Three Ways to Improve Your Facebook Stalking Skills
By Max Antonucci
I was concerned that the recent Facebook changes would inhibit my stalking capabilities. After some digging, however, fellow lurkers need not be worried! Believe it or not, the following new additions--when used correctly--can actually improve your routine stalking:
News Ticker
That little box on the side of the home page is known as the News Ticker, or your new partner in crime. It’s constantly updated with friends’ “activities,” including everything from what new events they attend to what they like. You can also control who appears on the News Ticker; if you’re over it, simply unsubscribe to a friend and they’re gone.
So the method is simple: unsubscribe to everybody except those few people on your stalking-radar. Voila! Big Brother is watching them for you.
Bonus: The News Ticker follows you on the home page so you can follow others that much easier.
Friend Lists
Along the left side of the page are “Lists,” or groupings of friends sorted by work, family, and education (these are made automatically). Simply click on one list and your newsfeed will only show updates from those specific people. While this is a stalkers dream, the fun really starts when you craft your own lists. Just create a group of your targets (be as creative with the name as you like) and view them whenever you want. The major advantage is that you can send status updates, photos, and even videos to only that List whenever you want. Imagine the stalking possibilities…
Timeline
This new profile page format doesn’t arrive until September 30th, but I for one am looking forward to it (check it out here). The new design allows people to visit a profile and see all kinds of information from any past month: photos, likes, statuses, related posts, pictures, apps, and yes, even their new friends. Not only is all this info free to obsess over, copy, and plaster to walls, but the greatest irony is that your friend will have put all the information up themselves. So you’ll have a solid defense in case your stalking lands you in court.