See Who's Stalking You On Facebook
UPDATE: Well, this post has produced a fair bit of difference! Below, 5 thoughtful theories attempting to resolve this pushing secret:
- The "It's People YOU Search For" Theory
A passionate reader writes: "jesus ... PLEASE right that facebook post. it's the 5 individuals whom YOU LOOK FOR frequently ... not the other way around. it's owning me crazy reading through all the remarks seeing individuals getting mad at facebook for absolutely no reason."
- The "It's A Coding Mistake" Theory
From a Facebook conversation thread: "I suspect it's indicated to be individuals whose profiles you look at the most, but that they're referring to the incorrect statistics (human coding mistake) and it's actually the 5 who look at yours a lot of.
I believe it's a mistake because Facebook wouldn't do something like that intentionally, it goes versus their ethos of anonymous browsing, however it certainly describes a figure that they're keeping, and between the [minimal] information that the coding context gives and the nature of the names (after cross-referencing with 7 of my friends), I 'd state they're mistakenly phoning the 5 individuals who browse you the many."
- The "Browse Frequency" Theory
A reader attempts to parse the Facebook algorithm: "I have a theory. I think it's matching the frequency of times that you search for someone with the frequency of times that people search for you and it's an attempt at interpreting who your buddies are."
- The "It's NOT Individual You Search For" Theory
A commenter attempts the process of removal: "eek-- all right so i went on my secret stalking-only facebook page, where i have no friends, and attempted it. absolutely nothing showed up, that makes sense, cause it's a whack name. nevertheless, the people i use it to stalk didn't reveal up either, which indicates it can not be tracking the people we stalk."
- The "Facebook States You Like These Individuals" Theory
A commenter claims to go directly to the source: "OK, my pal emailed her buddy that works for the Great Book and here was the action (emphasis mine): This is the canned action we've been using:
The 5 friends that you see below the search box are populated based upon individuals whom we think you 'd be most thinking about. Taking into account various factors, we try to make an educated guess regarding who it is you're searching for when you begin typing a name in the search box.
Please note that this info is only noticeable to you and will not be shown your good friends. We hope that this feature is valuable and we value your feedback. Let me understand if you have more questions."