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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

#351

I posted this comment a few weeks ago, but this seems super relevant to extend the author's point. I agree that Facebook is a walled garden. But in the developed world, Facebook is just part of the internet that people use. However, in some parts of the developing world, Facebook is the only internet people use. ------ Facebook's dominance is even more pronounced in parts of the developing world. I've met people in A…

Folk from Myanmar (but working in Singapore) here. People in my country, they regard Facebook as "The Internet". They walked into the mobile phone shop, they asked for "open Facebook for 3$" which comes with a FB account, followed the celebrity pages etc. They do everything you can imagine on FB.

Now there are "digital agencies" who take care of the celebrity/company FB pages, post click-bait articles, run campaigns and throw money for advertising.

I don't think these things are going to change anytime soon and I don't have an answer. So, either promote yourself, things you are doing, on FB or your online presence is mere. Just sad.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#352
post #351

I posted this comment a few weeks ago, but this seems super relevant to extend the author's point. I agree that Facebook is a walled garden. But in the developed world, Facebook is just part of the internet that people use. However, in some parts of the developing world, Facebook is the only internet people use. ------ Facebook's dominance is even more pronounced in parts of the developing world. I've met people in A…

Folk from Myanmar (but working in Singapore) here. People in my country, they regard Facebook as "The Internet". They walked into the mobile phone shop, they asked for "open Facebook for 3$" which comes with a FB account, followed the celebrity pages etc. They do everything you can imagine on FB. Now there are "digital agencies" who take care of the celebrity/company FB pages, post click-bait articles, run campaigns…

Do you think this will change overtime as people become familiar with technology and the internet?

Like do people start with Facebook and it later becomes a gateway to the internet, or do they start within only Facebook and stay within only Facebook?

I also assume people in the bigger cities (especially Yangon, but also Mandalay) use computers+the actual web for work, university and pleasure... right?

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#353
post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!".

> 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!". I don't understand your comment at all. What else would you be saying when you show a picture of nice food other than "this food is great"? I'm not in the habit of posting food photos but I've never understood the hysteria around it on places like HN.

"Look at the taste that I have, in choosing this experience for myself", or "Look what I'm doing right now!"

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#355
The popover doesn't seem as big an issue as the fact that you can't browse the archive of public posts unless you are logged in.

John Carmack posts public reviews of VR games frequently on Facebook. Here's one: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1717273305... But if you want to browse previous reviews, there is no mention of them on his public Facebook page. Look at these two screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/wal8p If you log in, Facebook is all of the sudden like "look at all this public content!"

Totally skeezy.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#356
post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I don't understand why the web needs to be "open" per the original post for it to be deemed good. If FB wasn't a nasty platform and simply didn't let Google index (mooch and profit from) its content, that would be fair in my opinion. Why should I start a company and then give that content away for free to Google to profit from? It's not like Google is performing some altruistic public service. Neither is DuckDuc…

Personally, I would be impressed with a company that provided that benefit and seriously consider it. Am I gross for finding that to be an attractive offer? It's not as though Facebook is coercing people to do this in order to lengthen their careers. People will do it anyway due to a culture that already exists and because they want to; from that perspective, Facebook is providing a nice benefit for people who don't…

I'm sorry. I mean that Facebook could provide more lifestyle benefits and corporate culture in which an employee would not be compromising their career or need to career optimize around family planning opportunities. Maybe this is too utopian to expect.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#357

I agree with the authors points about blogging on facebook and having a decent logged out experience, but I want to push back against him lumping in anti-adblock pop overs. Every publisher of high quality content is dependent on advertising to stay in business. When you are using adblock, your eyeballs are freeloading off of all the users who are using the website as intended. I certainly understand the urge to use a…

And he is a publisher of content too, with ads, and you didn't notice what he does differently? All text, simple links, and usually a nice blurb describing the company/product. I have read 2000% more of those than I have ever cared about any pushy, animated, noisy ad on any other site. His system works, without being obnoxious.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I'm sure they've got plenty of info on me and have their ways of collecting more. I used Facebook pretty regularly from 2005 to 2013 or so, so they know stuff about me I've long since forgotten (as evidenced by looking at some of my old posts from college...yeesh, don't ever do that unless you want to be embarrassed about what the you of 10 years ago was like).

Yeah I'm just curious how they're tracking my family in real-time across devices. And geez, what a way to ruin birthday/xmas/etc presents. I expect to see a preview of my father's day gift in the sidebar any day now....

> I'm just curious how they're tracking my family in real-time across devices.

With your help? The moment you declare (or any friend declares) a relationship in the profile, they 'have' you both.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#359

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'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'"

Some of the smartest people in the world work hard to make the site more addictive. You could just as easily say, "Is it so difficult for you to just have a needle and heroin on your desk and shoot up?"

It might be easy for you or me to have it there within reach, but for those who have already had their mental pathways significantly affected by the daily or more frequent hits of dopamine, it's not easy at all.

Re: Facebook is an attack on the open web

#360
post #339

I deactivated my Facebook account several months ago, and it's been about 90% great, 10% frustrating. It's great for all the obvious reasons (less timesuck, less compulsion to endlessly scroll your life away, no notification interruptions). The frustrations are real, though. Primarily it's around events and photos. There are some communities I participate in that regularly organize events through Facebook, and now I…

If u can stop using facebook when u deactivate it, cant u just not deactivate it, and use it for the 10% to stop ur frustration? I treat facebook like i treat my phone. Its a tool. Not a way of life. Been on the internet since '95, back when i was at school i was the only one who would spend hours on the computer, they called us nerds. Now its the opposite, i use the computer at work everyday, and when im home, i sta…

Did a wormhole temporarily merge HN with yahoo answers?
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