I don't know if this recommendation will be helpful to Facebook users or not, so here goes. About once per month I download a Zip file of all my information on Facebook for storage on my local hard drive. There are three reasons I started doing this.
1) A couple of years ago there were allegations that Facebook might DELETE photos or posts that a user has made after some period of time. I've not yet found that to be true, but I'm using the procedure I'll describe in a minute, just in case.
2) Searching for an old post in Facebook can be VERY time consuming, what with having to page through MANY pages of posts, hitting "more" at the bottom of every page. I have been asked a number of times to repeat something I posted and the following procedure makes it an easy "Ctrl-F" search ONE TIME through data stored on my local drive.
3) One of my personal idiosyncrasies is that I like to maintain a simple, plain text file on my hard drive at various times of my Facebook friends. That's difficult if not impossible to do with the current Facebook GUI.
Facebook has a built-in procedure whereby you can "download your stuff" in a Zip file and here's how you do it:
Click on the diamond in the upper right corner of your Facebook screen. In the next window, select Account Settings.
At the bottom of the next screen you will see a link to download ALL of your Facebook data. Click it. The next couple of screens will prompt you through the downloading process and a notification that you will receive an email when your download is ready.
When you download and extract the Zip file to some folder on your hard drive, you'll see that it includes an INDEX file. When you open that file your browser will display a screen containing something like this:
Clicking on any of those SIX links will provide a browser display which is EASILY searchable using Ctrl-F, an image browser or what ever other is your method of choice. It so happens I usually open the FRIENDS link and copy and paste that list to a text file which I date and save to my hard drive for future reference.
Have fun...
"Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
-
- PlatinumLounger
- Posts: 3757
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 11:00
- Location: Lexington, KY, USA
"Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-
- BronzeLounger
- Posts: 1284
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 12:14
- Location: Sitting in my computer chair!
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
Al - do you know whether it collects all your data from every nook and cranny of your Facebook entries for the zip file for download? Would this be a way to see if there are any entries from others that may have been missed?
I don't have much in Facebook and I probably wouldn't be there at all but I enjoy hearing from a daughter who likes to use this social media to keep in touch with the family.
Thanks for your shared information!
I don't have much in Facebook and I probably wouldn't be there at all but I enjoy hearing from a daughter who likes to use this social media to keep in touch with the family.
Thanks for your shared information!
Skitterbug
A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.
A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.
-
- PlatinumLounger
- Posts: 3757
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 11:00
- Location: Lexington, KY, USA
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
If someone writes on your "Wall" that is included in the download. But if someone makes a post which you would normally see in your News Feed, no, that is not included in the downloaded file.
-
- BronzeLounger
- Posts: 1284
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 12:14
- Location: Sitting in my computer chair!
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
So I've begun my "archive" and I see they also list what isn't included. Thanks for giving me a push to do this. It ought to be interesting to see what results I get! It probably won't be a very big file!Bigaldoc wrote:If someone writes on your "Wall" that is included in the download. But if someone makes a post which you would normally see in your News Feed, no, that is not included in the downloaded file.
Skitterbug
A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.
A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent.
-
- PlatinumLounger
- Posts: 3757
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 11:00
- Location: Lexington, KY, USA
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
By the way, regarding my reason #3 in the first post, Facebook used to show a nice list of your friends, plain text, alphabetical order. They no longer do that. So I get that result by downloading my stuff and clicking friends. This is a blurred version of what I see and I couldn't post a third graphic in the first post. Then, simple copy and paste...
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
-
- Panoramic Lounger
- Posts: 8176
- Joined: 25 Jan 2010, 09:09
- Location: retirement
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
I thought the new 'timeline' style profile meant this was no longer the case. Everything is available just by scrolling down and down.Bigaldoc wrote:2) Searching for an old post in Facebook can be VERY time consuming, what with having to page through MANY pages of posts, hitting "more" at the bottom of every page
ken
-
- PlatinumLounger
- Posts: 3757
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 11:00
- Location: Lexington, KY, USA
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
Good one, Ken. I didn't know that, since I haven't done any down-scrolling in my new Timeline. Thanks...
-
- Panoramic Lounger
- Posts: 8176
- Joined: 25 Jan 2010, 09:09
- Location: retirement
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
Hey, don't thank me, I only know this because stuckling1 pointed it out as one of the benefits of the new layout.
Ken
Ken
-
- 2StarLounger
- Posts: 142
- Joined: 31 Dec 2010, 12:26
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
stuck wrote:as one of the benefits of the new layout.
Many people see this as a downside, not a benefit. It's now much easier to say, "hmm, I wonder what Fred was doing in 2007" . Previously this would have taken absolutely donkey's of scroling down, pressing "more stories", scrolling, etc etc.
Now it's just a matter of one click on the timeline jumps you straight to 2007.
People who have stuff they might rather remained burried in the past dislike this because it's easier to surface that stuff.
Just as an example I saw a status (along these lines) from an aquantaince -
"Thanks Facebook for the new Timeline... everyone can now all ooggle at photos from my embarrassing chavy phase in year 9 ... "
While it's important to note that it's not a privacy risk since these photos/posts/whatever were visible all along, nobody would have gone to the effort of trawling through years of past posts to find them, so they were to all intents and purposes invisible, lost in the mists of time.
Consequently, since the New Timeline came along, many Fb friends have had a good few giggles over photos from the past we'd all forgotten about, including "the embarrassing chavy phase in year 9" !
-
- 2StarLounger
- Posts: 142
- Joined: 31 Dec 2010, 12:26
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
On the flipside, however, it has made it a little easier to get rid of ancient content from, for example, "the embarrassing chavy phase in year 9" since it's easier to find and remove the offending posts
-
- Panoramic Lounger
- Posts: 8176
- Joined: 25 Jan 2010, 09:09
- Location: retirement
Re: "Download Your Stuff" In Facebook
Similar stuff here:stuckling1 wrote:Many people see this as a downside, not a benefit.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2 ... hands.html
Ken