Facebook. people you may know.?

[lloyd]

Hi all.
I have recently joined Facebook under a false name. Wrong I know. Nothing sinister in this though. Friends have had bad experiences on there and all I want to do is look up old friends and see how they have changed over the years. Not to contact anyone or poke them whatever all that is. But just to have a nosey lol.
To my horror,there is a list on there called 'People you may know'. There are several people on this list who I do know but haven't seen for years.
Now, bearing in mind,none of these people know the false name I've joined with or my phone number or are on my email contact list,how can FB possibly know that I may know them? I'm not very active on the web. I don't join other forums. The only possible clue I can give is the email address I joined FB with includes my real initials and surname. Does this mean these people have searched my real name? Thanks for reading.

[diarat1]

FB comes up with this list through a variety of means. It could be based on information on where you worked, went to high school, went to college, where you live, etc. If someone sees your false name, they will not know it is you unless you have a picture that gives you away (and you can change your settings so only friends can see this)

[KeithStone]

They have facebook security that have a very particular set of skills. Skills they have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make them a nightmare for people like you. They will find you. And will expose you.

[DrDave]

You had to use an email address to create the account didn't you? It isn't rocket science.

[omgubler]

A lot of the time the list is made up of people who share "mutual friends" with you, AKA, people who are friends with both you and them.

[?]

Any and all information they can use to match people to people, they will use. Hometown, school, place of work, birthday, friends, etc. The better question is this: Did you originally have a non-BS account, with your real name? I've done the same thing and I go under a false name with very little info. I get "people you may know" suggestions that are ONLY friends of (very few) friends, primarily because a)I used a different email that has no real name either, and b)I didn't enter personal information on my profile.

Bottom line: FB is getting its information from somewhere, and it's most likely your email address. It can use the name from that and look for people who associate with that name (like old school friends). Either change the email or change the account altogether if you hope to stay completely anonymous.

[Romaana]

hhmmm .... if u have some friends ''there friends''' ya there friends (i saw it many times) .......will appear and fb call it as ''People you may know''