Because I ask GRM everything I'm trying to sort out.
I don't want to be back on FB. I do want to use the Marketplace.
Anybody come up with least-bad compromises for achieving this? How did you go about being able to buy and sell on the marketplace without getting an unnecessary exposure to FB?
Watching closely, as I was thinking about this earlier today.
Can you start an account with a phone number? Prepaid disposable/reloadable phone.
Although my last several fake accounts, even with profile pictures and what not, all barely lasted 48 hours. Just wanted to backup some mobile games.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:Watching closely, as I was thinking about this earlier today.
Same
I started a generic fake account with enough incorrect info to insulate me. It took a week or three of ok behavior the FB algorithms to let it be. I had been using my wife's account to buy ish off for sale groups and she finally got annoyed enough to help le set it all up right. I have no connections other than 4-5 buddies and car ish sites.
84FSP said:I started a generic fake account with enough incorrect info to insulate me. It took a week or three of ok behavior the FB algorithms to let it be. I had been using my wife's account to buy ish off for sale groups and she finally got annoyed enough to help le set it all up right. I have no connections other than 4-5 buddies and car ish sites.
I did the same. I have zero friends, only look at a profile to research if and ad might be legit. Bought a few things with it.
I thought about buying a separate tablet just for marketplace and well to be honest porn. Seems like I need to make my facebook account seem legit? Hmmm we'll see.
I set one up years ago with a gmail account, and a fake name. It has 0 friends attached to it because if you do one friend, it'll find others. It's been fine for years, but I do have to start every inquiry with "I know this looks fake, but"
That being said, I do not have a normal FB account. I'd think at this point if you have/had one before, it won't take long for them to figure out it's you, based on IP address alone. The only way I could see getting around that is with a tablet that dials out, never connects to your WiFi.
If you're more worried about just not being involved with the FB crap, set up a new account with your middle name and set everything to private.
Something to consider with a minimalist account is that you may be viewed as a potential scammer and ignored by sellers.
I know that when buying or selling on market place I'll look at the persons profile.
If they have 0 friends or short account life then I tend to put them at the bottom of the list for responding to, unless their initial contact is detailed enough to make me think they are legit.
Edit: I see Steve_Jones beat me to it
In reply to No Time :
My first one I did was ignored (MrAsa took care of me that n that one), but I always respond with a lot of details. Seems to work.
Make sure your profile is only visible by friends or the tightest setting you can use (for some things I think friends of friends is all you can pick) and then ignore the home feed, or if you must, be willing to unfollow any friends who have a high signal to noise ratio (not unfriend, just unfollow). This should keep you to a short friends list without people from outside your family circle being able to find you. The downside is if you use the app you will have data collected for advertising. The only way to avoid that is to use a privacy centered browser and avoid the app.
Also, you can avoid fb messenger app by checking the "desktop site" box on your browser. Its a bit of a pain but works.
I don't have the answer but do have some things I wonder...
What about a business FB page? Can you set yourself up as Joes Grass Cutting Service? You know, a new start up business who has just one dedicated customer; himself.
I see females that I know who have accounts that are just their first name and middle name. I think this is somehow to negate adding in their married last name or former maiden name. Are these second accounts given that they had an account before they were married?
What about an account with a professional name/stage name? Sure, it was before FB was a thing but one day Gordon Sumner stopped responding to that name and started to respond to Sting. How would that be done on FB?
My FBMP account is a yahoo email and my name is Mark Place.
I don't sweat it. They all have the same privacy policy and user agreement that connects to your cookies, drive, websites visited, etc. Whether or not you log in as Jesse Ransom or as DJ T-Rash, it all gets the same info.
For me, it's not worth a separate device, so I just don't use the FB side of FB very much. I am a member of some cool groups and I used Messenger and Marketplace.
Tin foil hat recommended.
In reply to John Welsh :
You have to have a personal account to associate the page with. FB made changes within the last couple of years to try and prevent people from hiding behind a fake name and prevent multiple accounts to bypass bans but it still happens.
In reply to minivan_racer :
Agreed. FB isn't going to let you access their free services while paying 1 million people a salary (yes, 1 million in JUST the US) without being able to collect your data and sell it. Squirrel gotta get a nut.
They make zero money from your wallet, so they make money by farming your product. They make trillions of dollars off of the data they collect from you which they sell. You are a cow, they are the farmer selling your udder-juice. In this case, your udder juice is the contents of your hard drive; cookies, browser history, amazon purchase history, your phone number, address, demographic info, and your name.
So, the motivation for FB to allow a non-member marketplace is about as likely as finding a free hooker. You have to pay (with your personal information) to play.
If you want a really good horror flick, actually read the terms of use and privacy policy for the things you agree to online.
Thanks, everybody!
There's some good stuff here, and perhaps it's worth doing some sorting out of the different issues folks have:
I don't like item 1 much, but apart from opting out of cookies where I can, I've reconciled myself with the fact that I can't avoid it and just have to try to strike a balance I can live with. I use Duck Duck Go for most of my searches, and Firefox for a browser. This probably, maybe, makes it slightly more difficult for Big Tech to target me with advertising, but probably not much, and... I'm sick of worrying about it. Not that I don't care, but like with many things, I think we need societal change that works for everybody, rather than me flailing away to lock down my stuff to great personal annoyance and little effect.
Item two was one of my big reasons for leaving FB. I wasn't getting much connection to friends and family, and actually felt sort of extra-isolated by seeing stuff scrolling past but not wanting to engage. The good news is that it doesn't much matter what I tell FB as long as I don't reconnect and/or just let folks know that I'm not checking FB, and if they want to talk to me they need to call/email/read my blog/start their own.
Social Media's effects on society: We've established that social media sells your eyes and info. What they show you is what giant, dedicated teams have come up with to keep you clicking, and it's not good. Keeping you scared, angry, wound up, and retrenched is a great recipe for consumer engagement. It is bad for society.
I ended up setting up a real First/Last account; I have everything set as locked down as it can be, and I don't have any friends. Fortunately, possibly because I'd been sent an FB Marketplace listing(?) I didn't have to wait for Marketplace access. I did write a probably not-very-convincing "Hey I'm really a person I just don't want to go back on FB" query on a lathe, but I don't know yet whether I scared them off or they just haven't gotten back to me yet. Or they're just another flaky seller, as on any platform.
I was pleased to learn that some business owners are finding that having a presence on FB isn't really necessary after all, so that's cool. I'm sure that's very case by case, in terms of how you interact with your customers, but now we're tangenting.
My FB technique: Subscribe to such a wildly diverse collection of stuff that I seem to "break" their algorithms. I rarely get targeted ads for anything. Plus, having an ad-blocker running on my laptop helps, although that is mainly for YouTube.
Facebook is a tool and can used, misused or abused like any tool. You don't HAVE to post your life on it. You don't HAVE to follow anyone. If you just want to use Marketplace, make the Marketplace your homepage.
However, the general Marketplace does have its limits. If you are interested in parts for more obscure cars or whatnot, then you may need to join some of the brand/model specific Groups in order to see those listings.
I tried to set up a marketplace only fb account and failed dramatically. I added friends, joined a Miata group, etc. All that effort never resulted in marketplace access so I deleted that account.
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