6 ms·

+1 This happened to me at the supermarket. Super cute cashier girl. No idea what her name is. As I'm heading out I open up my news feed and what do you know?

• lawyao 10y ago
  Nothing to complain about :-)
• heimatau 10y ago
  This is a solid example, in relation to the OP comment. Since you didn't know her name. But...there is still a possibility that you had mutual friends and her face popped up. I used FB a lot and FB cycles many friends multiple times, in the hope that someone connects with you. I'm really good a remembering faces and well, this was what happened to me, numerous times. I might not knew the person in January but in July, I'd randomly meet them. FB showed me their photo probably 5 times in the process but it wasn't until the 5th time that I requested.
  • anysz 10y ago
    We had no mutual friends. I actually have 0 friends on Facebook. I use it as a media outlet. All my recommended friends come from my iOS Contacts, by phone number. So the fact she popped up is absurd
    • heimatau 10y ago
      Hmm. That's bizarre. Heck, innovation isn't stagnant. Maybe they did do this. Could become bad PR for FB, if proven.
    • mgr86 10y ago
      woah this almost seems like Facebooks version of Hot Single Girls Near you. Except they might actually be near you.
    • astazangasta 10y ago
      How is this possible even in principle? Location tracking might be one explanation - they certainly have access to the data - but it seems implausible for Facebook to be suggesting you friend every goddamn person you walk past. They couldn't have known you thought she was attractive, so what gives?
      • eunoia 10y ago
        Healthy skepticism aside, > They couldn't have known you thought she was attractive Are you so sure? To me (no ML experience) that seems a somewhat solvable problem if you have a competency in ML and Facebook's data. Just imagine if Tinder shared data back...
        • astazangasta 10y ago
          So, since people largely agree on who is attractive, does this mean FB would be recommended this poor lady to all the schlubby loners who wander through her checkout line? "The digital pimp, hard at work."
          • clavalle 10y ago
            Probably only the ones that meet her rough demographic profile.
            • zyxley 10y ago
              There's something scary yet fascinating in the idea of a proactive automated matchmaker.
              • clavalle 10y ago
                As long as there is nothing forcing people into it, I think it could be great. We don't know what we don't know to paraphrase that famous romantic Donald Rumsfeld. Who knows if the person behind you on the rollercoaster or grabbing a taco might be the yin to your yang. I just wish Waze could tell me who my ideal carpool partners might be.
    • firethief 10y ago
      You probably don't use your real name for the FB account, do you? (Ruling out the "she saw your name on your moneycard and googled you on Facebook" hypothesis)
• revscat 10y ago
  Had the same thing happen to me after a date. We met on a dating site, agreed to meet for drinks. I never even knew her last name. The date didn't go well, so we ended it early. Afterwards, she showed up on my recommended friends list, and I assume I on hers. Creepy.
  • zghst 10y ago
    I think FB does matching with phone number, if they have your presumed phone number in your contacts, it will link you in the graph
• renaudg 10y ago
  Could you and the girl have shared the same IP address at some point (because of store Wi-Fi, or CGNAT with your cell carrier) ? Disclaimer : I'm a former FB engineer but have no specific knowledge of this area. I suspect that IP addresses could be used as input for the PYMK feature though (in the absence of anything better, as you had 0 friends), as they are for security systems.