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| Thread ID: 108859 | 2010-04-14 09:28:00 | Facebook URL Hash Codes - Privacy | flintb (15726) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 876513 | 2010-04-14 09:28:00 | I've noticed that many of the URLs on Facebook anymore have hash codes in them. For example, if you look up a list of everyone who went to Kansas State in 2010, you'll get this URL: www.facebook.com Once you click on the "Next" page, the URL will change to the following: www.facebook.com You can now see the hash code in the URL. hash=43aff97d4a5a48d560bf3d7c36622c9f My question is does anyone know why Facebook started to use hash codes in so many of their URLs? Is it purely for measuring the performance of their servers or is it used to track the activity of groups or individuals? There are plenty other places that I find them using hash codes. Most of the time, you have to copy the link address to the clipboard to find it. It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the fact that I can't find anyone else who is talking about the fact that they're even using hashes let along talking about why they are using them. What do you guys about these hash codes? |
flintb (15726) | ||
| 876514 | 2010-04-14 09:33:00 | I'm not on facebook / dont go to any social networking sites.. So have no idea what you're talking about | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 876515 | 2010-04-14 10:04:00 | I'm not on facebook / dont go to any social networking sites.. So have no idea what you're talking aboutWas this post necessary or even remotely helpful? | Jen (38) | ||
| 876516 | 2010-04-14 10:05:00 | Was this post necessary or even remotely helpful? Lol, that's what I thought... |
flintb (15726) | ||
| 876517 | 2010-04-14 10:07:00 | Was this post necessary or even remotely helpful? It does increase his post count though:) FlintB: I don't know the actual answer as I don't work for Facebook, but companies often use hashes like this for a number of reasons: 1) To make it more difficult for people to scrape their sites using robots or other automated tools 2) To track user behaviour, so they can better target advertising and so on (Amazon.com is a well known success story in this space) 3) To help prevent overly aggressive web proxies from caching content I suspect for Facebook, it could be any combination of these 3, or other reasons which I haven't listed. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 876518 | 2010-04-14 10:12:00 | Well he wanted to know. So I told him | Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 876519 | 2010-04-14 10:22:00 | Well he wanted to know. So I told himReally Speedy... not helping. You're great and all, but in this case it would probably be a smarter idea to shut up and go elsewhere. Think before you post. Flintb: That looks like an MD5 hash. I personally suspect it's a sanity check to prevent cross-site scripting attacks on your facebook account, although as Somebody said earlier there are a million and one uses for these things - it's impossible to say for sure without talking to the people inside facebook who actually put the thing there. |
Erayd (23) | ||
| 876520 | 2010-04-14 10:32:00 | Really Speedy... not helping. You're great and all, but in this case it would probably be a smarter idea to shut up and go elsewhere. Think before you post. Make me |
Speedy Gonzales (78) | ||
| 876521 | 2010-04-14 10:39:00 | Sigh. How about we play nicely and move on folks. Otherwise, I do have the power to make someone move on ... |
Jen (38) | ||
| 876522 | 2010-04-14 11:38:00 | Speedy, the question was: What do you guys about these hash codes? Your response didn't really answer the question he posed. If you told him what you about the hash codes, it may have been a better post. I don't about the hash codes btw. |
roddy_boy (4115) | ||
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