There probably should be a robot that responds about Facebook posts "you aren't the customer, you are the product." The article is pretty careful to use the term user - undoubtedly we are users. But here is the problematic statement: "This is what happens when the metric of how much time users spend using your thing supersedes the goal of providing legitimate value to your users." The thing is - sure, the user time s…
I've always thought would be interesting to create a survey that would ask FB users: what is the maximum amount they would pay per month to use Facebook? What is it really worth to them? Or, would they continue to use it if it was $10/month? How about 50 cents?
I held out on Messenger for a very long time for the reason that it required way too many permissions upon installation. I was not going to give FB access to my camera, file storage, location, microphone, contacts, etc. No thanks. I've never had the FB app installed. For a while I was checking my messages via the FB website requesting desktop mode or via the desktop browser. I also used to be a big opponent of notifications. Once three things aligned, namely granular permission granting for Messenger, a person I cared to actually chat with enough, and my realization that the only value I got out of FB was in messages, I installed Messenger. Still being the opponent to notifications that I am, I only turned on push notifications for a few select people. No sounds or lights or any other bullshit. Surprisingly, I'm way happier with this setup. I'm far less likely to check FB. I'm not habitually checking for messages from the few people I care about, in general now I feel more control, and I'm not annoyed. I found the result surprising. Occasionally I'll log in to FB and take a look at what's going on, but aside from the skating vidyas it's mostly vacuous crap. In hindsight this all makes sense. Increase the valuable communication between users, give them more control and they'll be happier (at least in my case). Who would've guessed?
I can't even get to Facebook anymore on any of my devices. On all of my Macs, my `/etc/hosts` file includes: 0.0.0.0 facebook.com 0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com And then to double down, I have a custom 1Blocker rule to prevent accidentally opening up any Facebook links on my iPhone: https?://([a-z\.]*)?facebook\.com.*
I’ve done something similar but technically that only prevents you from visiting the main site.
If you want to be really shocked you should search for some of the host files out there that attempt to list every known Facebook-owned host; there are hundreds of lines or more. It is extremely difficult to prevent Facebook tentacles from being loaded by other sites, and it’s surely a losing battle (I bet they register new domains daily).
"The tricks, hooks, and tactics Facebook uses to keep people coming back have gotten more aggressive and explicit. And I feel that takes away from the actual value the platform provides." This is why I stopped using Facebook. I really didn't mind the platform until they crossed the threshold of being a useful product to reminding my each time I used it that I AM the product. I like to fly under the radar and prefer p…
Agreed. I wonder how long before most of FB's users notice how aggressive this is and, perhaps more likely, how boring the feed becomes with these tricks. Is FB getting more aggressive because it wants even more or because it is actually losing clicks/logons/attention?
It’s been over a month or so since I logged in and I received an apparently-real E-mail trying to “help me log back in to Facebook”. I thought, oh the gall to act like that’s the reason I am not there right now. They’re seeming increasingly desperate-and-therefore-creepy lately and it’s not encouraging me to return.
I installed the Lite version of Messenger, and it's way better. (Not available in the US App Store; there are verified APKs floating around the internet.) It's just a bare-bones chat app that launches when I want it, without all the nagging about chat bubbles, their Snapchat knockoff, and whatever else.
You can also go to Facebook on Chrome and request the desktop version of the site- Messages will work in that. That way you don't have to install a Messages app.
Actually it worked for me only to read messages. When I tried to reply all the characters I've entered were disappearing so only sent dash and few commas. Bizarre and that was a new low reached by fb in their push of messenger app on mobile.
The best thing I ever did was delete the Facebook app from my phone. I had already disabled all the notifications, but that didn't change things like deleting the app. Not being able to get to Facebook wherever you are. As silly as it sounds it was liberating. I still access Facebook from my laptop - but now that it's off of my phone, I'm accessing Facebook less and less frequently and I'm find I'm happier as a resul…
Not a Facebook user, but I did the following with Instagram and never regretted it. If you can't delete the Facebook app, at least disable notifications - you can survive without the distraction of your phone constantly lighting up with alerts about likes or comments and so on.
Same. I initially only uninstalled messenger (which intolerably presented me with a popup asking me to enable notifications EVERY TIME I OPENED THE APP ), then got rid of the FB app. Now even on my laptop facebook.com is pointing at localhost in /etc/hosts, which makes me edit a root file to look at it. I'm much, much happier. If it works for you, cool, but if you're dissatisfied and considering abandoning it anyway,…
I installed the Lite version of Messenger, and it's way better. (Not available in the US App Store; there are verified APKs floating around the internet.) It's just a bare-bones chat app that launches when I want it, without all the nagging about chat bubbles, their Snapchat knockoff, and whatever else.
I can't even get to Facebook anymore on any of my devices. On all of my Macs, my `/etc/hosts` file includes: 0.0.0.0 facebook.com 0.0.0.0 www.facebook.com And then to double down, I have a custom 1Blocker rule to prevent accidentally opening up any Facebook links on my iPhone: https?://([a-z\.]*)?facebook\.com.*
I’ve done something similar but technically that only prevents you from visiting the main site. If you want to be really shocked you should search for some of the host files out there that attempt to list every known Facebook-owned host; there are hundreds of lines or more. It is extremely difficult to prevent Facebook tentacles from being loaded by other sites, and it’s surely a losing battle (I bet they register ne…
The best thing I ever did was delete the Facebook app from my phone. I had already disabled all the notifications, but that didn't change things like deleting the app. Not being able to get to Facebook wherever you are. As silly as it sounds it was liberating. I still access Facebook from my laptop - but now that it's off of my phone, I'm accessing Facebook less and less frequently and I'm find I'm happier as a resul…
That's exactly what I did. I also gave myself a ridiculously complex password to further discourage myself from logging in randomly.