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Facebook is an attack on the open web

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Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#151

Post by rosser »

jessaustin wrote: post #100
zelos wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no pictures of what your friend ate for dinner Posting pictures of your food should be a criminal offence. Nothing too serious, just a couple of years in prison or something.

Prison costs too much. Corporal punishment would fit this crime, and besides lots of people would just volunteer to swing the cane upon hearing the phrase "posted pictures of food".

This sounds to me like nothing so much as the setup for a Milgram-esque study of just how willing people are to inflict violence upon one another for engaging in trivial but annoying behaviors like ... posting pictures of food on the internet.

Because, yeah. Caning is totally commensurate with that.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#152

Post by ilamont »

I have used FB since 2004. It became less and less of a place I wanted to spend time in when they started filling the feed with junk. First it was Farmville updates and other social games, then viral videos, then ads, then links to news articles and clickbait that I had no interest in clicking on. I must have blocked hundreds of apps, sites, and clickbait generators shared by friends in the last few years alone.

However, I won't disconnect FB as long as it's the primary way for me to check on/communicate with/share photos with relatives and friends from years ago. But it's hardly an addictive time-suck for me, and also for some of my friends judging by how seldom they post updates.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#153

Post by dredmorbius »

cwyers wrote: post #37

The open web is an attack on the average user. It's unremittingly hostile as a place to go to if you aren't part of the culture that spawned it. Facebook does a very poor job of sheltering people from the worst of the open web, but it's about a billion times more bearable than the open web scaled up to modern adoption rates would be.

Interesting viewpoint, and not without some truth.

But could you see an alternative that doesn't leave a single entity in control?

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#156

Post by Groxx »

MachinShinn- wrote: post #74

I'm baffled by some of the comments here... Is it so difficult for you guys to just have a facebook account that you don't check in on? You can still sign into random sites that require it that way, arrange meetups, etc but without 'scrolling your life away' I expect people like me who spend most of their day on the computer to have at least as much digital self discipline as I have, but perhaps that's a poor assumpt…

fwiw that's basically what I do. My account pretty much just says "I'm not active here, email me" and I only friend people who I want to show my email address. I actually visit the site every month or three, and that's about it.

But that's under protest. Facebook is super hostile to its users, but doing so makes their metrics go up, so it's gonna keep happening.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#157

Post by 5ourpu55 »

MachinShinn- wrote: post #74

I'm baffled by some of the comments here... Is it so difficult for you guys to just have a facebook account that you don't check in on? You can still sign into random sites that require it that way, arrange meetups, etc but without 'scrolling your life away' I expect people like me who spend most of their day on the computer to have at least as much digital self discipline as I have, but perhaps that's a poor assumpt…

> I expect people like me who spend most of their day on the computer to have at least as much digital self discipline as I have, but perhaps that's a poor assumption to make...

That is a terrible assumption to make!! Why would you think that everyone thinks the same way you think?!?

I deleted my facebook and to answer your question: Yes, it was that difficult. I have tried multiple times to do what you did, just leave it alone, but I couldn't. So I deleted it, have not missed it for a second.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#158

Post by arprocter »

wehadfun wrote: post #10

The popover things pisses me off as well. For a company like facebook to use such an annoying thing to get people to subscribe seems immature.

It's incredibly obnoxious - the first time my dad showed me I couldn't believe how much space it took up. He has no interest in joining Facebook but his friend promotes his business via pictures on there

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#159

Post by vkou »

rcjones wrote: post #104
MachinShinn- wrote: post #74

I'm baffled by some of the comments here... Is it so difficult for you guys to just have a facebook account that you don't check in on? You can still sign into random sites that require it that way, arrange meetups, etc but without 'scrolling your life away' I expect people like me who spend most of their day on the computer to have at least as much digital self discipline as I have, but perhaps that's a poor assumpt…

Seems like my feed encourages me to do less scrolling than ever. My feed has become a haven for linked and sponsored content, and there's the occasional spatter of original content from friends. I don't see a lot of the stuff I actually care about (photos of friends, their newborns, lengthy posts, etc.) without going straight to their pages. I swear some of these personal posts never hit my home feed, they just get b…

This is my biggest problem with Facebook, as of late. It's all advertisements, and sponsored stories. My friends don't spam me with pictures of food, but the signal-to-noise ratio is too damn low.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#160

Post by Vendan »

reitanqild wrote: post #106
zelos wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no pictures of what your friend ate for dinner Posting pictures of your food should be a criminal offence. Nothing too serious, just a couple of years in prison or something.

I hear you but I actually enjoy some pictures of peoples food, e.g. when my brother has made a nice wok. I also miss the "going to the beach", "this was a nice day" etc. I don't miss "join me on farmville", "1000 reasons why Trump and/or Hillary are dumb" etc.

If you made a nice meal, yeah, show it off. If you bought a nice meal, I fail to see the point in showing it off, unless you are specifically saying "wow, this place has great food!".
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