Reminder: Everyone's looking at your friends

by Justin McElroy { Dec 4th 2007 at 10:00AM }

We just wanted to take a moment to remind you: If you're the sort who likes to preserve their digital privacy, an e-hermit if you will, you'll want to beat cheeks over to Xbox.com and change your "Friends of Friends" preferences. As we speak, people are looking at your friends list. And they're judging you ... harshly.

This also gives us the opportunity to ask a question we've been considering: How will you set your preferences? Do you care if the earth eyeballs your list? Are you going to restrict it to friends? Or are you going to hide your friend light under a proverbial bushel?

Tags: fallupdate, friends-of-friends, xbox-dashboard, xbox-live, xboxlive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jtenma @ Dec 4th 2007 10:06AM

"Gonna show them....my pokemanz.""

xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 10:18AM

I loledddd on that one....+1

PhrawzT @ Dec 4th 2007 11:39AM

Lol, I need more Pokeymans.

I know that some people are going to defend their friends list for no apparent reason. Who really cares? I only have a four people on my list because I don't want to be bothered when I am playing a game.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 4th 2007 12:46PM

So....

I heard you like Mudkips.

Veko @ Dec 4th 2007 10:09AM

Xbox isn't Myspace. Fix it back, Microsoft.

No one's seeing my friend list.

baby sea tuna @ Dec 4th 2007 10:19AM

Boy, good thing they gave you the option to turn that feature off, huh?

Veko @ Dec 4th 2007 11:35AM

What? Is that what that off means? I had no idea.

Learn something new, every day.

elmersglue @ Dec 4th 2007 1:18PM

Explain to me why it even matters if people can see your friends? Do you need all your own friends to yourself and get jealous if anyone else befriends them too? Its just, the issue of "privacy" when it comes to people looking at your friends shouldn't even be an issue at all. How am I going to "lose my privacy" when all they're seeing is my friends?

xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 10:15AM

I could care less who sees my friends list. Whats going to happen? Uhh nothing. They should fix it where you can put your real friends sepearate though.

AirIntake @ Dec 4th 2007 10:20AM

Who would you have to have on your friends list for this to matter to you?

xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 10:23AM

Exactly!

deaftly @ Dec 4th 2007 10:34AM

Jack Tretton?

SimonBob @ Dec 4th 2007 11:11AM

Jack Thompson.

(Dude's a freakin' wizard at Gears Of War.)

borland502 (SDF - Macross Ring) @ Dec 4th 2007 11:27AM

True, but that is the argument that gives privacy advocates fits. Most people have nothing to hide, but you're also not thinking about the ways in which the system can be abused. Can a spam king profit? What details can be gleaned that aren't initially obvious?

Still, they do offer the option to block it. But I'm starting to think that we shrug potential security dangers off too easily. One day I too will be complaining about those blasted alien transmissions in my fillings.

T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Dec 4th 2007 12:55PM

What happens between Wick and his pal David Jaffe on xbox live stays private. Leave us alone microsoft, so that our vile man crush over all things violent may continue in privacy!

thomas logic @ Dec 4th 2007 10:21AM

Pay to have your friends and family stalked by racist gamers? WTF? Logically, this should be disabled by default.

xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 10:28AM

Logically you make no sense! How would anybody know whos related to you? This is actually a good feature.

For example I have bout 4 buddies here at that I play online with. They also have buddies that work here but I dont personally know since they are not in my Dept.

So now its just way easier to send friend requests to the peeps Im already usually playing with.

baby sea tuna @ Dec 4th 2007 10:39AM

Your thomas logic does not resemble our Earth logic.

MadMup @ Dec 4th 2007 10:25AM

What do I care who sees my friends list? It's not like it lists their hometown and what they do in their spare time (uh... except for playing videogames, I guess).

brian @ Dec 4th 2007 10:26AM

oh no! strangers are going to know what games I play!

Jtenma @ Dec 4th 2007 10:39AM

You kid but Nintendo actually does not want that to happen.....

For some reason I LOL'd and smirked while typing this...strange.

I need my coffee.

StrangeBum @ Dec 4th 2007 10:40AM

Oh noez! The end of the world in nigh, Microsoft divided by zero...holy shit.

Whatever, I think this is a pretty cool feature, I don't have too many friends on my friends list anyways. And the people I do play with, usually play with their friends who I also like. It just helps me get more. Not a huge deal, I like it.

Now where is a web browser, and yeah I know, what is a PC for. I would just like to have a web browser on my 360 too, the PSP has it, the DS, the Wii, the PS3. Why not my 360 too?

baby sea tuna @ Dec 4th 2007 10:43AM

Shit, now I'm kind of embarrassed that everyone is going to know about that 1000GS I picked up in that shitty Avatar game.

gonk @ Dec 4th 2007 10:54AM

i wish i didn't have to update to connect to xlive. there's nothing in this update I want

gonk @ Dec 4th 2007 10:56AM

ooh, well at least the blades are sped up now. guess that's something

gonk @ Dec 4th 2007 10:57AM

but there are still ads blocking half of my background pics

:(

Obie @ Dec 4th 2007 11:39AM

I always wondered why the hell I am seeing ads on a paid service. Put the damn ads on the silver accounts M$!
And I am still waiting on 4 person private chat...come on I need it for when I play Brawl! ;)

SmokestormX @ Dec 4th 2007 11:24AM

Won't somebody think of the children , THE CHILDREN!

Friends of friends, I'm not bothered, I can't see how this will help yet.. it just feels like they added it because they could.

I'm much more dissapointed about only removing the trial games from the update onwards and not completely to care. I wanted all those stupid, pointless trials with zero points gone and forgotton about.

And i'm not even going to mention the UK version of "i'm inside yer xbox, fcking things up"

Pikachief @ Dec 4th 2007 11:34AM

yay now i can look at other peoples friends and add themt o my list XD lol

Im in your XBL.... sealing your friendz

why not the LS2LS7? @ Dec 4th 2007 11:55AM

I turned off the sharing 4 days ago.

elmersglue @ Dec 4th 2007 1:25PM

Your reasoning?

refinedsugar @ Dec 4th 2007 12:12PM

Remember kids, if you have nobody - or next to nobody, on your friends list, choose the option to block so no one will know your terrible secret. Works especially well for people who have had a Live account for years and yet haven't managed to snag anyone long term who wants to play or talk to them.

gonk @ Dec 4th 2007 3:39PM

i have nobody on my friends list because my friends dont have 360s yet

I don't give a shit if someone in halo or cod tries to make fun of me for that, i'll mute them or report them

:)

Viridium @ Dec 4th 2007 12:28PM

That goddamned link does not work for me! All xbox.com/fof gives me is a short text description of the FOF feature, and none of the usual menus or anything. I tried in Firefox and IE, no joy in either.

How can I turn this sh!t off!?

gonk @ Dec 4th 2007 3:44PM

i think you also have to sign up on that website and link together the name you make on it with your gamer profile or some shit. and I can't, because the email i linked to my profile when i made it doesnt work anymore

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Dec 4th 2007 12:47PM

I don't believe it. Somehow, someway people have manage to find a way to bitch about this.

I guess that' s the power of the internet for ya.

elmersglue @ Dec 4th 2007 1:24PM

Seriously, wtf?

T3H WICKERMAN (FDF) @ Dec 4th 2007 12:56PM

"Shit, now I'm kind of embarrassed that everyone is going to know about that 1000GS I picked up in that shitty Avatar game." You are a bad person Baby. "LOL"

Squirrel3D @ Dec 4th 2007 2:51PM

I'm turning that feature off. The last thing I need is bunch of morons looking at my list, picking out the people in it, and calling me names just becuase certian people are on that list. And..it's for me to know, and you to find out.

Squirrel3D @ Dec 4th 2007 3:18PM

Actually, I set it to friends only. I still don't want any unknown morons looking to see who I'm playing with.

a.rita27@yahoo.com @ Dec 6th 2007 1:46PM

a.rita27@yahoo.com
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Please kindly Respound to my mail