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What should you think about when using Facebook?

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Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#121

Post by kakarot »

djrogers wrote: post #109
kakarot wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's the fear of reduced social contact (or dopamine withdrawal more likely) that was stopping me. Yeppp. I know exactly how you feel, brother. I gave up Facebook for New Years and will be deleting my account after I set up a blog so I have somewhere to blow off steam and tell bad jokes. The compromise that helped me overcome the feeling of being cut off was that I will have an open comments section and email addre…

> will be deleting my account after I set up a blog so I have somewhere to blow off steam and tell bad jokes The following is not meant to be critical - honest. Why don't you channel your desire to be heard in to live interactions instead of an online one which is ultimately one way? It is much more fulfilling, and admitting/accepting that you don't deserve & need to share every thought that pops in to your head is h…

I spend a lot of my time around a computer. I work on one and spend most of my free time coding or discovering new things online. So a blog naturally fits into my lifestyle. I don't have to make big life changes to run one, and it's been years since I've had a journal so it will be nice. If I lose interest in it, that's fine.

But, I don't really understand why you assume that I don't participate in much live interaction. Why do you think I left Facebook?

I love hanging out with people and discussing a variety of topics. But I also like to write down my thoughts. I figure some people might like to see them from time to time.

I am currently working remotely from a very rural area so I don't get to see friends much, and I am about to move to a new state. So a blog / online journal will definitely help keep me from going bonkers without the level of social contact I desire.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#122

Post by hiq »

riebschlager wrote: post #93
afandian wrote: post #37

This is an excellent blog post, though it made me sick reading it. I recently made the switch. I went from trying to limit how much I log in (to once or twice a week), to actually not logging in. I've been cold-turkey for two months (except for a couple of times when I had a very specific reason to check something). I thought it would be difficult. Turns out it's not so hard, and it's the fear of reduced social conta…

I'm now over one year Facebook-free. As with most things (especially online things) I don't even remember why it was so appealing in the first place. The fear of missing out fades really fast. And as someone else mentioned in this thread, I feel like I value actual friendship a bit more. If anyone's interested in really ditching Facebook and preventing it from injecting junk into the sites you visit and tracking you,…

Some lists in ublock origin cover this use case, can't remember last time I saw facebook comments on a web page.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#123

Post by tormeh »

aantix wrote: post #98
treehau5 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Facebook is the ultimate realization of the American concept of "friendship" (maybe not your specific case) contrasted to the German version of friendship. In Germany, to call someone your friend, it is a great honor, it means something, it is an investment. Here in the states, "everyone is friends!" Yet it feels so superficial. Now we can just check in on them a couple times a day on their posts without the…

Strength of friendships in Germany can't be granular? Aren't there just people that have been good to you in the present or past, that you want to see succeed, that you want to root for? Those are the perfect candidates for Facebook.

I'm generalizing something fierce here, but generally speaking, friendship in Germanic countries is highly non-linear. Either you're friends or you're not. My theory is that it's about geographical mobility. When people move around a lot a sliding scale of friendship makes sense. When you and everyone around you are mostly stationary you know who you want to spend time with and everyone else is just noise. Doesn't really explain the Irish, I think, though I don't know much about their geographical mobility.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#124

Post by olkid »

Waterluvian wrote: post #96
afandian wrote: post #37

This is an excellent blog post, though it made me sick reading it. I recently made the switch. I went from trying to limit how much I log in (to once or twice a week), to actually not logging in. I've been cold-turkey for two months (except for a couple of times when I had a very specific reason to check something). I thought it would be difficult. Turns out it's not so hard, and it's the fear of reduced social conta…

I flat out deleted Facebook (the hidden option that truly deletes you). Turned out to improve my social life. I focused on and nurtured the friendships that truly mattered to me.

the hidden option?

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#125

Post by biot »

anondon wrote: post #36

Genuine question : do you think a privacy oriented social network where users pay a small annual fee (around $5) would work? Think Whatsapp (use phone number as an id, no native discovery, only connect through phone contacts, encrypted user data only to prevent database leaks from causing damage) + Facebook (feed like feature, share photos, videos, direct messaging, group messaging). No user tracking, no ads, just a…

App.net tried this, though it was $50/year. Unfortunately they couldn't make a go of it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13387723

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#126

Post by oblio »

aantix wrote: post #98
treehau5 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Facebook is the ultimate realization of the American concept of "friendship" (maybe not your specific case) contrasted to the German version of friendship. In Germany, to call someone your friend, it is a great honor, it means something, it is an investment. Here in the states, "everyone is friends!" Yet it feels so superficial. Now we can just check in on them a couple times a day on their posts without the…

Strength of friendships in Germany can't be granular? Aren't there just people that have been good to you in the present or past, that you want to see succeed, that you want to root for? Those are the perfect candidates for Facebook.

I'm from Romania and we kind of do the same thing as they do.

The people you mention are not friends, they're people you know ("cunoștințe" in Romanian). We might casually call them "friends" occasionally but most people only truly call "friends" a handful of people.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#127

Post by oblio »

tormeh wrote: post #123
aantix wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strength of friendships in Germany can't be granular? Aren't there just people that have been good to you in the present or past, that you want to see succeed, that you want to root for? Those are the perfect candidates for Facebook.

I'm generalizing something fierce here, but generally speaking, friendship in Germanic countries is highly non-linear. Either you're friends or you're not. My theory is that it's about geographical mobility. When people move around a lot a sliding scale of friendship makes sense. When you and everyone around you are mostly stationary you know who you want to spend time with and everyone else is just noise. Doesn't re…

The Irish aren't Germanic. There's your explanation.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#128

Post by johnchristopher »

AznHisoka wrote: post #10
johnchristopher wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right now I am working as some kind of developer/marketing/communication 5 legged unicorn and Facebook-based PR is the go-to strategy for everything and anything. I also hear some organisations thinking out loud about completely ditching their websites in favour of Facebook/Twitter presence. (tourism sector)

What exactly is their "strategy" besides just posting every single PR news piece on their FB feed? Or am I just naive in believing it's something sophisticated?

I don't have yet the whole vocabulary figured out. This is first hand report from a colleague working in another autonomous sister branch of my org. The plan would be to go full FB/insta/twitter only and it's still in the 'what if' stage.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#129

Post by germinalphrase »

Kluny wrote: post #115
germinalphrase wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel lucky in that I have a job that involves social interaction, but moving to a new city left me without any "third place". I definitely empathize with the loneliness that can stir up and so many public spaces seem designed around creating new social interactions between people who aren't already associated. I read an article not long ago about upscale private clubs. I'm strongly attracted to the status/networkin…

That's a cool idea, yep. My thing used to be volunteering at bike shop. It was free as long as I was working (which I enjoyed) and there was a lot of interaction. Having it fee-based instead of work-based would be cool too.

Volunteering is definitely a good way to meet people (as is joining a dance group or sports team) - but just having a space to hang out, play a social game, and/or talk with people would be nice. I imagine having a small membership fee could strengthen the "in-group" mentality causing people to open up a little.

Re: What should you think about when using Facebook?

#130

Post by johnchristopher »

vgy7ujm wrote: post #8
johnchristopher wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right now I am working as some kind of developer/marketing/communication 5 legged unicorn and Facebook-based PR is the go-to strategy for everything and anything. I also hear some organisations thinking out loud about completely ditching their websites in favour of Facebook/Twitter presence. (tourism sector)

It's madness. And only works because the train is already rolling and most people are blind of what FB is doing behind the curtains. Twitter is actually OK in my opinion as it is obviously a more PR like channel by design. (Also Instagram for showcasing new products etc.) I think that FB sites are a poor substitute for well designed unique websites with depth and relevant information. The question is how to get viewe…

> It's madness. And only works because the train is already rolling and most people are blind of what FB is doing behind the curtains.

I basically gave up explaining that because I have to explain how to use FB as a promotion tool and I can't undermine it at the same time because I would lose credibility and leave people more confused than when they came.

> Twitter is actually OK in my opinion as it is obviously a more PR like channel by design. (Also Instagram for showcasing new products etc.)

No, unfortunately it really depends on the niche/market you are following or trying to get into.

> I think that FB sites are a poor substitute for well designed unique websites with depth and relevant information.

> The question is how to get viewers or subscribers. But since FB started out as a "personal/friends" service I think that ads and PR will soon be perceived as spam. When people start waking up that is.

Ditto. With websites we have full control of our statistics and data. I sometimes think that messenger/bot will be the demise of social networks. If somehow marketers can get people to subscribe to bots (with a common API that would abstract whether you are using whatsapp, telegram, etc.) then social networks leash would loosen a bit. That would mean we would be back to something looking a lot like e-mail but whatev'.

I am not tailored for marketing anyway so I am pretty sure I am talking bs.

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