Facebook Knows Who You're Sleeping With - and A Lot of Other Stuff As Well

What data conveys when massaged and evaluated that offers is far more powerful than its mere existence.

Facebook has a lot of information about all of its 'friends,' most of which has been freely, even eagerly provided by them. Facebook's future as a profit-making enterprise rests primarily on its ability to convert that information into knowledge which it can then sell to advertisers or anyone else willing to pay for it.

There is nothing necessarily illegal or immoral about any of this. Some may find it intrusive. Or presumptuous. Or even annoying. But though it continues to press the bounds of good taste, good governance and good customer relations, it has retreated, albeit slowly and sometimes incompletely, when it has been confronted about such actions.

So the fact that Facebook can project about your behavior or anyone else's with a high degree of accuracy is to be expected. Your network of Facebook friends reveals a lot about you, because of what they, in turn, have revealed about themselves, all of which can be converted into knowledge and sometimes, even wisdom. The interesting question is whether revelations about what is being done with that information sparks a change in how much people are willing to provide - or what they are willing to demand with regard to how it is being used. Survey data suggests that public attitudes on this matter are shifting. And not in the direction of less attention or concern. JL

Joe Kloc reports in the Daily Dot via Salon:

New research suggest the social network can predict who you're currently dating with 50 percent accuracy

Facebook data scientists can predict who your lover is on Facebook, a new study shows. Here’s how.

According to research published by Facebook and Cornell University, the company can predict who you’re currently dating with an accuracy of about 50 percent. That figure rises to 60 percent if the subject is married.

As the Atlantic pointed out, one might assume that the best way to predict whom you’re dating is to see how embedded he or she is into your profile—in other words, how many friends you have in common. It turns out, however, that this is only an accurate measure about 24.7 percent of the time.

Instead, the researchers measure what is called “dispersion.” Essentially, they look at who shares the largest number of networks with a user. In other words, who knows the most people spread across a broad range of interests.

This makes sense. If you are dating someone, it is likely he’s met not only your current friends, but your family too, as well as a few people from your past.

Drawing from that fact, it becomes possible to predict the strength of a relationship based on its level of dispersion. The more networks you and your lover share, the more tightly you’ve woven your relationship together.

In some sense, the study only articulates what is already intuitively obvious. That those we share the most different facets of our lives with are often those we’re romantically involved with. But the study also reveals is how powerful the Facebook’s collected metadata is—and how telling metadata can be in general. In this case, if you give Facebook the names of your acquaintances, it can figure out how you know them. 

---