Examine the EULA for each of these sites, please.

I do not do Pinterest, for instance, but I have heard that they assume the rights to any photo you post in perpetuity.

I hear ya. Many FB apps do indeed send out automated annoy-my-friends posts, and the LESS web-savvy a friend is, the more likely you are to receive annoying crap from that person. Also the term "friend" is infuriating, but let it go, let it go...
---
In my opinion, somebody who would post a rant to your wall then get offended when you simply delete it is probably not the sort of person whose attention you would enjoy anyway. Oh, and WTH happened to our walls? "Timeline" is about as useful as a football bat. At least to FB users, anyway. Which I no longer am. Quit months ago, and let me tell you, they make it difficult.

There is a reason the security settings on FB are difficult to manage, and it is not entirely accidental. And the part that IS accidental, is due to poor design of the underlying database.

Oh, look, I'm ranting. I'll stop :-) I just don't think I could bear deletion.

Oh, when I throw up a political rant or other context-inappropriate rants on a near-stranger's wall, it's because I haven't noticed that I'm not on my own wall.

I don't do it often, but Facebook's boring interface doesn't really differentiate visually between one wall and another. I have, on occasion, posted things that were wildly inappropriate to people's and organizations walls.

When informed, I go back and clean up after myself, and I've (finally) gotten to a point where I check my context before I click [Post]. But it happens.

Turn off Facebook chat (which is what makes the annoying little dialog pop up): http://www.facebook.com/help/215888465102253/

If anyone sends you a message, it will now go to your Facebook inbox, which you can set up to be forwarded to your regular e-mail address. If you set up a Facebook Page (as many public figures do) instead of just having a regular account, you can turn off private messaging altogether.

Why you probably got the Pinterest message: When you join Pinterest, you can link it to your Facebook account. It then looks up your Facebook contacts and asks if you want to send them an invitation. One of your friends probably clicked yes.

"P.S. I HATE getting FB messages."

OK, noted. But now how DO I try and hook up with ex girlfriends whose number I haven't had for years?

I found FacePlant to be a superficial, shallow (but I repeat myself) timesink, so I got out.

You can edit who can post on your timeline, too.

Do they put it on your wall, or on their wall that shows up on your newsfeed? I can't imagine doing the former but do the latter all the time. People can take me off their newsfeed if they want.

Pinterest sends en email to all your contacts if you click a box.

> There is a reason the security settings on FB
> are difficult to manage, and it is not entirely
> accidental.

Exactly. May I now here affirm that jus' perhaps, y'know, there's no reason for anyone to be using Facebook at all?.. And that this endless series of scandals and microscandals regarding its ownership and management speaks nothing of callow management doing its best, but howls with truth regarding the vacuity of the enterprise from start to finish and including the users?

When AOL fell off the radar, America demanded a new clearinghouse for the internet's naive enthusiasts. Zuckerburg delivered the goods.

I had to open a FB account for a class I was taking. It turned out to be a really great thing. I reconnected with a lot of people I'd lost touch with over the years. Some I realized why I lost touch with and others I was happy to reconnect with. It isn't always about manners. Some people feel social media should be used a certain way and others feel differently. I don't play the games and blocked the apps and invitations. I turned off instant message features and then allowed only people I'm friends with to message me.

We can never be certain in life that there won't be petty annoyances and certainly not with social media. Sometimes just blocking and ignoring is all that's needed. Someone messaging asking for things and continuing to message after being asked not to is not the same thing as someone sending a message. But still, it isn't always about manners.

I refuse to have an FB account. I also am not a 140 character twit.

I have my own space on the net.

As to the crap links generated on your site -- Gregg is right -- you need to move to Wordpress. I don't know if you can port all your blog entries over to the new system, but if he needs help, I'm willing to toss in some work for some Amazon gift cards. I need to finance my new big screen TV. ;-)

I added in the Akismet plugin which has caught 99% of the spam. My favorite spam right now is the "ARM Cortex Development Board". The post:

Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website? My website is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my visitors would genuinely benefit from a lot of the information you present here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Thanks a lot!

The website: www.teenpornpost... Along with many others.

Overall, I like Facebook, although several functions annoy me, and it took me forever to figure out how to optimize it for my needs (still working on that).

I first signed up to re-connect with people I'd lost touch with over the years. I even had my phone number posted until recently, because the only people who could access it actually knew me (I forgot about my posted phone number and had to delete--more on that later).

My use of FB has changed over time. I've met friends of friends that are a blast to chat with, although we've never met in person. I even reconnected with my bio-dad, a previously unknown sister, and some aunts.

*FB Messaging Rant: My sister had messaged me that we were related months earlier, so it was quite the surprise to discover that the vintage pictures she was posting of her family were actually my relatives as well. She was relieved when I finally contacted her. Our other sisters apparently want nothing to do with the bio-dad, and nothing to do with us if we choose to acknowledge him, and she didn't know what to think of my silence.

On the down-side, I was the target of some harassment from a psychotic ex-wife (she created a profile using the name of one of her ex-husband's old girlfriends, and even posted sexually explicit photos of the gf and her ex on the account--it's a long story). That's how she got my phone number. My bad. It's fixed now (the phone number--there's no fixing her).

If somebody posts too many things that annoy me, I just opt out of their updates. I've blocked several game apps, but that's a never-ending battle because new games are always being created. I try not to get too wrapped up in it, but my account is for personal use rather than professional so maybe it's easier for me to blow the annoying things off. I try to make sure my FB is not posting things on my behalf, but it can be tough to track it all. Some of those apps seem to hide themselves well.

I think given time, public use of social media sites will find its equilibrium. People will acknowledge things that merit acknowledgment, discreetly ignore things that aren't really appropriate for the public, etc. People are beginning to realize, through trial and error, the consequences of what they and others are posting, and adjust accordingly.

"These days, I try to be careful about not messaging people unnecessarily. We're all deluged."

Have you seen the Email Charter? I am trying to get my organization to adopt this! It is a saner, more polite way of dealing with email (and messaging). Basically, the onus is on the sender to not create extra time and work for the recipient unnecessarily.

http://www.emailcharter.org/

And thanks, but I'm not changing to Wordpress. I need to just keep my life as stable as possible ... -- Amy Alkon at January 21, 2013 10:14 PM

Not a problem. Just a dumb thought. You and Gregg have my number. Please always feel free to drop a line or call if either of you need tech help or advice.