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Once upon a time, people believed that you are what you eat, wear or do for a living. Today you are what Google says you are. A little bird, called Facebook, tells search engines your name, the networks you belong to, the products you adore, the drinks you prefer and many other precious personal details. The solution is easy: don’t get a Facebook account and don’t be one of about 175 million people currently involved in the magic machine that helps you connect to the “people around you.” But would you? Designed as a user-friendly way to communicate and keep in touch, Faceboo k is popular in the international and permanently traveling AUBG community: AUBG network there has around 800 people. Professors and prospects, accounting veterans, journalism majors, student clubs and university’s anonymous alcoholics, even students upset with OCC service, have a Facebook group. Not only student-run events and Blagoevgrad club parties are advertised on Facebook. The idea to communicate with high-school students through Facebook belongs to President Huwiler, said Director of Admissions Yordanka Melnikliyska. AUBG advertises on Facebook, but “only in the countries where we believe Facebook is heavily used,” Pavlina Stoycheva, AUBG Director for University Relations, explained. A December report by the University Relations office shows that top countries by the number of clicks in Facebook are: Bulgaria (985), Croatia (641), Bosnia and Herzegovina (574), Serbia (543), and Turkey (466). There were also 222 clicks from China. A daily budget for a Bulgarian Facebook campaign is $8, international—$30. AUBG senior Vesselina Tasheva, hired by the Admissions Office, created the “AUBG Prospects” group on Facebook. “It’s really low-cost [way of recruiting],” Tasheva said. So far, out of the 21 group members about a half are AUBG staff and students. Tasheva posted the list of AUBG clubs and updates the group’s page with AUBG events. She is confident that even critical comments about AUBG from current students will only help the recruitment because negative information “is the easiest way to catch attention.” Those of the high-school students, who apply and are accepted, will receive advice on protecting privacy on Facebook during the Orientation Week, a new initiative started September 2008. 
The more privacy you display on Facebook, the easier target for advertisers you become. Facebook college-educated users are a desirable group for advertisement. As Slate (online English-language magazine about culture and current affairs) reported in 2007, Facebook “unveiled an advertising network that targets ads based on members' profiles and online behavior.” “Isn’t it better [to be reached on Facebook] than being swamped with ads that are of no interest to you?” said Stoycheva. Not only advertisers can gain access to private information on Facebook. “There are all kinds of studies showing that now Facebook is no longer open to students only, but to the world,” Dean of Students Lydia Krise said. “More and more often, people put up stupid stuff on Facebook and their employers or potential employers, or graduate schools see it and say ‘Check this person off!’” she added. “If an employer bases his decision about hiring me on my Facebook profile, I don’t want to work for him,” senior Filip Taseski said. An AUBG student, who asked for anonymity, had his profile checked by his potential employer during a job interview. “They asked me to show them my profile so that they know what kind of person I am in everyday life,” he said. In 2007, several Oxford University undergraduate students were unable to graduate until the resolution of disciplinary hearings about their behavior evidenced by Facebook photos. According to the Guardian, proctors send the students links to Facebook photos with undergraduates breaking university code of conduct during a celebration of the end of the exams. “I'd rather pay higher bills for my phone than open a Facebook account,” said junior Shkamb Qavdarbasha commenting on the Facebook privacy controversy. “Everybody is now talking that employers are trying to check your Facebook account. Personally, I wouldn’t delete my Facebook account for a job interview. It [Facebook] makes me feel better. It’s an important part of my life. I am a social person, and I think that’s what is important,” said junior Paulina Tsolova.
Facebook is a “huge intrusion of privacy” and “a gossip-oriented website,” said junior Ekaterina Saeva. The information you get from Facebook is reduced to “A became friends with B. C bought D for $200,” Saeva said. She added that she uses Facebook only as a means of communication.
As the New York Times reported this February, Facebook recently changed its terms of service. Namely, the rule that users could remove their content at any time was deleted. Thus, Facebook can keep the users’ content and the right to use it after an account was terminated. <!--[endif]--> <!--[endif]--> Nevertheless, the chief executive of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg wrote in his blog that on Facebook, even after changes, “people own their information and control who they share it with.” He explained that the modified terms better correspond to the reality when, for instance, the comments by an already deleted user remain visible.
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