Why would people think that this is unique to Facebook? For a lot of people, relationships and one-upmanship is detrimental to their mental state... offline.
That’s a bit of a flawed argument. Facebook isn’t the only place online or offline where humans can socialise. Making the argument that staying with Facebook just for one potential (and flawed) avenue for socialising is to ignore myriad other ways to socialise.
I never really got why facebook was considered interesting. I made an account because I was pressured by some female friends into doing so but I never log on it (at least 5 months). I know I'm not the norm but still, I feel like facebook is just a fad and that people will get bored of posting every second of their life onto the internet eventually.
facebook is total bullshit. we dont need social networking. not to mention it makes millions vulnerable to fraud and other types of hacking. people see facebook as an easier gateway to bullying too.
You are grossly underestimating the amount people would care if Facebook went offline. The world would freak out. People have memories of their lives tied up in the service with the combination of photos, friends, and messages. The pent up data generated over the years is truly meaningful.
Cool factor aside there are very legitimate reasons not to use Facebook. I've never had a Facebook account, refuse to let my GF post pictures of me there and block it's trackers.
Not necessarily against the idea of social networking. I just don't like Facebook. I think others should adopt this same attitude. If people think this is boasting so be it. I find it to be just good sense.
I'm not gonna lie, I like using facebook, but I unplugged it from my phone a while ago and haven't regretted it. Social networking is a fun diversion but a terrible lifestyle.
This is the part that I don't understand. Facebook, in the grand scheme of things, is still an incredibly new development for people. Most users (at least those who abide by the age limit) have spent most of their lives not being on Facebook. What grand utility does Facebook provide that makes it so difficult to stop using it? I cancelled my Facebook account a few years ago and the only time I ever even thought about it was when I'd try to sign in to services (like Spotify) that were linked to my account at one time and it got reactivated through that. I'd have to login and cancel the account again.
What is it about Facebook that has suddenly and inexplicably turned it into a necessity for people when they lived for so long without it? It's not like a cell phone or other technology that has massive utility. Most people don't even communicate via Facebook (from what I hear). They just post divisive nonsense.
Facebook feels toxic in the sense of how it ruthlessly upholds social norms. I'm probably being whiny about it, but it seemed like FB was less about 'connection' and more about in-group maintenance.
The problem with posts like this, both pro- and anti-Facebook, is that they are just someone's experience and our experiences vary. If your personal use of Facebook had similar results to the author's, you nod your head, perhaps virtually applaud, and share the link. I know I'm tempted to do so here.
But I also know that there are people who use Facebook in a way that strengthens, augments and reinforces real-life relationships. I've also read of studies that show a positive, not a negative, correlation between time spent on social media and how engaged people are with others in person. Some will say, "well, duh" to that, and will shake their heads at an article like this, which to them only shows that someone doesn't know how to use Facebook.
Both experiences are valid. I follow a sociologist on Twitter who writes a lot of essays from the latter viewpoint. To him, it's a theoretical split. There is the "digital dualist" theory, that basically says online/offline is a zero sum game and social media makes friendships shallow and disposable, and there is the "augmented reality" theory that all is connected, that what we do online is real life and not something different. And he holds the latter theory to be correct while the former, he finds simplistic, sentimental and broken. (I'm thinking of @nathanjurgenson if anyone wants to follow along, have done my best to represent his views but obviously this summary is my own)
I disagree with all of the above. It has become ever more clear to me that some people really do use and experience Facebook in a dualistic way while others do not. There is no one, unified, grand theory of Facebook that encompasses all experiences. Both camps would like to say, "This is how it is, period", but they are really saying, "This is how it is for me".
Not using Facebook is the new not having a television. It doesn't gain you anything, nor does it cost you anything, and somehow everyone who does it thinks that someone else out there cares.
Honestly, it's these predictable replies that are even older.
>Facebook has enriched the lives of millions of people
Right. So, not saying Facebook has no utility. Yes, we know it serves a purpose for a lot of people. Clearly.
>it has allowed me to stay in touch with family and friends who I otherwise would probably speak to more rarely.
Yes, we also know that's the number one use case, which serves as Facebook's crowning contribution to humanity. I won't argue what it means to you or anyone else personally. I do think it replaces more meaningful interaction with a relatively superficial pub/sub model. I also believe that it isolates people and I am aware of studies which have indicated the same. That you and others find some value in it doesn't make it a net positive for society, or even for you for that matter. But, that's really not my argument anyway.
>they live halfway across the country, so it's not that easy.
Well, you could call them and invest some one-on-one time if they were meaningful relationships but, in any case, I am referring more to the overall tendancy of people to marginalize an increasing number of relationships (even local) to a pub/sub tool like Facebook. But, really, I am objecting more to this never-ending devaluing of relationships by Facebook whose motive is to capture your social activity (relationships) by any means necessary, irrespective of the actual value-add (or subtract) to those relationships.
Of course we all know that their purpose is to make money. I wasn't dropping that as a great revelation. My point is that it should and does matter that we give so much of our relationships over to a company whose interests may run orthogonal to the preservation of value in those relationships.
>The fact that your comment on an online forum suggests otherwise is particularly rich.
I don't understand the appeal of FB; we have other means to be connected with the people we care about. I've never understood the appeal of broadcasting yourself to the entire planet either... it's bizarre.
This is a highly cynical view of Facebook and social media in general. I don't use Facebook very often, but I like seeing updates from family and friends. And Facebook is very useful for messaging and organizing events.
The problem is not Facebook per se. It is that the human condition is such that FB appeals to us in vast disproportion from its value. The collective time spent on FB is travesty to our species. It's not the only one to be sure, but to the extent that people can avoid Facebook they and we are better off. Facebook is not benefiting society. It has harming it.
This might be the straw that actually makes me delete my Facebook account, and it's not because I think Facebook is trying to be malicious or doing anything wrong.
I use FB maybe several times a week, as a time killer. Sometimes I may share things (status, pictures), but I'm certainly not "on top of it".
My "year in review" is certainly NOT the sum of everything I posted to facebook. When I go on a road trip with friends, the pictures do not always make their way there. Not every person I date becomes a relationship status.
I used to argue to fb detractors and holders out that it's not intended as a socializing replacement, but just as an enhancer. But this just seems to reinforce the fact that, for many people...what they've publicly shared online defines them.
I guess it just kind of saddens me that, for many people, this WILL be a summary of their 2012. I think I'm having trouble really articulating what bugs me about it, but it just feels like validation that Facebook is gamifying people's lives into being about making Facebook some sort of mirror of their real life, which is not a future I'm on board with.
reply