The Usual Suspects

August 13, 2011 12:39 PM

Why do other Metafilter users, who I've never emailed with, show up as potential contacts on Google+ ?

A friend sent me the invite a few nights ago, I did a quick basic set-up then and forgot about it until today. Now that I'm spending more time adding people to circles, I've noticed in my list of suggested contacts there's a few regular MeFites that (as far as I know) I've never interacted with through my gmail account. I noticed Matt Haughey, Brandon Blatcher, Afro Blanco and a few others ... actually there's probably more, those are just the instantly recognizable ones.

I'm generally used to the 'Google knows all' concept, I'm just curious how this works - is it simply a case of Google saying "We see you spend a disproportionate amount of time on this site, here's some other people who do too!"

FWIW, the only other irregularities I noticed on the suggest contacts list:
-several family members of the girl who sent the invite (she is not on Metafilter)
-Mark Zuckerberg (I've never had Facebook)

posted by mannequito to MetaFilter-Related at 12:39 PM (48 comments total)

Might it be offering up suggestions based on your contacts' contacts, like most social networks do?
posted by Sys Rq at 12:44 PM on August 13, 2011

Yeah there are a lot of MeFites who have co-friended each other and so G+ assumes you might want to co-friend them too.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:46 PM on August 13, 2011 [5 favorites]

1 < degrees of separation < 6
posted by vidur at 12:48 PM on August 13, 2011

That'd make sense, but I've never really emailed with people from the site, mostly used the mail system here. Only exception to that is the mix cd swap.

Also - then why aren't I getting a ton of other strangers showing up?
posted by mannequito at 12:48 PM on August 13, 2011

Yep, I have Jessamyn and SysRq in my circles and, say, they both have mathowie in their circles, I get him as a recommendation.
posted by IndigoRain at 12:48 PM on August 13, 2011

(not that i think of you as strangers ... you're going in ACQUAINTANCES!!)
posted by mannequito at 12:49 PM on August 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

mannequito: "Also - then why aren't I getting a ton of other strangers showing up?"

The strangers don't share at least 2 people in your circles? That or you don't have many non-mefites in your circles?
posted by IndigoRain at 12:49 PM on August 13, 2011

I added about 40 or so people the other night, all real-world friends, to the best of my knowledge none of them are on the site.

So far the only mefite I added there was carsonb, who organizes the mix swaps. hmmm...
posted by mannequito at 12:55 PM on August 13, 2011

ahhhhh ... aha! When I ran through and added people quickly the other night, one name looked vaguely familiar to me, couldn't place but I thought it was maybe somebody I'd played in a band with years ago, so I added them anyways.

That name? Josh Millard ... *drops coffee mug* ... so its just from the intersection of Carson and Josh that all the other mefites show up hey? Still seems odd that there wouldn't be a ton of other random suggestions. I guess my group of friends isn't as incestuous as I thought.

Anyways, thanks!
posted by mannequito at 1:03 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think it also takes into account things like relative popularity. So, like, if one or two of your contacts has mathowie, and a lot of other people do relative to random G+'ers (which seems likely), he might bubble up much faster.
posted by wildcrdj at 1:13 PM on August 13, 2011

Interesting. Sorry if it was a stupid Q, keep in mind since I never did the Facebook thing a lot of it is new to me.
posted by mannequito at 1:25 PM on August 13, 2011

Heh. I keep getting added by people whose real names I don't recognize at all! I just go through every couple of days and slot them into the MeFi circle. I hope they're all members, but who can tell?
posted by klangklangston at 1:42 PM on August 13, 2011 [5 favorites]

Many of us have our MeFi usernames in the nicknames section of our profile, or have our MeFi profile linked from the G+ profile. This has been invaluable to me in figuring out who's who.
posted by immlass at 1:46 PM on August 13, 2011

No, remember you email about that thing and I told you about that cream, did it help?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:50 PM on August 13, 2011

It's always all cortex's fault.
posted by desjardins at 1:55 PM on August 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

oh cool, just noticed you can make custom circles.

Brandon, that's right, you were the one in Nigeria yeah? WHERE'S THE MONEY BRANDON??
posted by mannequito at 1:59 PM on August 13, 2011

Whenever I see that I have 20 or 30 or 40 people in common with someone, I know for sure they're a MeFite. Only if every single person I know from any other particular context managed to show up on G+, and all of them added each other, would this be true. The average friend of mine on Facebook is friends with three or four of my other friends, for instance; I think the maximum shared number is in the upper teens.

Anyway, I stopped checking for MetaFilter usernames in the profiles some time ago.
posted by SMPA at 2:12 PM on August 13, 2011

Why do other Metafilter users, who I've never emailed with, show up as potential contacts on Google+ ?

An introvert's nigthmare right there.

*shudder*
posted by TraumaT at 2:24 PM on August 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I was a little freaked out a few weeks ago when Bitter Old Punk showed up in mine, for reasons I can't comprehend. As far as I know, I have no mefites in any of my G+ circles.
posted by deadmessenger at 2:54 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

If BOP and desjardins show up in the "people you have in common" indicator, it's gonna be alright.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:54 PM on August 13, 2011 [5 favorites]

mannequito: "oh cool, just noticed you can make custom circles."

Yeah, all you strange people are segregated off in a "Metafilter" circle, all by yourselves.
posted by galadriel at 4:04 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yep, MeFi has its own circle 'round these parts.

It's good form to fill out your profile with any 'nicknames' you use around the 'tubes (*cough* HERE *cough*) before going and adding a crapton of people, FYI.
posted by carsonb at 4:37 PM on August 13, 2011

Also, anybody have any tips for using G+ effectively and efficiently? *snicker*
posted by carsonb at 4:38 PM on August 13, 2011

I have a "metaverse" circle on G+ to keep all you people segregated. It's the one with sharp, pointy corners. When trying to figure out where someone who adds me belongs, I use the BOP test - if Bitter Old Punk is in one of their circles, they go into the pointy-cornered circle. His photo is distinctive, so it's a quick and easy test to apply.
posted by dg at 4:48 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Could someone send me an invite to this "circles" gadget. thx.
posted by Skygazer at 4:58 PM on August 13, 2011

Here ya go - lots of invites.
posted by deborah at 5:13 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks, Mark and Deborah!
posted by Skygazer at 5:24 PM on August 13, 2011

My mefite circle is called "What is this I don't even" because I'm not entirely sure on most of them.
posted by tracicle at 5:38 PM on August 13, 2011

That name? Josh Millard ...

I can't help but read this in Paul Harvey's voice.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:41 PM on August 13, 2011 [2 favorites]

It'll be a neat site if it takes off; right now it's like 6:30pm at a party. How neat that you got invited to the dinner beforehand and got to listen to Minor Celebrity X talk! But you were down at the other end of the table, and dinner ended and X went off to a bedroom upstairs and now you're just shuffling around with a few other people and nobody knows each other well enough, or has had enough to drink, for things to get interesting.

Also, I can't figure out if it's like Facebook, and when you add somebody it's an actual overture and indicates a desire for some level of interaction and hey maybe there'll be a lunch next time you're both in the same town, or if it's like Twitter, and when you add somebody it means absolutely nothing and nobody's feelings are hurt when there's no follow in the other direction.

Cute boys have G-plussed me and I had to dig around to see where they came from; it will suggest based on pretty obscure stuff, I think; a person I met fifteen years ago --> a person I had a freecycle interaction with --> their friend in common --> G+ 'Add to circle?' Once you Gmail somebody, that never dies...
posted by kmennie at 5:54 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

My mefite circle is called "What is this I don't even"...

I call'em "Meefs", don't know why.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:55 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yet another reason this whole Google "real names" policy really sucks. If they would at least let you use a middle name field into which you could insert your online name, it would result in much less confusion when suggestions like these pop up.
Beyond that, since I obtained my G+ invite from another online community of strangers that is not as well moderated as MeFi, out of an abundance of caution, I took much care to protect my identity using a separate account, only to find out later about this G+ policy.
So for those of you who have me in your circles, I apologize in advance if they suspend my account and you have to refriend me and readd me to your circles under my meatspace name from a different account and you're all like "WHO THE HELL IS THAT?"
posted by Dr. Zira at 6:00 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I remember griphus finally put out a call, "PLEASE PUT IN YOUR G+ PROFILE WHO YOU ARE ON METAFILTER I DON'T KNOW YOU PEOPLE THIS IS CONFUSING." He knows me IRL, but I did it anyway. It felt odd - not something I've ever needed/wanted to call out on previous social networks. But hey! You don't have to guess who I am.

Or do you.
posted by functionequalsform at 6:43 PM on August 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I added a couple of people, then I realized how many of the links I've shared are from the blue and felt ashamed.

I do wish there was an easier way to figure out who is who.
posted by ob1quixote at 6:51 PM on August 13, 2011

I actually had to stop circling people on metafilter because g+ doesn't have a way to create a default reading list yet, and a lot of mefites (and to be fair, a lot of people on g+ in general) kept posting personal stuff like vacation pics and pics of pets and kids, etc, which is lovely, but it was driving off posts from people that I'm actually friends with IRL. As soon as google fixes that, I'll probably go on a circling spree again..
posted by empath at 7:48 PM on August 13, 2011

I actually had to stop circling people on metafilter because g+ doesn't have a way to create a default reading list yet

I just signed up (were they your invites deborah? If so, thanks!), and there seems to be a "stream" column with a list of circles in the left bar that allows you to select which circle to view in the main stream. So I can view the stream from the meatfilleter circle on it's own, or the stream from the friends circle on it's own. It only seems to do one at a time, so I guess it might present an issue if you needed to see multiple circles, and selectively remove some other circle. But still, it looks like it might partially solve your problem.
posted by Ahab at 8:49 PM on August 13, 2011

It just means I have to click on the circles on the left, which is a pain in the ass. It's not just mefites, I had to uncircle some of my actual friends because they kept reposting Tom From Myspace bullshit or kept talking about how much they hated g+, etc..
posted by empath at 9:44 PM on August 13, 2011

You should create a circle called 'From Bullshit' and use like a jail cell for anyone who consistently posts that crap. Notify them that they're going in there and will be ignored until they start putting more effort and thought into their posts.
posted by mannequito at 10:41 PM on August 13, 2011

Google+ has transformed me into a one-man social media aggregator.

Fuck yeah.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:38 PM on August 13, 2011 [4 favorites]

"I call'em "Meefs", don't know why."

One step closer to the true pronunciation!
posted by klangklangston at 11:40 PM on August 13, 2011

I can't help but read this in Paul Harvey's voice.

...and, friends, it only costs $20, the same as in town. And now you know the rest of the story. Good DAY!
posted by Rock Steady at 12:07 AM on August 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

mannequito: "You should create a circle called 'From Bullshit' and use like a jail cell for anyone who consistently posts that crap. Notify them that they're going in there and will be ignored until they start putting more effort and thought into their posts."

I like your style.
posted by Dr. Zira at 1:28 AM on August 14, 2011

Heh. I keep getting added by people whose real names I don't recognize at all! I just go through every couple of days and slot them into the MeFi circle. I hope they're all members, but who can tell?

This, so much so, and kind of frustrating... I have like 100+ unknown IRL names in my MeFi circle, maybe 20 or so I actually know and recognize because of their fame, or already IRL contact, or they have snuck in defiantly using their online handle.

But it seems like there is fuck all going on... aside from keeping on adding people, when do I get to see all the stuff? My feed seems completely dead.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:07 AM on August 14, 2011

But it seems like there is fuck all going on...

Oops, OK I feel totally stupid. The notifications come to the top bar in gmail, but you have to actually go over to G+ to see the feed. Duh.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:09 AM on August 14, 2011

It's good form to fill out your profile with any 'nicknames' you use around the 'tubes (*cough* HERE *cough*) before going and adding a crapton of people, FYI.

Unless you don't want your Metafilter name associated with your real name except to selected Mefites with whom you have more of an IRL friendship. Sorry to the Mefites I've blocked, but you can find where else I hang under this name on my profile page.
posted by desuetude at 11:37 PM on August 14, 2011

Yeah, I remember griphus finally put out a call, "PLEASE PUT IN YOUR G+ PROFILE WHO YOU ARE ON METAFILTER I DON'T KNOW YOU PEOPLE THIS IS CONFUSING."

...and it's really, really great that roughly a dozen out of the 100+ people who added me did that.

He knows me IRL, but I did it anyway.

WHAT IS THIS WHO ARE YOU THIS ISN'T FARK
posted by griphus at 7:04 AM on August 15, 2011

a lot of mefites (and to be fair, a lot of people on g+ in general) kept posting personal stuff like vacation pics and pics of pets and kids, etc, which is lovely, but it was driving off posts from people that I'm actually friends with IRL. As soon as google fixes that, I'll probably go on a circling spree again..

Isn't the "fix" for everyone to post things to the proper circles, like Family rather than Acquaintances? Not that I think that will ever happen, but that's the theory.
posted by smackfu at 7:24 AM on August 15, 2011

With regard to the original question, if you want to see what Google knows about your social connections, you can take a look at your account dashboard, under the "Social Connections and Content" section.
posted by jjwiseman at 6:50 PM on August 15, 2011