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Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

nytimes.com

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Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#91

Post by ikeyany »

jsemrau wrote: post #80
sarcasmic wrote: post #53

As my Facebook cohort aged up into their mid-20s, my feed is all baby photos and overchurned memes that have been re-shared across 5 different sites, interspersed with relentless posts from artists I forgot I liked long ago, and ads that are trying hard to be local. Its utility is increasingly not defined by the Feed, but by being a contact list of Everyone You Ever Met Who You Don't Want To Unfriend, which has some…

We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact.

And we're very, very apathetic.

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#92

Post by 3131s »

MilnerRoute wrote: post #86
spacelizard wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed Facebook seems to be really good at spamming me with useless notifications, it even somehow manages to do it after I've unfriended 90% of the people that I am not close friends with and blocked most notification types. Yeah I could prune my friends list even further and only check it passively, but then all I'm stuck with is basically an incredibly bloated email/chat service that is loaded with ads. Then…

Some time last year Facebook began giving me notifications within the application that... "Your friend uploaded a photo" or "your friend updated their status." Maybe this is because I stopped using Facebook for so long, there weren't any real notifications to give me. They wanted it to seem like I'd missed something.

I don't use Facebook that much, but I definitely used to associate a notification with something important, like being tagged in a status / photo or invited to an event. Since a year or two ago for me as well, it's usually useless or sometimes a straight-up advertisement. If you admin a group, you'll even get the "boost this post" messages as notifications.

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#93

Post by jfroma »

MilnerRoute wrote: post #86
spacelizard wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed Facebook seems to be really good at spamming me with useless notifications, it even somehow manages to do it after I've unfriended 90% of the people that I am not close friends with and blocked most notification types. Yeah I could prune my friends list even further and only check it passively, but then all I'm stuck with is basically an incredibly bloated email/chat service that is loaded with ads. Then…

Some time last year Facebook began giving me notifications within the application that... "Your friend uploaded a photo" or "your friend updated their status." Maybe this is because I stopped using Facebook for so long, there weren't any real notifications to give me. They wanted it to seem like I'd missed something.

Yes, it does this when you stop using it, also it will spam you with "do you know person Foo?" messages. I guess is because they assume you stoped using it because your timeline was boring.

Source: I have the same experience.

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#94

Post by teddyh »

I have never used Facebook, so I can’t chime in in these threads to say “I quit Facebook because…”, since I’ve never used it. The reason? Even if we disregard the admittedly huge walled-garden and privacy issues, it just seems to be an extremely time-expensive and constantly distracting hobby, with not much to really recommend it.

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#95

Post by sundvor »

MilnerRoute wrote: post #86
spacelizard wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed Facebook seems to be really good at spamming me with useless notifications, it even somehow manages to do it after I've unfriended 90% of the people that I am not close friends with and blocked most notification types. Yeah I could prune my friends list even further and only check it passively, but then all I'm stuck with is basically an incredibly bloated email/chat service that is loaded with ads. Then…

Some time last year Facebook began giving me notifications within the application that... "Your friend uploaded a photo" or "your friend updated their status." Maybe this is because I stopped using Facebook for so long, there weren't any real notifications to give me. They wanted it to seem like I'd missed something.

Biggest mistake I did with my Instagram account was to link it to my Facebook. I believe it is impossible to unlink them, even having disconnected all external application access as far as I could go in both.

Why? "Your friend Xxx is now on Instagram". Etc etc. I don't want to know, and I don't want my account visible to everyone there. Please just respect my wishes to make the integration go away!

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#96

Post by cableshaft »

H4CK3RM4N wrote: post #77
artifaxx wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember a professor who equated smartphone use with smoking, he told people to go outside with the smokers if they wanted to use their smartphones/Facebook.

I once saw those behaviours described as "idle animations"(on Reddit of all places).

I once made a recommendation of "people checking their smart phone" to add as an idle animation for a Facebook game I was working on once. So makes sense to me!

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#97

Post by icantdrive55 »

aswanson wrote: post #52
tsm wrote: post #5

Facebook doesn't make me miserable because I feel like I'm having less fun and being less glamorous than the friends on my news feed—it makes me miserable because it's an addicting timewaster with minimal utility and I'd much rather be [reading a book, playing music, writing software, hanging out with friends IRL, working on a project, sleeping, watching TV…]

Facebook is a severely flawed product, as flawed as windows 2000, with a similar level of popularity with the unwashed masses. I wonder what its inevitable replacements form will take shape as.

I hate to say this, but FB has gotten brilliant. It's the Darth Vader of the Internet.

It has no real worth for myself, nor has it gotten me laid. (Just being honest. That's the Only reason I signed up.)

FB has turned into a tabloid magazine you see at the checkout. It's the site I go to when I'm bored.

By adding groups, news feeds, only showing the "likes", and buying all the competition--Zuckerburg has created a monolith that isn't going away soon. I hope I'm wrong. I so hope I'm wrong!

In my world, FB has decimated some pretty good memories though. They always say you never forget the first, or the "one that got away." When you go to that special person's page, and they are posing, have 500 friends, and constantly fishing for likes; it just decimates the memories, and maybe that's good?

So, until some genius builds a better site to look for the remote possibility of future sex, gratituious likes, or has an addictive component, genuine helpful information/advice (the groups are not bad--gotta give the members credit.), dubious news stories; we are stuck with FB for awhile.

(This is just my warped opinion. I'm sure some of you want to know what family/friends are up to. My brother, and sister did some very immoral things in order to get ahead financially in life. They basically stole my mother's money. So I don't have much of a family anymore. I'm probally not the typical FB customer anyway?)

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#98

Post by mathperson »

feocco wrote: post #34
brightball wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's actually why I deleted my account. The constant anger about everything was just unnecessary in my life.

This comment thread hits the nail on the head for why I deactivated my social media. But I haven't found a good alternative "productive" time waster for when my mind needs a short break.

A nice book!

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#99

Post by joshjje »

AlexMuir wrote: post #3

I'm not sure where I read this suggestion, but a couple of months ago I unfollowed everyone on FB. Now my newsfeed is basically empty - and my Facebook experience is much improved. I highly recommend it.

I just rarely use it. I somewhat maintain it a couple times a year, maybe go on once a month or every other month to clear out messages and maybe poke around a few friends profiles. Dont think ive ever posted a status or post or anything. But im just a little anti-social by nature so guess thats why :D.

Re: Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable

#100

Post by aethos »

AlexMuir wrote: post #3

I'm not sure where I read this suggestion, but a couple of months ago I unfollowed everyone on FB. Now my newsfeed is basically empty - and my Facebook experience is much improved. I highly recommend it.

Facebook Newsfeed Eradicator performs a similar function, but with inspirational quotes!
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