Apr 30 2012
Stupid “Who Viewed My Profile” Apps on Facebook
I get very irate when I see peoples gullibility by clicking apps to see who has been viewing your Facebook Profile. Thousands of people have been attracted to webpages and Facebook apps which claim to be able to give you an analytical insight into who is viewing their Facebook profile.
OMG See who is viewing your Facebook Profile
You may have seen many messages such as “OMG… I can’t believe this actually works! Now you really can see who views your profile!” or “See who views your Facebook profile in real-time!”
These are ALL Scams – Please do not click the links to these Facebook profile apps, as you cannot see who views your Facebook profile.
Facebook Official Statement (via their Privacy section)
Can I know who’s viewing my profile (timeline) or how often it’s being viewed?
No, Facebook does not provide a functionality that enables you to track who is viewing your profile (timeline), or parts of your profile (timeline), such as your photos. Third party applications also cannot provide this functionality. Applications that claim to give you this ability will be removed from Facebook for violating policy. You can report applications that provide untrustworthy experiences.
What do these apps do?
To gain access to the secret behind the scenes data of who is viewing your Facebook profile you may be asked for personal information, you may need to take surveys and you may even be asked for your mobile number (which could be used for God knows what).
The information from these Apps is not true
I know of one Facebook user who died in 2011 but the Facebook profile is still active. This person was listed as recently viewing and being on of the “Top 20 viewers” of another person’s profile. This person was Tagged in the photo as having viewed the other persons profile; which is not only upsetting for the family of the deceased but also very bad behaviour from the writers of the App.
These apps determine the people who viewed the other peoples profiles by randomly selecting people from the friends list (which the third-party app now has, as it was granted access by the person who tried the Who’s looking at your profile app)
Staying Safe on Facebook – These Facebook Profile Apps Don’t Work !
These “Who’s viewing your Facebook Profile” app scams don’t work. These Facebook apps are not malware, spyware or clickjacking, purely gullibility of Facebook users. Think about what you are doing, (1) you are giving the Facebook App access to your profile (2) This app now has access to your data (3) the app can write on your wall when ever it wants.
Share this News with others!
Please share this page on Facebook to warn your Facebook friends about these stupid and unproductive apps. There are share links below for Facebook, Twitter and other Social Networks.
Sep 15, 2012 @ 10:58:57
I agree – some of the apps are pointless and I don’t like how you can be tagged or approved on the wall. I think there are settings on Facebook to limit this but its harder to access now with the new Facebook layout… at least I can’t find where the setting to block each app is located.?!
Sep 15, 2012 @ 04:43:14
What makes me the most angry is when other people use the stupid app and it keeps posting on MY wall on their behalf. I’ve blocked it 1000 times but it keeps springing up under different names.
Jun 20, 2012 @ 18:51:40
Hi Dave
thanks for the comment.
There are 2 things.
(1) The Facebook API allows anyone to write an App … no matter how silly or stupid the app.
(2) People are stupid and don’t read the terms, “This app will have access to x y z… ” displayed whenever you try an app or install an app on Facebook.
So it comes down to people not being careful how they use apps on Facebook.
If you use an app it will have certain powers and will see certain data – Facebook may not monitor how the app uses this info, i.e. can an app send info from the app to a 3rd party and so on.
Anyway, I get very irate if I am tagged in a “Guess who viewed your profile” app result and I’m sure many others do too.
Thanks for your time
Jun 17, 2012 @ 11:44:31
Hay Shane, nice blog.
Just came across your blog today, and find it kinda interesting. As a fellow Irish man, and someone who has had their facebook page spammed to death by facebook apps, I was just wondering is there nothing the guys at Facebook can do to stop this.
Or is it due to the fact the we initially give them permission to post that makes it ok for them to do this?
Dave.