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Facebook – You are the Product

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Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#111

Post by tarr11 »

abyssin wrote: post #83
parthdesai wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So tell me, how do i replace around 5 different group chats i have on messenger which can have anywhere between 5-10 people in each chat? Music events that i go to are exclusively promoted on facebook. How do you recommend i find out about these events so that i can get a cheaper ticket price? if anyone wants to organize a plan that has more than 8 people, facebook groups make it much much easier. I personally hate f…

I stopped using the harmful part of Facebook, ie the newsfeed, which is designed to create an addictive behaviour, using the following technique. On every single post in my newsfeed, I tell the application I no longer want to see content from the source. It takes some weeks to dry up, but you end up with an empty page. You still get notifications related to your events, group activities, and you can still use the mes…

this is really cool!

FWIW - mbasic.fb.com does not work. But mbasic.facebook.com does.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#112

Post by tedunangst »

tdurden wrote: post #102
compiler-guy wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a painfully simplistic response. No matter what I do, several activities and groups I want to be a part of are only advertised and organized on facebook. It's not within my power to change that. And that, in fact, _does_ makes it hard to avoid using facebook without being left out.

> And that, in fact, _does_ makes it hard to avoid using facebook without being left out. I think you might mean _fear_ of being left out...friends will find other ways to contact you.

Or not. Maybe they just decide it's not worth the hassle of tracking down the outliers. I guess we can argue that anybody who's a real friend will message you using your preferred comm, though that cuts both ways. If you are a real friend, you'd message them back with their preferred system.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#113

Post by yawz »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #84
bluGill wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would work for my parents. It means my second cousin and I exchange "Christmas cards" and no more which leaves a lot out.

You have almost 9,000 hours in a year. Surely you can find time in them to write to your second cousin.

(replying at this level, because HN seems to have a depth limit for nested messages)

Drew, I think I understand where you're coming from. But as stated earlier on, I don't even connect to Facebook daily, let alone spending hours on it.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#114

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

paulcole wrote: post #107
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's practical! How do you think people kept in touch before the internet? How difficult is it to write up a letter, put it in an envelope with a stamp (which you can pick up at the gas station, grocery store, etc) and drop it in your mailbox? Printing pictures is only a few bucks, and as a side effect the recipient can easily frame it and put it on their hearth!

How many handwritten letters do you send?

I never said handwritten. I send printed letters every month or two.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#115

Post by Karunamon »

wepple wrote: post #59
adrianlmm wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the mod downs? It makes you angry that I find Facebook useful?

Perhaps your comment didn't add anything useful to the discussion other than a lightweight opinion? However, HN downvotes do seem to be trending toward "I disagree" recently too, in my experience.

As if these constant digs at Facebook amount to deep nuance?

By all means, if you can't use a website without becoming addicted to it, disconnect.

But there's no need to damn everyone else with the "that's exactly what an addict would say" kafkatrap rhetoric that seems to be so popular every time the topic comes up.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#116

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

debaserab2 wrote: post #105
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that hard, you've just forgotten how to do these things without Facebook. >I personally hate facebook's mobile apps and some it's policies ( Internet.org comes 1st to my mind), but it's hard to completely stop using it. Try it! Deactivate your account for a week. Do it again later for two weeks. Maybe for a month. When you learn how to live without it, delete it.

It's not really possible if the majority (or even portions) of your social life use facebook to organize events. If you're interested in being a diligent contributor to your social group, you're either stuck trying to evangelize some other tool (usually less convenient for everyone else who doesn't mind facebook) or you're stuck asking for someone to check the FB event for you. You can't really disconnect and easily…

You will be surprised by how easy it is. Take the approach I suggested. Wane yourself off of it and don't quit entirely until you feel comfortable with it.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#117

Post by tedunangst »

saimiam wrote: post #88
bluGill wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is a much better way for me to share pictures of my kids to all my relatives. Sure I can text that picture to each individually, but some people want to see all pictures in full detail while some want to see just a few. I have no way of knowing who wants to see any individual pictures. My parents want to see nearly all. What about my second cousin who I haven't seen in person in 15 years because she lives so…

> Facebook solves a real social problem With all due respect, until FB nominally solved this problem, you (I) never even knew this problem existed. Before it became trivial to share pictures with a long lost acquaintance using FB, we got by just fine showing pics to a tiny subset of friends. There was literally no idea in anyone's head that they needed to show pictures of their children to some guy they last spoke to…

Something about people wanting a faster horse.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#118

Post by cortesoft »

olympus wrote: post #31

I'm here to fix some ignorance, since the source of the "you are the product" idea is not these books. Metafilter user blue_beetle first put this idea online when he said "If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold" in response to the Digg revolt of 2010. The idea apparently existed for a few decades prior regarding TV advertising. I prefer to think blue_beetle was the one wh…

I really don't like that phrase; you are NOT the product that facebook creates.

Facebook creates a product which is a social media network. You PAY for that product with your data and your eyeballs. Facebook takes your payment, turns around, and sells it to advertisers and others interested in the data.

That is not the same as saying you are the product.

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#119

Post by compiler-guy »

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #103
compiler-guy wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a painfully simplistic response. No matter what I do, several activities and groups I want to be a part of are only advertised and organized on facebook. It's not within my power to change that. And that, in fact, _does_ makes it hard to avoid using facebook without being left out.

>No matter what I do, several activities and groups I want to be a part of are only advertised and organized on facebook. It's not within my power to change that. It is. You have the power to choose what you want to be a part of. And these groups have more members than yourself - people who you can ask to help you stay up to date on meetings and such.

I never said I didn't have the power to choose not to be a part of these groups. The point is that I want to be a part of them, and doing that without facebook is 10x the additional friction.

Yes, I could ask someone to forward me the notices, and activities, but how do you propose I participate in the discussions of what to do?

When the voting via facebook poll happens, how do you propose I make my voice heard.

Now, you could argue that facebook isn't worth it. (And that is a perfectly reasonable position to take.) But that is a different position than, "It's easy to make these things work without facebook."

Re: Facebook – You are the Product

#120

Post by hk__2 »

silassales wrote: post #96
steaknsteak wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's my experience. I use it to keep in touch with friends and family, and to keep on top of events being held in my community and by my friends. I'm not sure what I would do without the Event and Group parts of facebook, as many of my friends and communities I'm a part of use those to plan/organize social activities and it works pretty well. One of my close friends who never checks his facebook is constantly out o…

I think the more dangerous problem than being addicted to it, is the affect it can have on you even if you are only on it for a few minutes a day. I find social media causes people to only see the best parts of other people lives and therefore wonder why their life is not that great, and than theres a nice downward spiral of discontent and depression. Social media, used by some only to keep in contact is okay, but th…

> but the subconscious comparison of your real life to others social media life, can be really harmful.

Do you happen to have some papers on that subject? I’ve seen papers on how people present themselves on FB; not on how they "judge" others’ feeds.

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