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Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

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Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#51

Post by bbarn »

laurieg wrote: post #13
bbarn wrote: post #7

I've said it before here, and I'll say it every time it's relevant: Stop using Facebook. Start telling your friends and family to do the same. As the "smart computer person" in many people's lives, you can be the voice they need to hear.

I would like to stop, but the devil is in the details. Facebook is used for many social and business events. I get a lot of work via contacts that come through facebook. Withought it I'm certain I would miss out on some of these. I'd also miss out on keeping up with family abroad. Do you have any suggestions?

4 years later, and I have missed out on invitations to a few parties I probably didn't want to go to, and one that comes to mind that I did want to go to, but found out about with enough time anyway. I honestly believe they've done a fantastic job convincing you it's more important to you than it is.

It sounds like from your examples you're the perfect case for lock-in they are after. It's penetrated your business and family life so much you're afraid to leave it. That bothered me when I started to feel like that, which is why I left. Since then so many other things have happened (there's a link-fest from another commenter on this thread that I won't bother to compete with - thanks) that I'm pretty good with accepting that I might have missed out on a few things as a result.

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#52

Post by adrianlmm »

naasking wrote: post #40
adrianlmm wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, who are those people?

Are you suggesting that only Google employees can hate and distrust Facebook?

It is weird that Facebook always get bashed for privacy and Google (who is even worse in that aspect) always get a free pass, just saying.

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#53

Post by austenallred »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #37
batiudrami wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The HN set really doesn't seem to understand where the value of Facebook actually is. It's not the feed. The feed is mind numbing, time wasting garbage. It's being able to communicate and organise things, with all your friends, in the one place. It's in Facebook Messenger, which everyone has. It's in events organisation and events discovery. It's in groups. Facebook supplies a directory of everything happening in my…

I just call my friends up. Crazy, I know. I don't need an algorithmic feed to tell me what my interests are and what my friends are doing because I know the first and there are other ways of doing the latter that don't involve giving up my privacy.

> I just call my friends up. Crazy, I know.

There's nothing wrong with calling friends up, but that takes a lot of work and a synchronous connection between two people. There are hundreds of people I want to know about or stay in touch with but don't have the time to call them all up individually.

Facebook makes being friends easier. That's a pretty solid value add. I would probably lose a lot of friends more easily if I didn't have Facebook.

You may not value that, but I find it much more valuable than the value I'd gain from making sure Facebook doesn't know enough about me to show me relevant ads.

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#54

Post by aaron-lebo »

Sacho wrote: post #47
whatevthrow31 wrote: post #20

Ok, I had to make a throwaway for this because apparently its a heated debate. Why does everything Facebook do have to be so heavily criticized? Safety Check is a wonderful feature. If I remember correctly, it started off as an internal hackathon project that got turned into a full feature. They get shit if they turn it on (here), and if they don't turn it on (past tragedies where they failed to turn it on). Why does…

I don't have a strong opinion about your general question, but this is easily explainable: > Safety Check is a wonderful feature. If I remember correctly, it started off as an internal hackathon project that got turned into a full feature. They get shit if they turn it on (here), and if they don't turn it on (past tragedies where they failed to turn it on). It's just not the same people doing the complaining. That so…

They don't just have lots of users, they have more users than any country in the history of the world (that's 1.9 billion monthly users). Therefore there are potentially massive, world-changing consequences to everything they do, and even those who don't use it can't opt out of the effects.

Do you really feel like a non-democratic oligarchy (or more inflammatory language, a dictator) should have that much power?

edit: posted too much to make a proper reply, but China is only at 1.3 billion and is obviously a lot more localized

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#55

Post by adrianlmm »

icanhackit wrote: post #44
adrianlmm wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then, who are those people?

In my case, someone who thinks that it dumbs-down the population, leaving them in an echo chamber of made-up bullshit, lifestyle signalling and narcissism. My position does ignore the positive aspects of Facebook like finding old acquaintances, coordinating social events etc, but then even cannibalism has its bright sides.

Don't live the life of others, is not your problem.

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#56

Post by ebbv »

whatevthrow31 wrote: post #20

Ok, I had to make a throwaway for this because apparently its a heated debate. Why does everything Facebook do have to be so heavily criticized? Safety Check is a wonderful feature. If I remember correctly, it started off as an internal hackathon project that got turned into a full feature. They get shit if they turn it on (here), and if they don't turn it on (past tragedies where they failed to turn it on). Why does…

Are you kidding me? This is not a "wonderful feature" this is a blatant attempt to capitalize on disasters and turn it into user engagement which becomes ad revenue for Facebook. Give me a break.

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#57

Post by austenallred »

naasking wrote: post #48
austenallred wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What rationale could I possibly give someone to stop using Facebook that would convince them to forgo all of the value they get from it?

Actual empirical studies that show they DON'T get any value from it, and that it actually makes people more miserable on the whole?

Source?

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#58

Post by SeeDave »

clusmore wrote: post #19

>But by making Safety Check a default expectation Facebook flips the norms of societal behavior and suddenly no one can feel safe unless everyone has manually checked the Facebook box marked “safe”. I'm not buying this statement. Where is the evidence of this? The article features two tweets from nondescript people stating they think the feature spreads unnecessary fear, but features no tweets from people who actuall…

It's not speculation, in my opinion, because the "Safety Check" feature gives the impression that every human being potentially affected by a terrorist attack/natural disaster/unfortunate circumstance is completely and totally unsafe (killed, raped, beaten, burned, and so on) lest they broadcast their safeness to Facebook.

It's one thing to scream "FIRE!" in a crowded theater, but is it not equally damaging to imply that loved ones are in danger lest they broadcast their safety on your platform?

Re: Facebook’s Safety Check is a stress-inducing flip of social norms

#60

Post by raleighm »

whatevthrow31 wrote: post #20

Ok, I had to make a throwaway for this because apparently its a heated debate. Why does everything Facebook do have to be so heavily criticized? Safety Check is a wonderful feature. If I remember correctly, it started off as an internal hackathon project that got turned into a full feature. They get shit if they turn it on (here), and if they don't turn it on (past tragedies where they failed to turn it on). Why does…

Facebook's hooks are my relationships. Leveraging relationships in order to drive engagement isn't problematic in itself; that's just the business Facebook is in, and I accept that by using the site. But there are ways and means. Facebook's all too often feel so tone-deaf it's insulting, given the special nature of the content I've entrusted to them. Safety check's radical over-inclusiveness is an example. And the rates they charge even the nonprofit fundraisers - that strikes me as just shameless.
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