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Welcome to Tech-Knowledgy, where your tech questions are answered!
Q. If I am on Facebook and happen to see mention of someone I used to know, and click on their name to see their page, will they know? Are there steps people can take to find out who is looking at their page? I ask this because just yesterday, I happened to see that an old girlfriend from high school had just friended a guy I remembered well. I was curious about him, so I clicked on his name to see his photo, etc. Just this morning, he sent me a message! Haven’t spoken to him in 35 years!
So I was wondering if he saw that I looked at his page. The other plausible explanation is that as a new friend of my girlfriend, he went through her friend list and happened to see me.
Just want to know before I look at someone’s page again.
A. We all look up old friends on Facebook when we want to see what they’re up to, without necessarily “friending” them. Isn’t that a big part of the fun of Facebook? But we certainly don’t want to be caught checking them out!
No, you can’t tell who is checking out your Facebook profile. Every so often there are apps on Facebook that claim to give you access to this information, but those apps are scams that are just trying to get access to your personal data.
What may have happened is that Facebook suggested you as a friend for him based upon your mutual friend. That may have prompted your friend to get in touch with you.
So go ahead and feel free to check out others’ Facebook profiles. The good news is that you won’t get caught. The bad news is you can’t find out who has been lurking on your Facebook profile.
Q. Okay, I took the plunge and joined Google+. Thanks so much for letting me know about it. I hadn’t even heard about it before I read your blog this week. I really like it but after I joined, people added me to their Circles and I didn’t even know them. Should I be creeped out? What if someone adds me to his Circle and I don’t want him to? Is there a way to block him from seeing my posts? Should I add everyone to my circles who adds me even though I don’t know them? Sorry for all the questions, but I’m a little confused.
A. No problem, ask away. The Wonder of Tech is here to help!
Congratulations on joining Google+. No, you shouldn’t be creeped out by a bunch of people adding you to their Circles, take it as a compliment! These people want to read what you have to share.
Right now it’s kind of like the Wild West on Google+, people are adding others quickly without much of a connection. You don’t have to add everyone who adds you to their Circles, but you could make a Circle for people you don’t know (such as Friends I Haven’t Met Yet) and add them to see if there are any people who have interesting posts or have common interest with you.
If someone follows you and you don’t want him seeing your posts, you can block him. To block someone on Google+, go to their profile and at the bottom of the left column, click Block (name). There are other ways of doing it too, for example creating a Circle of people you blocked so you can keep track of the names. More details on blocking people can be found here: Google+ Help.
Q. You mentioned in the Delivereads article that since I have a Kindle, I have a Kindle email address. I didn’t know that. Should I switch my email account to be my Kindle account? I take my Kindle with me everywhere.
A. Yes, as I mentioned in Delivereads: Awesome, Free Kindle Content!, if you own a Kindle, you have a Kindle email address. You can find your Kindle email address by going to www.amazon.com/myk, logging into your Amazon account, and then clicking on Manage Your Device in the left column under Your Kindle Account. If you have more than one Kindle registered to this account, you will see a list of devices with pictures of your Kindles. The second column lists Kindle email addresses. Amazon assigns a different email address to each Kindle.
If you have other devices registered to this account, such as a computer or iPhone app, you will notice they don’t have email addresses. Only Kindles can receive Kindle email.
Don’t change your email to your Kindle email account. It’s just an account to send content to your Kindle.
Enjoy your Kindle email!
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Do you check out people on Facebook? Do you add everyone who adds you on Google+? Have you ever used Kindle email? Let us know in the Comments section below!
* Image by Andrew Mager
** Image by cambodia4kids.org Beth Kanter
*** Image by Wendell (lurking)
Hi Carolyn,
I recently acquired a Facebook email address. Any idea how they work? I assumed that any email sent to it would be forwarded on to the email address I use for Facebook. On Google + I want to put all the stupid people in a circle! lol. That would be the biggest circle in history!
Hi Mike! Facebook made a big splash when it launched its email service, but nothing has really come of it since the launch. I haven’t encountered anyone who used their Facebook email address. You can make sure your settings in Facebook include notifications to your primary email when you receive a Facebook email message, but then why have a Facebook email account?
If you want to learn more about Facebook email, you can check out this helpful blog post from Search Engine Land that explains it all: How Facebook’s Messages and Email System Works. I hope this helps!
Good news, Mike! They don’t let stupid people on Google+. Stupid people are banned from receiving invitations. Only the best and the brightest are invited to the site. 😉
Thanks so much, Mike, for your visit and your comment!
The first question was on everybody’s lips some time ago. Because, let’s be honest, most of us don’t want to talk to people they haven’t seen in 10 years. There’s a reason why you haven’t seen that person for so long. And if you do wanna talk to it, you can just send a friend request.
I applaud Facebook for this one. I remember that kids website, hi5.com i believe it was, where you would see everyone that peeked at your profile – not pleasant.
Hi Carolyn,
I was wondering the same thing with Facebook. Not that I want to know who’s viewing or that I don’t want others to know that I’m viewing them. Its just that there are indeed apps that says you can view who’s viewed you and a lot of people believe and use that app. Well, its good to know the real score once and for all. 🙂
Hi Ira, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, it’s good to know that you won’t get caught if you are checking out someone else’s Facebook page. And please don’t click on any Facebook app that promises to tell you who has been checking out your Facebook page. That information isn’t available to anyone, except for Facebook.
Thanks so much, Ira, for your visit and wonderful comment! 🙂
I thought Google+ is still in beta mode and they have taken many things from where FaceBook is behind. Again I use Facebook more often than Google+. But who knows Google+ will take on the show in future. I think they should allow your circle and friends circle to atleast see who viewed your profile like hi5 did.
Hi Shah, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Google doesn’t even let you know the name of the circle that your contacts put you in, so I don’t imagine they will let you know who has been checking on your profile, but who knows what Google will do in the future?
Thanks so much, Shah, for your visit and thought-provoking question! 🙂