The Facebook Email Address Switcheroo

You’d think after a month of bad press that Facebook would give it a rest, but apparently that’s just not in the cards of the social network. The latest in a series of negative stories about Facebook reveals that Zuckerberg and friends have set everyone’s default listed email address to their @facebook.com versions.

What this means is that most users’ profiles will now display their @facebook.com email address rather than their preferred email listing. On April 12, 2012 Facebook did issue an announcement  that stated “Updated addresses will be rolled out over the next few weeks. Note: Anyone who already selected an email address will not be affected.” That hardly addresses the exact issue at hand today, however.

Such a move is to the delight of conspiracy theorists, who will no doubt claim that this is another power grab by Facebook, in an attempt to control yet more personal data of its users. And the conspiracy theorists may have a point this time. It won’t seem like a big deal to most people until they start receiving emails within Facebook from people who would normally email them via normal channels. When your friends on Facebook look up your email address, they’ll find the @facebook.com address, which is likely not the one you’d prefer them to use.

How to fix your Facebook email address
To fix this, log into your Facebook account, visit your profile, and click the “Update Info” button, and then edit your “Contact Info” on the next screen. There you’ll be able to select which email address to display, if at all.

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Further Reading
Chicago Tribune: Facebook changes everyone’s listed emails to ‘@facebook.com’