iyo did facebook ruin the internet?

for those who are still on facebook: what would it take for you to delete your account?

we discussed this in both of my classes this week. we brainstormed reasons for and against (we are learning argumentation, counterargument, refutation) and everyone in the room had an active account. everyone also had their own reservations. i'm not going to transcribe all the reasons, but there were ones i hadn't heard often, like "using facebook blurs the lines between what is ok and what is not ok and some people don't see the line, or they never learn where it should go" among others.

we concluded in both groups that we shouldn't have to delete our accounts. we can deactivate or limit usage, learn how to share stuff without exposing self or others, and demand better mechanisms for privacy and control over our information, including the option of a monthly fee. i thought they were pretty open minded about the discussion and I heard some pretty bad stories of bullying and abuse.

as for me personally -- or is the real issue just that facebook is too useful in certain ways (staying in touch, finding local event invitations, telling everyone you're engaged or pregnant, etc), so you wouldn't delete your account until there's a functional equivalent that you could migrate to?
this is the main issue + i am not very close with a lot of local people who i socialize with. 1) if i disappeared, they would probably not think to invite me personally as i am not a primary person on anyone's invite list 2) even if i were, that would take a lot of effort and i don't see the utility of events, esp for DIY stuff, going away. there is nowhere else to get that sort of functionality that i am aware of. moreover, i have friends who would never take the time to contact me individually at this point in their lives. too busy. blorping photos of special events and liking on facebook is something they have time for because it's quick and efficient to let someone know you care a tiny bit by liking or commenting.

blorp

just want you to know, i care a tiny bit about your word, blorp

blorp

If someone is supposedly 'unable' to take the time to write to me or call me, I'd rather they were not part of my life at all. I have little patience for anything other than close relationships and have therefore never bothered to create a Facebook account in the first place. This has not prevented me from having a social life and attending events, though once a week on average is more than enough as far as I'm concerned (YMMV, etc.). And when I bump into people I haven't seen in eons, I am almost systematically reminded, within the space of a few minutes, why we lost touch to begin with (I've no doubt they feel the same way). If I were on Facebook, chances are we'd be 'friends'…

I do think there should be (although unlikely) a case for elder abuse where fb allowed misleading and psychologically confusing material to be targeted at aged, vulnerable demographics.

they've now turned in false election ad sale data FOUR times, in response to real actual existing Seattle law that demands disclosure. the second-last time they changed the point size to 3.5 to try and make it harder to tell what they were disclosing at all. the last time they sent the first disclosure again, with a typo corrected.

Being in a stable, long-term relationship probably helps as well.

xp

but being a part of the conversation

I literally have no clue what I would even post about if I engaged in Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. like, maybe once a year I'll be playing a pick up game in basketball and a squashed mcdouble will fall out of a guy's pocket and I might have the urge to sign up for twitter and post about in those moments, but the other 364 days of the year are pretty much vanilla, so what the hell would I even talk about?

also, how many people really pay attention to liked post? I used to get into arguments with my ex when we would be out doing stuff, because she'd inevitably want to document our outing doing whatever for instagram. it always felt to me that getting likes from people a billion miles away was just as important as being in the moment and enjoying our experiencing together but we'd end up taking a bunch of 'selfies' and she'd curate the best one, but for what? we already knew our friends liked us, what the fuck is the rest for?

i understand the need to use social media for work and to stay in contact with certain people, but I can't help but be put off by the intense narcissism required to think anyone who is not actively involved in your life gives a fuck about any picture or quip you post

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/04/mark-zuckerberg-atlantic-exclusive/557489/

“Well, I certainly feel very bad, and I’m sorry that we did not do a better job of finding the Russian interference during the 2016 election,” Zuckerberg told me. “I mean, that was a huge miss.”

My FB activity is pretty minimal these days, but it has its uses, especially the what ILXors are listening to group. I don't really care what they do with my data. My biggest annoyance with FB these days is that when you refresh it shuffles around your timeline instead of keeping posts in any discernable order, which makes it impossible to know if you have missed something or not. The user experience has deteriorated greatly. I spend a much greater portion of time on twitter.

I miss those 6 months or so that friendster was fun.

Friendster at the beginning was just connecting with people and writing super positive "Stephen King hyping Dan Simmons' new book" type raves about them on their page iirc

My friend got called out by his employer (catholic education) for putting that that he was ordained at the Universal Life Church on his friendster account. The reason I put the bare minimum, different name, birthdates etc on social media.

I also try to keep my friend count under 200. If i wouldn't have coffee with you, there is no reason that I need to see your posts and for you to see mine.

yeah but everyone has different ways to measure "would i have coffee with this person" -- i don't keep people around who i find aggravating, but i like a lot of people. i'd have coffee with a wide variety of people even if i wouldn't spend much more time with them.
everyone has their own calculus and what works for one person might not work for another.

to delete my profile outright...

*The breast cancer music fundraiser I do 2x a year would need to start posting about rehearsals and other important news outside of FB
*My Fringe festival show would also need to do the same
*I'd need to be able to keep up with kickass concerts in town better than the current bot (BandsInTown), which feeds on Facebook.
*I'd probably have to be involved in an actual fistfight spurred on by a FB post and not win

so I guess not much?

Haven't been following this thread but I deactivated my account this weekend, partly for personal reasons, mostly because I found myself turning into a zombie app addict.

They don't make it easy do they? And I'm sure it says you can continue to use Messenger while deactivating your profile but as soon as I log into Messenger, I get an email saying 'Welcome Back to Facebook'. How frustrating. Also the app magically reappeared on my phone (!!??)

And then I realised I still need a Facebook account for various things we do at work. Plus I've got a bunch of Pages I run that I kind of need to maintain. So I've had to start a dummy account just so I can manage these.

Who knew it would be so complicated?

I'm not missing it too much so far, but most of the people I was chatting to on FB were people I didn't personally know but had interesting things to say about music, current affairs etc. I'm a bit worried I might miss out on that kind of discussion. But then that's what ILX is for I guess

my guess is that people are increasingly leave Facebook but migrate to Instagram, and Instagram will basically start to look more like FB

I haven't deleted my account but I have taken steps to reduce my usage:

Changing my p/w to something so long and convuluted with so many non-alphanumeric characters it's a pain to enter
Unfollowing everyone and everything

I also take the step when I do log in of reporting every ad I see as offensive regardless of what I think of it, just to see what happens.

I never had Messenger so I always look at messages on my pc, from relatives and others who want updates on my mum's health situation mainly. The only thing I post is when I'm hosting a quiz at my local (once a month or so).

iyo did facebook ruin the world

on the rare occasion that I do login, it’s in incognito mode & connected through a VPN. I guess now “Zuck” knows what VPN provider I use, though.

Been meaning to cancel fb forever. I have one friend who still consistently posts funny tirades that aren’t public. I also have a private group set up w/ my immediate family that I haven’t found a replacement for yet. It wouldn’t be difficult to convince them to sign up for another platform, but I’d have a hard time getting them to actually check it.

2018: the year Ello comes ROARING BACK

i do think its kinda funny when people say they are leaving facebook and just using instagram....as a way to stick it to facebook?

I quit FB at the height of the Farmville Craze back in 2008. Then I reluctantly rejoined in '14 to be able to easily communicate with my gf while she was away for a couple of months.

I still hate FB with a passion, but I must begrudgingly admit that work-wise, it's never been as good for me as it is right now. Work and projects coming directly out of connections made on there etc. Which basically tells me it's already way too late to ever be able to quit.

People keep trying to get me to join instagram, but I just have a sense it's a lot of yoga poses and ads.

i actually like instagram. its fast and simple. i don't own a phone so i can't post stuff. but i see what my friends are up to.

if you have a lot of things to boast about it's the best

nerdlinger getting grilled live right now. i'm watching on facebook naturally.

i can never take the scariest senator. so frightening...

http://www.tampabay.com/storyimage/HI/20161128/ARTICLE/311289531/AR/0/AR-311289531.jpg?MaxW=2000&cachebuster=311678

it's gripping footage

bill nelson is actually asking decent questions
grassley is just unbelievable

this is so much like someone's grandparents asking their grandson to explain facebook to them...

nelson pressed him about which party really "owns" the data of a facebook user. they're talking about offering a premium version of facebook which would allow paying users to opt out of the harvesting of their data by advertisers. so you can either use the free version and have your data exploited by facebook and advertisers, or you can pay facebook so they won't exploit it.

zuckerberg's only response was that the first line of their privacy policy states that users own the data, not facebook.

so where's our royalties, Zucko??

also give me back my data from when I used facebook

deactivated my Facebook again - used it for the last couple months after not using it for several years.

Done for good this time i think. Not deleting the account because I'm in a group chat or two on messenger that i want to stay in

Someone need to, i don't know, compare Facebook to a large house where all your friends will be and what you need to provide for free entry is your email address, phone number, name, etc. And your age and workplace and where you live, if you'd like. Most people do it! Hang out and talk with your friends. All that data will be kept safe, don't worry about it.

Meanwhile, they'll also let in some entertainment, but if you want to see the entertainment you just need to sign a form with some disclaimers. However on the way out the door the entertainers will be provided with access to all the information you gave upon entry, oh AND a recording of all the conversations you've been having in the house.

i don't really care if that kind of thing is wholly accurate, it's just an example, but i want someone to spell it out in easy to understand terms why Facebook is so untrustworthy. i can't watch this now, maybe someone's going hard at him. it won't matter in the end, obviously.

Senator Wicker: "Do you think you could help me set up the Roku in the den, sonny?"

XD

I don't take many pictures or care for pictures, but I use Facebook for content sharing and keeping up with friends. I don't see myself quitting soon.

lost in all of this is a general drift toward handing more oversight to corporations. you expect the republicans on the panel to express great fear at the thought of "overregulating" facebook in response to all this. but some of the democrat's questions indicate they essentially feel the same about not wanting to get into facebook's business. i mean, who would disagree that facebook should pay attention to their own shit a little bit more, but it's odd that the regulators would proactively and repeatedly declare their goal to never have to think about facebook again. the corporate sector is absorbing certain responsibilities that were once thought to belong to the government, and so they grow more powerful.

one of these ancient tribesmen actually asked zuck how he made money on facebook if its free to use. zuck: uh, we run ads.

RIVETING!

I LOLed really hard at Lindsey Graham saying "'terms of service' - are you familiar with that?"

I hate the senate

this is incredible

roy blunt's questioning i mean

is it possible to deactivate your account and still use messenger? that's the only Facebook service i have any use for. i almost full deleted recently after 6 months of not touching fb but then a situation came up where i had to contact someone that i didn't have info for on any other platforms.

are senators allowed to coordinate questions with the interviewee? because there are some irrelevant questions that are getting well-prepared responses.

senator cruz is on the case
i didn't think there'd be someone more punchable in this hearing

and of course cruz' angle is that facebook suppresses conservative news/views

ted cruz is a force of nature

if facebook is a neutral public forum then why haven't they banned planned parenthood, moveon.org, and any democratic candidate for office