no idea how they think it would limit hackers from invading your profile. It is completely individual. It only stops one person from seeing the comments and likes of one person. That’s it.

And this brings us back to the absurdity of the post. If you are worried about people you don’t care about seeing your comments and likes, who is going to respond to this and hide that content? Maybe a handful. And what kinds of friends will they be? Your closest friends. The ones who actually care about your comments and likes (and the ones you wouldn’t mind seeing them).

But maybe your closest friends are hackers. In that case, carry on. You did well.

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By Jon Loomer on December 28, 2011 / Facebook, Facebook Privacy, General / 77 Comments

Tags: Facebook, Facebook Privacy

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Marsha Linderman Ransom

The thing is, this particular version asks you to let them know when you did the unclicking so they can unclick you – thus no contact left in those areas either way. Bleeeah!
http://www.facebook.com/vikki.hamann Vikki Hamann

HOW CAN I GET THE SUBSCRIBE BUTTON BACK IF I HAVE UNCLICKED IT

Anonymous

Vikki — It never went anywhere. Just do exactly what you did in the first place to uncheck those boxes. Hover over that person’s name and then recheck the boxes to see their comments and likes.

Hope this helps and thanks for reading!
Anonymous

Vikki — It never went anywhere. Just do exactly what you did in the first place to uncheck those boxes. Hover over that person’s name and then recheck the boxes to see their comments and likes.

Hope this helps and thanks for reading!

Theattan

oh my GOD! Who really cares!? Why do we keep posting about stupid things that anyone with an IQ of 12 or above should know are untrue anyway?? Let this crap die. Don’t keep giving it power. Just move on. Those that are harmed by this deserve what they get. Remember, you can’t fix stupid.

Dave

Good God, not everyone has geniuses for friends like you obviously do. And if you really don’t care as much as you claim, why bother commenting? You added nothing of value to the conversation, other than insult people who might find this information valuable. Why not just let the rest of us with IQ’s below 12 research the info our friends might post on their pages and determine whether or not said information is valid or not. Oh, and hey, have a Happy New Year!

Will Feral

It’s true. I’m pretty sure I have friends with IQs below 12. I must, because I’m positive I’ve seen the “hover over my name” hoax posted by just about every single one of them. And when I posted a link to the article above, not a single one of them commented (!). Personally, I think they’ve already followed the instructions, except that they’ve chosen “all updates” or “unsubscribe” so nothing I write shows up in their news feeds. Geez, what kinds of friends are they, anyway? I think I’ll go post some insults regarding their intelligence. ;-)

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Richardhubbard3

Well, if they’d leave FB alone – and more importantly ensure complete and utter privacy for all users – we wouldn’t have to think about unchecking this or that! It’s not our fault, it’s the idiots that run FB keeping on changing things and frightening folks!

Amie

‘the idiots that run FB’ ??!?! very harsh dont you think? you are clearly a member of fb and should be grateful for this free service that has been provided to you.

Munchma Cuchi

I agree that certainly was a harsh thing to say about the people running fb, However, just an FYI, fb is by no means “free”. The only thing that is “free” is the way we hand over our information to anyone willing to pay fb for it. The information that we simply give away, with no questions asked, to fb, is worth billions to marketers. $$$$$ for fb. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for the people trying to sell us stuff. But hey, we get the use of a website : /

Yes

Geez then GTFO of FB. It is free and you know it. Do you pay everytime you log in? Pfft.

Terrence Gladstone

A little bit of my soul dies each time I log on…so yes, I do pay every time I log in.

Bassman

Well, as a marketing professional I’ll acknowledge the collective info on facebook has value (not billions, not even millions, but value). But your or my individual info – no significance.

It’s kind of like in the 1980′s when it became fashionable to wear t-shirts with company logos (Coke, Budweiser, etc.) on them. Some people resisted, the thinking being I’m not advertising your product on my body for free. Bud wants me to model their logo, pay me. Well, their prerogative, but Bud and Coke had plenty of people willing to model it for free, they didn’t need the resistors (and if they had had to pay everyone who did, it would have no longer been a sound marketing investment).

If marketers had to pay each of us for the individual info that comes together to have some value for them, they’d just do without. The value of the data would be far exceeded by the costs of the data.

Guest

The collective info on Facebook (and the marketing generated from it) was worth 1 billion dollars profit in 2011. Feb 1/2012 news release.

Jamie

There is nothing free about facebook.

Anonymous

The idea that complete and utter privacy exists is ridiculous.

Becky Leigh

I just don’t understand why there is even a need for timeline anyway, why fix whats not broken, most of the people i have talked to are not looking forward to it and we all feel that there should be an opt out option!!

Amie

there is an opt out option Becky…

Kat

How do you get rid of that scrolling ticker in the right hand corner, I’d love to know because it’s ANNOYING! I don’t need to know what all of my friends say on all of their other friends’ timelines. I have heard you can get rid of it, but it goes against Facebook’s term of service and you will lose your page for getting rid of it. However….if there is a LEGITIMATE way to get rid of it…

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002324462597 Nozza Doreen

you dont loose your page if you get rid of the ticker.. go to google and search for the “remove facebook ticker extension” and depending if you are using google chrome or firefox you get the extension.. and you cant loose you page just for getting rid of the ticker.. thats silly
Miss415

All those add-ons/ extentions do though that Nozza mentions below are make it so you cannot see friends activity. All your friends still see your activity unless they too have the add-on

Kristin Hocker

Well, I’m one of the foolish who fell for this hoax. In my defense I’ve had my email account hacked which just sucks when it happens because you have very little control and don’t know who has your information. So, for those, like me, who hit the panic button, thanks for the clarification. I do admittedly feel foolish, but of all the bandwagons to jump on, if that’s the worst, then I think I’ll live to see another day.
Traci

So much stuff gets posted on FB that is so obviously fake. I have never understood why people simply copy and paste shite, without checking their facts out. Some fb users would be so freaked by some stuff, that people owe it to their fb “friends” to check before posting. Xx

Duane

Because critical examination and independent thought have long been declared Politically Incorrect. That’s why.

Kandytwist

I can’t quite understand why you’d deliberately join a site to broadcast your thoughts and news and then become hysterical at the thought of other people reading those posts………..? Fb has pretty good privacy settings – you can customize who sees your content down to individual people and it’s possible to completely block some people and appear invisible. Why not just use those settings?

Duane

You’re being logical. Stop it. Stop it immediately.

Rymanda28

ha ha the best laugh I’ve had all day and exactly!

http://twitter.com/gabearnold Gabe Arnold

Shutup Kandytwist! ;) I agree with Duane, you are being too logical! Here was my comment to a friend after he posted this:

If you do actually want to have your Facebook remain “totally private” go to Kinkos, copy your face on one of the machines, paste it to a “book” of your choosing, and then delete your Facebook.com account. Place your new “Facebook” somewhere safe in your house, like in the bathroom, or under the kitchen sink. You have a profile on the internet, some things will never be private again. They told you that in the terms and conditions here, that you are responsible to read before signing up. It’s not your friends fault or my fault if you didn’t. http://www.facebook.com/legal/terms
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1022164034 Danie De Waal

It is not so much as me not wanting anyone to see what I write, it is simply me not wanting my friends being placed at risk (At least they thought they were at risk).

Personally I do not mind friends reading my posts, since they know me intimately. I do however know that many of my clients might be offended at my opinion on religion and sex, so I would prefer that ONLY friends see it. If there is any possibility that EVERYONE can see my posts, then i will rather err on the side of caution.

Kandytwist, some of us are simply not as clued up on what Facebook can, and cannot do. This is why a site like this is so helpful. (I just found it).

Looney2nz

I think this was about dealing with our comments showing up in the stream on the right side of their (non-timeline) UI.
Sunflowerz43

why have a fb profile if you want privacy lol!!!!

Gegg

Well maybe people want SOME privacy! Y’know, like having windows but also having curtains. Facebook has put the curtains on the outside so anyone can come along and open them to have a look in. Well, kind of.

helen

how do i undo if i already posted this link x ty

Angel

If you post this for your friends then obviously your telling them you dont trust them. Really they could see all that stuff before, i just think its ignorant. If you dont want someone to see what you post and are scared of what they say maybe they shouldnt be your friend or maybe you shouldnt post it. Simple :)
Drop of Snow

Answering Kandytwist: Because it didn’t at least appear to broadcast everything to everyone before the ticker feed was introduced. Used to be that if I made a comment on one person’s status, that person and their subscribed friends would see it – kinda like being at one table at a pub. Now it’s like there’s a speaker at another table broadcasting comments from the first table to people who aren’t part of the original conversation. Kinda annoying – but of course that doesn’t necesarily make it a privacy or hacking issue, just puts me off using facebook. Which doesn’t seem like a great plan for them.

Re the original blog post: Your search of FB using the phrase “hover over my name” stats are gonna include folks like me who don’t think it’s a privacy or hacking issue, but do find it annoying that I can’t a) globally edit my settings to exclude likes and comments from the ticker and, more pertinently, b) edit my own settings to exclude myself / my comments and likes from other people’s ticker (as far as I know). It’s just irritating, nothing more. But enough that finally I put a status update politely telling people my preference – and including the magic 4 words… I promise I didn’t use caps, nor refer to hacking!

Geggus

This is the main problem at the moment I think. I can see photos etc from people I’m not friends with if a friend comments upon them. Seems there is no way of stopping this. And everyone can read what I say to someone they don’t know. Firstly, why would people want to do this (apart from the stalker types!) and secondly, surely it should be ME that decides what people can and cannot see. As it stands, a photo can now be seen by friends of friends if a friend comments- so making my photos viewable to friends only in the preferences has no effect anymore. By all means have these features, some people seem to like it, but make it possible to opt-out. It’s quite simple, WE should control what others see.

Anonymous

This is not true, Geggus. Let me explain…

If you set your photos to Friends of Friends and your friend comments on such a photo, their friends (who are not your friends) will see that comment and photo.

Additionally, if your friend is tagged in a photo by someone you do not know, your friend’s tagging privacy comes into play. If they let all friends see photos they are tagged in, you will be able to see those photos even if the person who posted them is not your friend. Something to consider when you tag people.

Whenever you see a photo of someone you don’t know, I encourage you to check two things: 1) is privacy set to Friends of Friends or Public? and 2) Was your friend tagged in that photo?

I’ve kept a very close eye on this due to claims like yours. Every time I am able to verify that photos I see are shown appropriately. It all comes down to privacy settings.

Thanks for your reading!

Bflood1970

My photos and comments are friends only however, one of my friends shared my photo album with someone who is not a friend. I had to delete the album and create a new one cause everytime I uploaded a mobile photo it appeared on the other persons wall. Have they changed the share feature? I didnt even know it was shared until I checked the persons wall for a comment I was told was there about me.

http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

Thanks for the heads up on this. I think I’m able to recreate, though I didn’t go through the entire process of sharing the album because I don’t want to breach someone’s privacy. It is odd that I can’t share their individual photos, but it looks like I can share the album. What is in the album at this point when it’s shared, I don’t know.

But I’ve contacted Facebook, and you should do the same. It definitely sounds like a bug.

Kay Blenard

Sadly, I think the viral spread of this particular message isn’t just due to lack of understanding of how FB works. I know a HUGE number of people who will copy and paste anything that contains the words IMPORTANT or SECURITY. If I could be bothered I’d start one myself for a giggle just to see how far it’d travel, probably containing the appropriate number of misspellings and grammatical errors. Unfortunately, my news feed is now full of this bloomin’ message and it’s now at the stage where I’m losing interest in people’s genuine updates. I have all my posts defaulted to ‘friends’ only, people I don’t want seeing any of my FB activity are blocked and my friends are just that – friends. If I want to keep something private, I don’t post it, end of story. FB can be a free, fun and useful tool if everything is kept in perspective and it’s viewed as just that.

Anonymous

Thanks for the comment, Kay. I think you’d like this post. We share a common bond around hoaxes!

6 Steps to a Good Facebook Hoax
http://www.jonloomer.com/2011/09/26/6-steps-to-good-facebook-hoax/

http://twitter.com/gabearnold Gabe Arnold

Please God, let us all remember to actually read things like terms and conditions, and those little “annoying” pop ups that Facebook gives us when they update the interface or announce things like security. If stopping a hacker was this easy, there wouldn’t be any hackers left in the world.

I’m glad you took the time to write this post, unfortunately, not enough people will see it or read about it. Someone get this on Mashable please..

Anonymous

Thanks, Gabe!

http://twitter.com/bryanfarrell_uk Bryan Farrell

do people gain from these or is it just a case of sitting in their basement giggling at seeing their statements going viral?
http://twitter.com/failuretothink Kevin

With the new ‘FB timeline’ on its way this week for EVERYONE…please do both of us a favour: Hover over your computer . In a few seconds you’ll see a box that says “You’re stupid.” Hover over that, then go to “Comments and Likes” and punch your monitor has hard as you can. That will stop my posts and yours to me from showing up on the side bar for everyone to see, but MOST IMPORTANTLY it LIMITS HACKERS from invading our dreams . If you re-post this I will do the same and buy you a burrito. You’ll know I’ve acknowledged you because I have ESP and can invade your mind! Thanks!

http://www.facebook.com/bbd1st Kailani Silva

hahahahahaha…….amen brother!

Hugh Williams

With the new FB timeline on its way this week for EVERYONE, please do both of us a favor. Hover over the arrow next to home. In a few seconds you’ll see a box that says : “account settings”. Hover over that, then go to “security” and click it. Then go to “Deactivated your account” and select “I don’t understand how to use Facebook.” as the reason. That will stop all posts from showing up on the bar on the side for everyone to see, but most importantly it limits hackers from invading your profile. If you re-post this I will do the same for you. You’ll know I’ve acknowledged you because if you tell me that you’ve done it I’ll laugh at you.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1410833964 Theresa Kjær

ahahahaa LOVE the ending comment

and really need to say this.. people dont research what they post they just do it sigh
http://twitter.com/welshwonder Ty Francis

Great post! I truly believe a unicorn dies every time some idiot posts one of these!

Anonymous

Hah! Thanks, Ty. If a unicorn doesn’t die, I know I at least die a little inside every time it happens. Thanks for reading!

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Radyor

baaaaa-I mean, it’s gotta be real, right?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1022164034 Danie De Waal

Thank you for the information. I fell for this CRAP, and I spread it to my friends.
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Garry Norton

Ok so I fell for it.
So what do I have to do to return things to as they were?

http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

It’s okay, Garry, you have lots of company.

What you do now depends on how many people you did this for. If you know who you hovered/unchecked comments and likes for (and it was only a handful of people), you just go back to their profiles (or wherever you see them on Facebook), hover over their names and do what you did before — this time CHECKING comments and likes.

If you did it for lots of people and you don’t remember who they were, this is more difficult. You’ll need to go to your Friends page and one-by-one make sure the friends you care about have comments and likes checked.

No easy solution in that case, unfortunately.

Divebum1959

My guess is this hoax is promulgated by G+. ;)
AmandinhaBlue

I adapted the post for my own ends and didn’t ask anyone to repost it. What I thought would happen was it would stop my comments and likes ending up in the ticker on the left. I did a little experiment with the ticker and, when it told me that one of my friends had commented on or ‘liked’ someone else’s post (someone who is a complete stranger to me and not on my friends list) I was able to click on that stranger’s post and see the entire thread.
This, to me, is unacceptable as there are people who can obviously view my threads through the ‘ticker’ that I don’t want knowing anything about me.
I saw the above activity of asking my friends to unclick my ‘comments and likes’ as the only way I could think of to stop them showing up in the ticker, and hence leave a door ajar for others. I think this is what the original poster may have meant by ‘hackers’.
If you, or anyone, has a better way to stop this I’d gladly try that.

http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

Thanks for reading and commenting!

What you’re seeing is exactly why people think there is a problem. You see posts by others you don’t know when:

1) Your friend comments on a public post;
2) Your friend comments on a friends of friends post;
3) Your friend is tagged in a post or photo and then they comment;
4) Someone you don’t know posts on your friend’s wall/Timeline and your friend replies.

Ticker does not supersede privacy. Nothing about your privacy has changed. If you make your posts friends only, non-friends aren’t suddenly able to see those posts in their Tickers.

There are two things you need to do:

1) Make sure all of your posts are Friends only, if that’s what you want as your audience;
2) Be conscious of the privacy setting of content of friends when you comment.

If you comment on your friend’s post, you are subject to their privacy settings. It could be friends only (which includes people who aren’t your friends). It could be friends of friends. It could be public. Personally, I’d take the approach of commenting on friends’ posts as if it’s all public because those friends can decide to make that content public whenever they want.

Hope this helps.

AmandinhaBlue

Thanks for your reply, Jon.
You’ve cleared some things up, i.e. the reason I might be able to access a stranger’s thread through one of my friends is because that stranger’s privacy settings are set to public. Is that right? Or does it depend on the privacy of my friend whether I see their friend’s threads on the ticker? I’m sorry if I’m being thick!
If the first example is correct then I can presume that my threads can only be seen on the ticker by my friends (as ‘friends only’ is my privacy setting.) and their friends will only see that my friend has commented but can’t see the thread…???
…I’m getting dizzy ;)

http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

That’s correct! Whether you see your friend’s comments is dependent on THEIR friend’s privacy settings. You can’t control privacy of your own comments on other people’s posts. When you think about it, it makes sense. When you post a status update and five people from five different groups comment, they can all see each other’s comments. If they couldn’t, there would be no context.

So the best rule of thumb is to control what you can control, but also be careful of what you comment on the posts of others. That doesn’t mean don’t do it, just remember that who sees those comments is within the control of your friend. And they have friends who are not your friends, so it doesn’t really even matter whether it’s public or not.

Hope this helps!

AmandinhaBlue

I must be thick or, at the very least I’m not explaining myself properly! :(
I have always understood the above, i.e. if I comment on a friend’s post then other commenters can see… no problem there.
My problem is not when I make a comment on someone’s post, but when a friend makes a comment on my wall post, their friends are able to see my thread by hovering on their ticker…
For example, I was curious about the ticker and hovered on a ticker post that said ‘Anna commented on X’s post’. I know Anna, but not X, yet I was able to hover on the ticker post and up popped X’s entire thread… So does X have privacy settings to public or does he think that only his friends can see his post? Is X’s post visible to me on my ticker simply because my friend Anna has set her privacy settings to ‘something-or-other’?
It’s very hard to know whether this is happening.
http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

It’s all based on privacy settings, and it’s very easy to check that. Your wall, for example, is under your control. But your wall is kinda like one post you made that people you specify can comment on. So let’s say any of your friends can see your wall. That means that any of your friends can see posts made by your other friends who aren’t their friends.

Additionally, whenever you see “Anna commented on wall post by X” you are alerted because 1) Anna is your friend, and 2) It was a wall post on HER wall, and you fall within her privacy settings for her wall. So the privacy settings have nothing to do with X, but with Anna. You can always see any posts made by Anna’s friends on her wall (assuming you fall within her wall’s privacy settings).
AmandinhaBlue

Thanks, Jon, for your detailed reply and it’s very comprehensible… however, Anna made the comment on X’s wall post, not the other way around. X didn’t write on Anna’s wall… So, according to what you have said above, and to what I understood to be true, I shouldn’t have access to his thread…THIS is the problem for me…
http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

Well, I don’t believe seeing a non-friend comment on a non-friend post on your friend’s wall would typically show up in your Ticker… A couple of things, though.

1) If Anna set her wall to Friends, you’d see that on her wall regardless.
2) If she set to public or possibly friends of friends, you may.
3) If Anna was tagged in that wall post, this may also change the rules regarding what you see in your Ticker.

In the end, it’s possible I misunderstand the rules of what shows up in the Ticker in regards to a wall post. The reason I’m not concerned about that is that either way, you should be seeing this content if you went to Anna’s wall.
AmandinhaBlue

Sorry to keep on, Jon, but we’re not on the same page :( Anna made a comment on one of her friend’s walls, who is a stranger to me ‘X’ (not her own wall)… so what may have happened is that X has set his wall to ‘friends of friends’.
Maybe you could try it out yourself and see if it happens on your own ticker. Look out for a friend of yours who has commented on ‘X’s wall post, then hover over it and see if you are able to view that stranger’s thread… I appreciate all the time you’ve spent trying to clarify this for me. :)
http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

It’s always difficult to explain in hypotheticals!

Yes, if Anna wrote on someone’s wall who has their privacy set to Friends of Friends, then you would see it.

My suggestion would be to look for instances when you shouldn’t see it. There will always be an icon there indicating whether the privacy setting is Friends, Friends of Friends, Public or Custom.
AmandinhaBlue

Cheers, Jon… :)
http://jonloomer.com/blog Jon Loomer

Let me put it another way, because I know it’s confusing. Let’s talk about your own wall/Timeline. You set the privacy of your wall to Friends Only.

Your friend Anna posts on it. When Anna posts on your wall, the only people who see that in their Tickers are people who are both your friends and Anna’s friends. Meanwhile, any of your friends (who aren’t Anna’s friends) can see that on your wall, but it just won’t be in their Ticker.

Once you comment on Anna’s post, all of your friends (whether they are friends of Anna or not) will see that in their Tickers because YOU wrote it and it’s on a piece of content that is within your control that you’ve already specified they can see (Friends Only).

In other words, non-friends will never see posts on your wall, whether on the wall or in the Ticker, if you set it to Friends Only.

Make more sense?

Jayne

Hover over this comment for a couple of hours and you’ll be as bored as really bored thing.
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Hover Over My Name: New Hoax Spin Added to Viral Facebook Status

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