13 replies to this topic

[littleman jack]

Hello. I hope this isn't a silly question, but why is Facebook listed as a user? Same with Google?At the bottom of the main page, they are always (almost) present. And quite often while I'm reading a thread, it lists Facebook as viewing the topic.

I've noticed this for some time, but became concerned when CPUWIZ mentioned that his browser alerted him that Facebook was trying to run scripts on a page he was viewing on Atari Age.

Thanks for replies and for understanding, since I don't fully understand how this forum works, nor how Facebook is tied to it.

[littleman jack]

Bump.

[CPUWIZ]

They are bots, crawling the entire site, it's called data mining.  They all do it and this is only the beginning.

[HatNJ]

I knew they were bots and they scour the internet But when they show up in forums User lists such as here on AA are they approved through software or can they be blocked if the
need ever arose?

[Random Terrain]

HatNJ, on Wed May 23, 2012 10:14 PM, said:

I knew they were bots and they scour the internet But when they show up in forums User lists such as here on AA are they approved through software or can they be blocked if the
need ever arose?

As far as I know, search engines are blocked from the off topic forums.

[HatNJ]

Ahhh ok

[Keatah]

I don't like it. And I don't give a shit about it either. Therefore I don't mind cussing it up at every opportunity. The bastards they are..

[Ataritard]

Facebook is following me!

[jaybird3rd]

Random Terrain, on Wed May 23, 2012 10:29 PM, said:

As far as I know, search engines are blocked from the off topic forums.

I've seen the "Facebook" user in the Off-Topic sub-forums also.

[Random Terrain]

jaybird3rd, on Thu May 24, 2012 11:59 AM, said:

Random Terrain, on Wed May 23, 2012 10:29 PM, said:

As far as I know, search engines are blocked from the off topic forums.

I've seen the "Facebook" user in the Off-Topic sub-forums also.

I don't think Facebook is considered to be a search engine. It's our friendly little buddy that spies on us for the government.

[jaybird3rd]

Random Terrain, on Thu May 24, 2012 12:09 PM, said:

I don't think Facebook is considered to be a search engine. It's our friendly little buddy that spies on us for the government.

No, it isn't a search engine, but it's still discomfiting to know that Facebook is crawling through the forums.

Are we sure it isn't too late to switch over to a Telnet BBS?

[littleman jack]

Can we block them (Google, Facebook) from having bots active on this site?

Edited by littleman jack, Thu May 24, 2012 8:29 PM.

[littleman jack]

Just noticed Bing/MSN was a user for a few hours yesterday as well, joining Google and Facebook as a bot user.

[wood_jl]

If they're (Facebook, etc) showing up as users, it means that they are logged in with permission to be here, right?