Facebook announced an expansion to its Download Your Information feature, according to a post on its Facebook and Privacy page Thursday. New categories of information that users can download from the site include IP addresses they've logged in from, previous names, and a full list of friend requests they made. This last item suggests that there is an ocean of negative space-style data that the company could, in theory, be collecting.
Facebook started allowing users to export parts of their profiles in 2010, giving them a directory of items like photos, wall posts, profile information, messages, and notes. While this is a good complement of items, it's far from complete. The company has said it plans to continue to expand the range of information that users can download going forward.
But the "friend requests" item in particular draws attention to the negative space—that is, things its users have chosen not to do or actively avoided—that Facebook could theoretically be using to form its understanding of users. Friend requests you've sent that have never been accepted, or vice versa, are an interesting form of data in and of themselves; they highlight relationship inequalities on a platform where friendship must, by default, be mutual.
Facebook has taken steps to mitigate this necessary mutuality with features like friend lists and the ability to subscribe to individuals. But there are more fascinating negative correlations we imagine Facebook could be collecting. For instance, while a never-accepted friend request may just indicate unequal affections, two people with heavily overlapping social circles who are not friends witch each other could suggest an active dislike—a piece of data that Facebook could track and use (the company would not respond to requests for comment on this matter).
Of course, there are many possible explanations for social blips like the one above, where there's a significant chance two people know each other but remain unconnected on Facebook. Could those people really be considered your enemies? Perhaps only insofar as your Facebook friends could be considered your friends.
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