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Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

nytimes.com

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Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#61

Post by tmuir »

kristopolous wrote: post #22

Knowing it's within Facebook's financial interest to self-report this unverifiable number as high as they can, I wonder what's included. Are they only including when a user has the mobile app or browser window open and is engaging with the content or are they measuring the total time the page is open regardless of whether it's being interacted with or not? [1] Are they only including engaging directly on facebook.com…

Tons of services have "log in with Facebook" features. Last I checked, Tinder required a Facebook account. I wonder if those logins are included?

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#62

Post by danhak »

koolba wrote: post #58
danhak wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And some people are legitimately addicted and unable to stop despite their sincere desire. In many cases, companies engineer products and services to be as addictive as possible. The techniques used by casinos, for instance, are well known. This is not an argument for regulation, prohibition or anything like that. Merely a rebuttal to the falsehood that nobody is being "exploited" by such companies and that "value" i…

At the end of the day society has to decide, are we going to let people make there own decisions or are we going to decide for them? It might very from topic to topic (ex: tobacco vs. unhealthy foods), but it's one definitive answer per topic.

Right, but as I stated above that debate is out of scope. I'm just disputing the notion that fostering addiction amounts to "creating value."

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#63

Post by bko »

danhak wrote: post #57
bko wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people do enjoy smoking and/or gambling. Not everyone is a victim being exploited

And some people are legitimately addicted and unable to stop despite their sincere desire. In many cases, companies engineer products and services to be as addictive as possible. The techniques used by casinos, for instance, are well known. This is not an argument for regulation, prohibition or anything like that. Merely a rebuttal to the falsehood that nobody is being "exploited" by such companies and that "value" i…

I imagine those people with dependency issues that are using social networks to such an extent that it impacts their lives have deeper problems rather than just Facebook. Facebook probably benefits from heavy users, but every industry does (80/20 rule). I could be wrong, but I just don't believe that it can create those users through engineering their products. Although I do admit the service likely attracts those with addictive personalities. Honestly, there are a lot worse things one can be hooked to.

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#64

Post by optforfon »

notliketherest wrote: post #38

Kill your Facebook. Seriously. You'll feel so liberated. And showing people pictures of your recent life when you meet them or email them is so fun and you get so much more attention and conversation out of it. Best decision of my life!

I didn't have facebook all through college. A few years after I decided to get one and my social life blossomed. Now it's by far the most important piece of technology I use. I keep in touch with people all over the world - some who I met once in some distant country. So easy to hit up someone you haven't talked to in months. It's amazing

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#65

Post by kinkdr »

I was never an active FB user, and it has been years since I deleted my account. On the other hand my wife is using it every now and then and I can see the entertainment value in it.

I know everybody loves to hate it, but I don't see it as being inherently worse than TV, or Reddit...

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#68

Post by Unklejoe »

Ileca wrote: post #55

I still don't see ANY value in using facebook besides giving to the market my personal data. I just don't understand why this is so popular. If I wanted to use a social network, I would use one where I can contact new people of interest, not the one I can talk with when I open my window but I won't because I use facebook.

The value for many people is:

- Being able to easily communicate with a large group of your friends at the same time

- Being able to contact old acquaintances who you otherwise wouldn't have been able to find

- Being able to finely control they way you present yourself to your peers

- Being able to easily coordinate events

...to name a few.

There are other ways to accomplish the same tasks, but Facebook is coherent and easy to use.

I personally don't use Facebook either, but I do see the value in it.

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#69

Post by darkclarity »

elliotec wrote: post #45
notliketherest wrote: post #38

Kill your Facebook. Seriously. You'll feel so liberated. And showing people pictures of your recent life when you meet them or email them is so fun and you get so much more attention and conversation out of it. Best decision of my life!

I mean, it sounds okay to be liberated, but what if you just don't spend 50 minutes on it per day? Also, what about the argument of keeping in touch with all your high school friends and distant relatives? What about all the things I would've found out on facebook that I'm now missing out on?

Facebook doesn't just keep you in contact with old friends, it encourages you to stalk their public facing persona. There's none of the mystery and personal discovery that creates the bonds of friendship. It's not real friendship. It's like being a super fan to an amateur musician - a one way street with occasional responses.

The fear of missing out? That's just one of the many addictive strings that Facebook tugs to manipulate you. The things that happen on Facebook don't matter. If something is important then it is far better to discover it outside of Facebook. In the end, nothing is that important.

There are other ways of keeping up with old friends and relatives. Listen to gossip from other friends and family. Keep in contact with them using email, telephone and post. If you don't maintain some link then they should be resigned to the past - until some event occurs to trigger a re-established connection.

Re: Facebook bends the rules of audience engagement to its advantage

#70

Post by joelg »

kinkdr wrote: post #65

I was never an active FB user, and it has been years since I deleted my account. On the other hand my wife is using it every now and then and I can see the entertainment value in it. I know everybody loves to hate it, but I don't see it as being inherently worse than TV, or Reddit...

People who love to hate Facebook love to hate TV and Reddit equally.
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