Gawker
Yesterday we posted five theories about the mysterious Facebook Stalker feature—the one some people think is an undercover way to identify those ex-lovers who are still pining for you, although that is totally unconfirmed and probably false. But we have to admit, none of those theories involved any weird computer language or technical terms. But an astute reader has sent us a theory that, based on the fact that I can't really understand its technical talk, sounds very insightful. We'll call it the "Nefarious O Value" theory. The full email is after the jump.
It was part of the autocomplete for the search box. The file the server sent when you clicked on the search box was a big list of Friends and groups (that it used to autocomplete when you type) like this:{"t":"[Dude's Name]","i":2401357,"u":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php
?id=2401357","o":216,"it":"","n":"Northwestern"}
for me the "o:" value here is 216 for the vast majority of the names,
216 being my total number of friends, but some are lower - lo and
behold people with 0-4 are the five people that show up in the search
boxo's just a ranking thing, like so when you type "a" it uses the o
value to figure out which names should come first, then everything
that's 216 is just in alphabetical orderThe only thing that remains is how they computed the o values, I
assume the method was something nefarious. Anyway it's gone now, but I
hope this helps. I'm not affiliated with facebook or anything.
Comments
Sounds techy-jibberishy enough to be valid. Sold.
I guess the my look of shock at the names that appeared was my "O" face. Too easy? Still drunk?
HUH?
Took long enough.
I blindly believe that person!
Though I don't know what he/she means!
Unless you want us all to Facebook stalk him, maybe you want to redact the name of your astute reader?
just wanted to give someone else a chance to answer Professor Gawker.
My head hurts and I need to lie down.
@Clare: UPDATE: I did just Facebook stalk him, and he's cute.
(Dibs.)
Beep boop beep?
Captain Laurent, do translate.
I've peeled away the mumbo jumbo: PETER DEBELAK. NORTHWESTERN. Someone set up the facebook dragnet.
@CodePink:
Awways fawkin cheatin codey, whether it be on me or in class on some nerdy guy for his notes.
When you do the ". down arrow" thing now it just gives you your first five friends, in alphabetical order.
Does not compute. Initiating self-destruct sequence.
(Optional: read to self in robotic, computery monotone.)
@fingerfingerfinger: Dude, I already called dibs!
Geek.
I wish you hadn't told me this. I thought Facebook cared about me.
@Mary Mouse: Beep beep boop. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
@Un Chien Andalou: Yeah that's some bullshit right dere. Next time 'e does that smack him in his face and take away his chahlie cahd.
Still, I am lost. Someone sent us up the bomb.
Showoff.
You had me at ","i":2401357,"u":"http:\/\/
whaddyah snitch on me for @CodePink:
now I got detention so get your own ride to the mall for your cureer job at Fileens..
Just tried to read that like 4 times. Didn't get past the {. Head hurts. Hate vodka. Hate Facebook. Where can I take nap?
This is obviously a clever ploy by Peter [whoever] to get laid. Good luck, Peter!
So, by extension, one could use this o-value to determine the rankings of every friend. It's still a total question mark how the o-value is determined.
@Un Chien Andalou: Look, asshole, fahkin Fileens is a good job, I make 9 bucks an hour there and sides where else do you know that's got both a Sbarro's and a Chinatown Express in the same food cot. Your somethin else, you think you're gettin a gift cahd to the ahcade again this yeah you got anothuh fahkin think comin ya prick. Go ask Shelly Coulier to blow ya tootsie roll dick cuz I'm thru I sweah to fahkin gawd.
@BK_KT: dubra? metro liqours? classy.
@vulturesquadron: I am not satisfied with my Top 5 list. I want to see Top 50! And then I want to call each and every one of them and tell them exactly who is better friends with me than they are.
My head hurts.
Although, clearly, this fellow/lady knows a thing or two.
1100001 0101100 0011 0011
100110!!!
i really think he made an attempt to dumb that down, so people like me could understand. i do not. i agree 100% though and will repeat this theory to anyone who brings this topic up
@hypocriteoath: I think I would prefer the serenity of a secluded aisle at the CT Beverage Mart.
I roomed with Nefarious O'Value in my second year at prep school. Never seen an Irish kid so good with computers.
@CaptainFantastic: Nah! Peter's in whoever the anon-tipster's "o" score. He's already getting laid--right in the top 5. Or he's desperately trying to get laid by setting the anon-tipster's profile as their Firefox homepage, therefore driving up the o-score. Oh god, Zuckerberg's mixed messages are back for us to parse once again!
@Clare: Dibs on Debs? NEVER.
@BK_KT: yeah, but still Dubra right? just making sure.
Cyclone in Myanmar, Quake in China, Fires in Florida, and the Vanity of cross-bred Gawker/Facebook users, details at 11:00...
I'm almost positive that the o-value is compiled based on the music, movies, TV and books you list in your profile. We know facebook tracks this data, and the ability to stalk anonymously is so important to their traffic that only a rogue programmer would compromise it.
Either way, the feature served as a kind of ink blot test. We saw five random names and automatically assumed they were stalking us.
@CodePink:
latah weel have makeup sex cause fileens closed and you lack the class to work at Zales sellin zirkoneum and you'll need the money to go to Hampton Beach. I fixed youah facebook page with your real pictcha. love you.
@McMurphy: Don't think so. I don't share any of the same favorite music, movies, etc. listings as those who were in my five -- in fact, a few of them don't even have those fields filled out.
OK, so the dude traced the AJAX transaction and found
- a list of friends being passed
- for each friend there is a numeric value, which gets assigned to the variable o
- five of the o values appear to be ranked 0–4 (i.e., 1–5)
- now we want to know how they came up with the top 5
Makes sense!
Because that list of 5 was tied to the search field, you kind of have to assume it was compiled based on a stat tied to the search field. And what other relevant stat could they show besides who you search the most or who searches for you the most?
Since I never use the search field to find people I'm already friends with, I'd guess it shows the latter...but who knows. Why am I still thinking about this? Damn you and your mysterious ways, facebook.
IT guys do this to discourage you from taking them away from GTA 4. It's like the old Latin mass. What the fuck was the priest saying after "donuts and biscuits?" I only know one person who speaks Latin, and she's a Jewish athiest. The IT guy delivers this lecture and then if you ask another question you get the look that says "I'm trying real hard not to talk down to you."
@hypocriteoath: Sadly, I am no longer an M-Town resident, but there's nothing like a handle of Dubra and a 30 rack of Busch Lite to get those memories feeling real.
He has 138 messages in his inbox- can a man like that be trusted?!
I always use the "o" value to figure out which names should come first -- namely, me!
Now the question is why would Facebook remove the feature if it didn't leak anything?
@BK_KT: yeah, that's all I was getting at.
@sample032: Ok, now on my facebook when I type in "." and hit the down arrow my first 5 friends, alphebetically by FIRST name, appear. What is going ON?
@SneakingThroughTheAlleyWithLalley: the "." thing is news to me.