To not get why it's bad to post about a vacant house on Facebook?

[CurlyRover]

Yes I know, it's a Facebook one and I should just leave well alone.

But... lots of people I know say it's a bad idea to post you have a vacant house on Facebook (e.g. holiday or moving house) but why?

What kind of friends and / or privacy settings do people have where they are at risk of being burgled or have otherwise unpleasant things happen to their house if they say they're out of the house for a bit?

I would like to think everyone on my Facebook are my friends or family and chances are they'd already know we're away anyway so what is the harm in posting about things related to our absence? Am I just missing something here?

@CurlyRover

Yep it is the height of stupidity to post on Facebook that you are going away for a week or 2.

You are very naive OP, if you think by having your posts showing to 'only' your friends, that you won't get robbed. As a few people have said, people talk, and some people know a lot of people, and people chat amongst themselves; and before you know it, the 'wrong' people know your house is empty for a week, and exactly when.

You are either very naive and very green, and very, very trusting OR you are very young and see the world through rose-tinted glasses.

(Possibly all of the above. ^ )

Just brag about your amazing fantastic holiday when you get back!

As a few people have said, people talk, and some people know a lot of people, and people chat amongst themselves; and before you know it, the 'wrong' people know your house is empty for a week, and exactly when.

So what's the difference then between posting on Facebook and chatting in work?

Chatting in work and a random person overhears, they may not be able to exactly track down where you live.
FB has a glitch and resets your settings/friends BF logs in as them/friend hacked and then it's pretty easy to narrow down some people's location. Easy info to access on FB includes schools, maiden names, birth dates, area/house, neighborhood, age of kids/hobbies.
Even if they narrow you down to one of five houses, it makes it easier to work out and convince neighbours that you're a friend who was asked to drop off something if challenged.