how do facebook invites work?
 

I got an email that someone I know wants to be friends on facebook.

Does this mean he specifically selected my e-mail? or is it more of a blanket spam device that invites every email in his contact list?

no facebook experts here?

both are correct.

Means they usually know you... They did it through Facebook. They probably are a friend of a friend or they knew you back when you smoked too much pot to remember them anymore.

well, the reason I asked, is because we knew each other and emailed a few years ago, but I haven't heard from them since and now I get this request, so it made me wonder whether they specifically wanted to get back in contact (ie. friend me) or if it was just a "blanket invite" that they would have automatically sent to everyone they had ever emailed

eg. #1: "hmm, I haven't talked to d-null in 3 years, I should invite him to check out my facebook"

eg. #2: "hmmm, I'll just click this "invite everyone you have ever emailed"



two very different possibilities in those examples

welcome to the internet.

lol thanks, internet is so hard, facebook I am clueless, it is still on my "most loathed" list, but I got this email invite today and now it is bugging me because in this specific situation, the difference between example 1 or example 2 in my above post has some greater ramifications

Facebook.com is a popular site. It's one of the most well known sites. It's possible that someone was browsing through different accounts and selected your account. The reasons why the person selected your account are unknown. They could have done it because you are a friend of a friend. It's possible that a spam device can be used to add friends automatically. Good luck.