Facebook is bleeding users, with external researchers estimating that the social network lost 2.8 million US users under 25 last year. Those losses have prompted Facebook to get more aggressive in its efforts to win users back – and the company has started using security prompts to encourage users to log into their accounts.
Sometimes, Facebook will send emails to users warning them that they’re having problems logging into their accounts, Bloomberg reported last month. “Just click the button below and we’ll log you in. If you weren’t trying to log in, let us know,” the emails reportedly read. Other times, Facebook will ask for a user’s phone number to set up two-factor authentication – then spam the number with notification texts.
Raise your hand if you’re surprised Facebook would do this.
Facebook is whining for the phone number for a myriad of reasons. Another one is that they can then use the phone number to couple you with your Whatsapp account – another service that Facebook owns. They will parse through your messages or contacts or whatever for advertising purposes.
FB already got flak for this after they lied to the EU about their intentions (upon acquiring Whatsapp) and later wanted to pair Whatsapp data with Facebook accounts. But of course the EU cannot do shit because they already allowed the deal to happen.
But I had no idea they would also spam my phone with useless crap, should I allow them to know my number. Initially my reasoning for not supplying FB with my phone number what purely of security issues: anyone could find my account just by entering my phone number into the search box at facebook.com. This is a big deal if my number is not available publicly and I don’t want people to be able to trace me based on the number I’m calling from.
Edited 2018-02-15 11:31 UTC
Here I think you’re completely wrong. There are countless company merges/absorptions that were later forced to split due to legal reasons (primary monopoly). So just give them time to have proof they violated one of the regulations and we’ll see what happens.
I deleted my number that was “Only for password recovery purposes” from Facebook the moment a coworker was showing me a caller-ID app on his Android phone that showed my Facebook name instead of my real name. Why anyone would create a Facebook account under their real name is beyond me…
So that, you know, the part of “social networking” that is about networking with the people you know could work / that your buddies would know who you are?
I live by the rule that if I want you to know who I am on Facebook, I will let you know.
It is like LinkedIn. A site which caters to networking business associates and is used by many as a recruiting tool. Yet so many people I know set it up with their work emails…. and then assume they can tey to connect to me through my work email… blows my mind.
If enough people on FB would do like you, the site would be unusuable / you’d have to remember large number of meaningless pseudonyms.
Edited 2018-02-18 23:55 UTC
zima,
My real name isn’t Alfman, and I’m guessing your real name isn’t zima either. Perhaps it’s strange that there’s a culture of using pseudonames online, but for me it’s always been to protest datamining and employers making work decisions based on what goes on in our personal lives. Having them watch over us through social media, as many of them do, is just way too invasive IMHO.
http://time.com/3894276/social-media-monitoring-work/
The things companies are doing is incredibly creepy, just this year it came out that some insurance companies are raising rates based on one’s email account:
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/910479/car-insurance-email…
Edited 2018-02-16 14:55 UTC
Actually, it’s closely derived from my real name, a nickname I had since the kindergarten
– just how people know me (which was kinda the point; not a random pseudonym), often more than by my name.
Anyway, you know well that OSNews and FB are somewhat different, the latter largely for connecting with people who we know from real life, where we function under real names…
zima,
Meh, irc, geocities, facebook, osnews, etc all serve(d) the same purpose for me anyways, main difference being the crowd & culture. Our mainstream platforms today are too corrupt. Sure it’s true you aren’t likely to encounter anyone here in real life, and maybe being a member of a larger group isn’t always a bad thing, but personally I’ve lost interest in mainstream platforms and prefer niche as we get to avoid the huge crowds
Different sites are different.
And aye, I think I sort of settled on OSNews largely because we’re a rather small community so one can follow virtually _everything_ 
…not so on, say, /.
The European Commission fined Facebook afterwards for a modest amount of €110 million. Truth is that this was always part of the deal. Everybody could tell that Facebook’s claim that “it would be unable to establish reliable automated matching between Facebook users’ accounts and WhatsApp users’ accounts” was utter bullshit back then.
If you asked any technically literate person they would smell it. However assholes like Oettinger earn most of their income and career by selective ignorance. You just need to find a good way to sell it to the public, and this is how it sounds:
The Commission has found that, contrary to Facebook’s statements in the 2014 merger review process, the technical possibility of automatically matching Facebook and WhatsApp users’ identities already existed in 2014, and that Facebook staff were aware of such a possibility.
Today’s decision has no impact on the Commission’s October 2014 decision to authorise the transaction under the EU Merger Regulation. Indeed, the clearance decision was based on a number of elements going beyond automated user matching.
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-17-1369_en.htm
Edited 2018-02-16 14:13 UTC
If FaceBook is bleeding users that must be a very tiny splinter in their one hand while they are getting massive infusions directly into the main artery:
“Worldwide, there are over 2.13 billion monthly active Facebook users for Q4 2017 (Facebook MAUs) which is a 14 percent increase year over year.”
(source: https://zephoria.com/top-15-valuable-facebook-statistics/)
Not commenting on the actual facts in the rest of this post which seem BAD
Not all users are worth the same. Young users with ample disposable income are worth a lot more to advertisers and hence to Facebook.
Its losing a lot of rich kids from the US. So, its really concerned.
Oh, there is no doubt that not all users are worth the same, but the only thing that we know for sure is that FaceBook grew by 300 million users last year. Everything else is just speculation by eMarketer which seems to be a pretty reputable company but the few facts that I could find out didn’t point to any reliable predictions. I cannot analyse in detail because all of their reports are payed-only, but I found this:
1) An eMarketer spokesperson sent along prior growth estimates from Q1. The firm originally expected Facebook’s 12- to 17-year-old audience to grow by 0.7 percent this year. It predicted Facebook’s 18- to 24-year-old user base would grow by 0.8 percent. (source https://www.recode.net/2017/8/21/16181348/teenagers-millennials-user…)
2) The study estimates that Facebook’s user base among 12- to 17-year-olds in the U.S. will shrink by 3.4 percent in 2017, the first time eMarketer has predicted a decline in Facebook usage for any age group. (same source)
3) The reality: The number of U.S. Facebook users in the 12- to 17-year-old demographic declined by 9.9 percent in 2017 (https://www.recode.net/2017/8/21/16181348/teenagers-millennials-user…)
So in the span of 6 months eMarketer changed their estimations from 1 percent growth to 10 percent decline. It is completely unclear to me if they have any real numbers or if they are just guessing.
Yeah, I can’t vouch for their research or methods. I can say that the young folk I volunteer with have a Facebook account, but rarely use it. Its mostly instagram/snapchat. However, as Instagram is facebook, I don’t think they have much concern.
The real drama for me, is what will happen to twitter. its not profitable, not growing userbase, but very popular with some important people, and very susceptible to abuse. I have no idea how long it will survive as it is as a stand alone company. I kind of feel like its yahoo five years ago.
Those emails even look like they’re fake. Come on, the old “you’re having trouble with your account, just click here” trick? Really? Couldn’t they have at least made the emails a little less… well, spammy-looking?
Hm, a mail from FB that I received a week ago:
Maybe just a coincidence, but I don’t recall ever getting a similar message (notable that supposedly someone tried logging in from “Linux”
). But then, I never was a very active FB user…
Edited 2018-02-15 23:32 UTC
Another email, yesterday…
If not a coincidence – maybe FB is getting desperate
, maybe I’ll finally log in… (haven’t done so in months at least)
Edited 2018-02-19 00:13 UTC
i am surprised they would do this, as this will just annoy some people. How is that going to bring people back?
Even more odd thing is, that they randomly lock down people’s accounts and demand to send a face photo for verification.
You cannot skip this step, and if you don’t you have no access to your account.
I only check my FB maybe once a month (sometimes less) and the very second I get a text from them about anything that isn’t to do with 2FA I will erase my account.
In fact I am probably going to do just that later in the year anyway once everyone learns it’s a bad way to contact me.
It’s a horribly toxic environment and I can’t imagine what I was thinking of when I signed up.
I didn’t realise this was a thing. Most services i’ve signed up for use my old yahoo email address, and i’m lucky if i check that even once a month
Facebook needs to die. I recently used an online hookup service to meet a few girls. Now most of these women were hiding their real identities for personal safety reasons (meeting random men on the internet is not exactly safe). Anyway, as soon as they sent me their mobile numbers Facebook would de-mask their account/contact information, and link their profiles in messenger, and I could have easily gotten real names, and other information about their private lives. Facebook is actually becoming dangerous for people.
Edited 2018-02-17 05:22 UTC
Becoming? Ha! Wrong tense.
Time to send Facebook the way of MySpace
https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-security/fixing-sms-notifica…
Now, now… Pointing out that it was a bug has no place in an unreasonable hatefest on the internet.
Which is why I added a questionmark
The FaceBook explanation at least makes more sense than the “they are bleeding users so they are going to try to bond those users by annoying them with very technical questions”. So although I cannot be sure about FaceBooks explanation I will give them the benefit of the doubt