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Geeky stuff

Facebook - People you may know!!

60 replies

Cheeseandhamtoast · 12/04/2015 22:13

Logged onto Facebook today and in the People you may know list there was:

My old gardener - I didnt know his surname and he doesn't know mine, I have never searched for him, and we have no friends in common - all his friends list are Portugese.

My DS's barber! - all his friends are Spanish, and no friends in common. I don't have his phone number or email.

A girl my DS was friendly with at nursery, who moved away to another area and I have no contact with.

Why are these people on this list? Does it mean they have searched for me? If we don't share any friends in common, how can they be suggested to me? They are also not on any groups I am on.

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ScotsWhaHae · 12/04/2015 22:14

I don't know, it kind of freaks me out though!

gaahhnonicknamesleft · 12/04/2015 22:16

I think it means they have searched for you.

dangerrabbit · 12/04/2015 22:16

I think if people search for you it shows up in your people you may know list

DragonsCanHop · 12/04/2015 22:30

Noooooooooooo

KenDoddsDadsDog · 12/04/2015 22:31

It's not that - if you have their email or phone number in your phone / PC it brings them up .

KenDoddsDadsDog · 12/04/2015 22:32

Plus if they have been located near you , checked in etc

susiedaisy · 12/04/2015 22:35

I've been wondering the same had a few people you may know pop up that have no connection with me on FB but I know in RL.

StandoutMop · 12/04/2015 22:36

Not so long ago Facebook suggested David Candy as the first person in my people you may know!

We have no friends in common and I certainly don't have his number .

StandoutMop · 12/04/2015 22:37

Gandy not candy (although I don't know David candy either).

WorkingItOutForMyself · 12/04/2015 22:37

It's nothing to do with people who searched for you that information isn't shared in that way.

It's to do with your email and contact lists and mutual friends. It might also be what Ken said, sounds logical but I hadn't heard of it.

MsAdorabelleDearheartVonLipwig · 12/04/2015 22:49

Someone popped up in my list that I didn't know and it took me ages to figure it out. It was someone I spoke to on my mobile a couple of times about two years ago when I was selling my car.

wickedwitchNE · 12/04/2015 22:50

Oooh well, my manager's son is on mine - never had his email or phone number, no mutual friends on facebook, live in different cities, and his dad certainly doesn't use facebook. The only possible link - we both have his dad as a gmail contact and possibly instagram contact?? Does it really suggest friends based on mutual contacts from other apps?

Lovethebubbles · 12/04/2015 22:52

I've noticed the same in the last few days and the only connection I can make is that at some point over the years I have emailed these particular people. So their email address would be known to my iPhone... Somehow it must link with that...?

Earlybird · 12/04/2015 22:54

I find this worryingly creepy.

I have the same with LinkedIn. People I barely know, knew a long time ago, etc ask to 'connect'.

I don't like it at all.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 12/04/2015 22:57

I've just clicked on the profile of someone I can't stand, hopefully it won't suggest me as a friend and give away the fact that I've been looking.

A lot of the ones it suggests to me are friends of friends, it seems to trigger if two of your friends are in common. I have two sibling cousins as FB friends and it is always suggesting people based on them both being friends with that person despite me living several hundred miles from them and knowing no one in common except our other relatives.

Cheeseandhamtoast · 12/04/2015 23:02

But I've never phoned or emailed the barber, so why would he be on my list? The only possible link is that he has got my phone number on the database at the barbers. Maybe he has inputted my phone number onto his phone?

My old gardener has not got any mutual friends - they are all Portugese! He now does the gardening for my neighbour, who is not a Facebook friend of mine, nor have I got her phone number - she is elderly and probably not on Facebook. Maybe he has been on his phone and my Wifi has picked it up?!

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SetTheWorldOnFire · 12/04/2015 23:04

I can understand people whose numbers are in my phone/ or whose email I've used for whatever reason. I get a lot of people I've emailed through a voluntary work thing pop up as people I might know, even though I've not synced email and facebook.

In my people I might know list is someone I used to work with, only ever called landline to landline as neither of us had mobiles back then, or used email. So far she only has 1 friend (who I don't know) and out of the people we know in common, I can't picture any that she would have email/ phone details for either. I haven't put ex-work in my details and she doesn't seem to have it in hers. We don't live in the same town, so there's at least 100,000 other people more likely to come up through local check-ins. The only reason I can think of for her being there, is she's searched my name. Makes me sad as we were really close friends and we gradually lost touch, tried to reconnect and she just never replied to my last few answerphone messages. I don't know why she'd be looking for me, if she doesn't want to get back in touch...

tresfatigue · 12/04/2015 23:12

I think the live near you, have checked in same places, or like the same groups, buisness's etc sounds the most reasonable explanation? And the person whos managers son was suggested, maybe he has visited at some point and checked in somewhere local to you or liked a local bar or something?

Ladymoods · 12/04/2015 23:13

I had the woman that my exh was shagging before I left the twat come up as a friend suggestion on mine. We don't have any mutual friends but I guess that's because I'd looked on her page a couple of times. I hope I come up as a suggestion on hers, so she knows that I know who she is and what she did....!

wickedwitchNE · 12/04/2015 23:15

A more sensible explanation than being cyber stalked! God Facebook is creepy though.

tresfatigue · 12/04/2015 23:15

Bit creepy to think it's people that have searched your name actually. Makes me glad mines really private, people can't even see my friends list etc.

SwedishEdith · 12/04/2015 23:16

Facebook can track you even if you don't have an account I don't think it's as basic as they've looked for you though. You could have both checked in to fb in a nearby location etc. And, yes, the barber will have kept your number (so you must have rung them?).

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ChristianGreyIsAJackass · 12/04/2015 23:19

Recently I had a situation where a person I didn't know, had never met and lives an hour and a half from me, had a genuine reason to check up on me (think job interview type situation)
She came up in my 'people you may know' list.

The only way that would have happened is by her searching for me, there is absolutely no other way.

However, she had a legitimate reason to search for me so i am not bothered i did freak out though because i am a total nosey bastard on facebook

thehumanjam · 12/04/2015 23:23

Something I have noticed recently
is that Facebook seems to have access to your google searches. I searched on Google for a woman who makes birthday cakes and now her name is appearing on my "friends you might know" list. I also googled someone to see if there was any newspaper reports online regarding a criminal record and Facebook has brought somebody else with exactly the same name up on the "friends you might know" list. It's only very recently that I've noticed that FB may have access to my google searches so I don't know if the settings on my phone have changed. It's very odd.

Cheeseandhamtoast · 12/04/2015 23:27

Yes but I phoned the barber shop number to make an appointment but the individual barbers who work there should not have my phone number.

Also coming up is the name of someone who I used to work with. I tried to look her up once but used my inprivate setting as I didn't want any record that I had searched for her. She has a very common name so I didn't have any luck looking for her. She comes up on my People you may know list, and none of the other women with the same name, so I guess Facebook somehow "knows" which one I was trying to search for!!!

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