Last week at Åbo Akademi University, I listened to Volker Eisenlauer’s views on Facebook’s automated updates. The service adds updates under your name to the timelines of your friends—but you yourself can’t see these updates. Eisenlauer gave an example: Catelyn’s husband dies in an accident. When she later changes her marital status on Facebook, an automatic message, “Catelyn is now single”, appears on Mike’s wall. Mike interprets this to mean that Catelyn now wants to date, and he clicks ”like”. This example illustrates how a message’s automatic wording and placement in a new context changes how it’s interpreted. Similar updates from Facebook’s location service may indicate not only your location but the whereabouts of the people you’re with, again without their knowledge. Other unpleasant surprises:if you’ve ever liked a company, Facebook’s “social advertising” can attach your name to an ad for its product without asking you. If you’ve liked a store’s page, your name can appear in ads for TVs or appliances the store is selling. Such ads may persist for years, even after your death. According to Eisenlauer, this reduction of the user’s control over his own writings and profile means that we need special Facebook literacy.