New App Keeps An Eye on Your Facebook Friends
A new Facebook app makes it easy to lurk in the shadows and keep a constant, unblinking eye on your online friends.
The app, called "Friend-Watch," monitors your entire list of Facebook friends, notifying you when people make any changes to their account, which could include adding, deleting, blocking or unblocking you from their profile, the website TechCrunch reported.
Developer Andrew McGrath built Friend-Watch, but unlike one of his previous creations, "Who Isn't My Friend?" which notified users when someone "unfriended" them and was quickly blacklisted, Friend-Watch has Facebook's blessing.
This may be because, although it could be seen as a "stalker " app, Friend-Watch, TechCrunch says, acts as more of an analytics program, allowing users to track general trends such as friend counts and gender breakdowns. An upcoming addition to the app will also plot each friend's location on a map.
If you're worried that Friend-Watch is still too invasive, or that Facebook itself knows too much about your personal life, a list of social networking alternatives can be found here .
As long as you remain on Facebook, it's important to exercise caution, and remember that, because the social networking site is so immensely popular, it will always remain a hotbed for cybercriminals looking to spread scams and lure in victims.
