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"To feature links on your profile, set the audience to Public," says Facebookby@QAbandit
2,216 reads
2,216 reads

"To feature links on your profile, set the audience to Public," says Facebook

by QA BanditApril 23rd, 2020
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Too Long; Didn't Read

"To feature links on your profile, set the audience to Public," says Facebook. Facebook says it requires users to set their profile to Public. The internet is an ephemeral and recorded. Where is the text on the internet? Is the publisher's servers? Is it just floating in the cloud? Who's cloud? Content is nowhere while also always saved somewhere. "WTF makes a cover photo public and the most important thing to link to? I don't need or understand Facebook's view on the definition of Public?"

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QA Bandit HackerNoon profile picture

So I went to update my Facebook profile...

Let me back up. Facebook is a website. I also have a website. I would like my website to link to my Facebook profile and my Facebook profile to link my personal site. Simple enough? Do I sound like a boomer? I want to make this clear how basic this function is. Do you respect me? How can you respect me if you don't acknowledge where I am on the internet?

Anyways, in order to for my Facebook profile to add a link my website link or any link to any other social network, I have to give them something.

Want do they want?

In this case, Public is not linkable to more information about what that means. I Googled it:

The internet is an ephemeral and recorded. Where is the text on the internet? Is it in the readers browser? Is it on the publisher's servers? Is it just floating in the cloud? Who's cloud? Content is nowhere while also always saved somewhere.

"To feature links on your profile, set the audience to Public," says Facebook

So I clicked through. I would link to the screenshot, but I not know if anyone set the audience to Public.

WTF who sees what on the internet these days? Who knows? Who cares? WTF makes a cover photo public and the most important thing to link to? I don't need or understand Facebook's view on the definition of Public? I just try to find information and people who better my life. That's what I do on the internet. Is it necessary to spy on how I do it? But lets not let past bias blind us from the user and Facebook trade of:

is it worth turning on your Public setting in order to link your Profile to anywhere else on the web? like your own site?

My Facebook profile is not set to Public, but I Google my name and I see my Facebook profile. That is the internet today. Maybe tomorrow we should talk about the difference between a friend and a stranger.

For now, Facebook profile is not a friend to my own site :-(