Since we posted about Facebook Stalking and the 5 Things You Can Do On Facebook You Would Have Paid A Private Eye For 10 Years Ago, a question that keeps popping up is this: So Salty Waffle, how do we find out who is Facebook Stalking us…?
The rumors out there for the answer on this are many and the opinions on whether or not it can be done are even greater. There are a bunch of Facebook Applications that promise to tell you who ‘Your Top 5 Visitors’ or let you ‘See Who Is Looking At Your Pictures’. The sad thing is, most of the time these applications are just getting your hopes up.
In exchange for your data and access to a lot of your Facebook account, these ‘Applications’ end up delivering nothing, or worse, an infection of some kind. Since it’s a little scary that people are out there trying out the sketchy applications and compromising their Facebook and computers along the way, we set out to solve the problem for once and for all.
After some digging around in the Facebook FAQ, I found a definitive answer that can finally debunk the myth that you can see who looked at your page or that others can see if you looked at theirs. From the mouth of a Facebook engineer:
Facebook does not allow users to track profile views or see statistics on how often a particular piece of content has been viewed and by whom. Third party developers, however, may offer applications that provide some of this functionality. Please keep a few things in mind when using these, however:
- Applications cannot track profile views for users who simply visit another person’s profile. Facebook has made this technically impossible.
- In order to be tracked by an application, you must explicitly agree to allow the application to access your information.
- Adding an application that provides this functionality is purely optional. If you do not want to participate, please do not add the application to your account.
In other words, in order for something like that to actually work you would have to get the majority of Facebook on a single, legitimate 3rd party application for tracking views. The chances of this happening are slim to say the least and you know Facebook would squish it if any widespread page viewing movement got momentum.
Facebook Stalking may be bad for you, but knowing who is stalking you is even worse. Imagine a world where everyone knew exactly how many times you looked at their pictures or browsed their page. Imagine a world where you couldn’t browse Facebook without worrying about what someone might think if you click their page one too many times.
It is certainly an intriguing idea that will continue to drive the curiosity around it, but it will never really work and that is almost certainly for the best. If an app asks you to install something or give your information in exchange for seeing who views your profile, you are being scammed %100 of the time.
You can be notified when someone deletes you on Facebook though, that is, if you think you are really ready to know.