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Why do we keep using Facebook?

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Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#41

Post by heroprotagonist »

ljamf wrote: post #22

Full disclosure up front: i work for a company which sells ads based on user behavior. I get that it's creepy, "spying" on users, but really, would you rather have ads from services which know nothing about you? Companies want to buy ads that users are interested in, obviously. If I have a company selling vegan food i would optimally only buy ads shown to people who are already vegan, right? And they probably don't w…

> would you rather have ads from services which know nothing about you?

Yes, absolutely. Advertisements are not something I seek out. In fact, I do my best to minimize any exposure to them. If they know about me, they are more effective.

I understand that I am not immune to the ability of advertising and marketing to influence behavior. I'd rather start a purchasing decision with zero information than from a biased position because of brand familiarity or other psychological tricks.

If you consider advertising to be the commercial implementation of psychological tactics designed to manipulate your behavior based on decades of data and research, why _would_ you want to provide advertisers with greater ability to manipulate you?

If it's just "show vegan ads to vegan people" why is advertising such a cornerstone of modern infrastructure? I trust the big advertising networks less than a sleazy used-car salesman.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#42

Post by johnchristopher »

I am in a weird situation where I have to teach people about Facebook, pages and ad campaign while I myself haven't logged (not even for a sneak peek) or posted in a year. That thing is a cancer and one of the aspects of my job is basically to be a Facebook evangelist.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#43

Post by bukgoogle »

Please people stop it. They will inject they agenda on everything.

Trying push they political agenda.

They steal your private information and sell it.

Follow, locate you with they mobole apps.

Prosecute you for liking anything, expose your information to government / CIA officials..

Just take a moment and listen all CIA whistleblower statements..

Alex Jones have been talking about this now over 10 years and still.. there people who just follow the mainstream liars.. quite unbelievable

Why people ? I really wonder so many times the ethos of these companies.. google, facebook, twitter .. all just same big brotherhood company ..

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#44

Post by blfr »

henrikschroder wrote: post #24
Kluny wrote: post #12

Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Fair enough, but I'm in the same camp as the article's author, and looking for a way out. I might be unique, but I didn't really have much of a social life before facebook. That's not causal relationship - before 2007ish I was a very introverted kid who didn't know how to make friends or form strong relationships. A…

> Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Let's just say that the "sour grapes" crowd are much more likely to pile on to stories like this. Facebook provides me and my friends with immense value, I'm a very happy user, and as long as that value is higher than the annoyances of using Facebook, we will keep using it. The reality is that Facebook's DAU numbe…

Sour about what? Using Signal instead of Messenger?

Facebook's DAU numbers and engagement metrics just keep on rising

and OP's

*If Facebook makes people unhappy, and the more they use it the unhappier they are, why does usage continue to grow? Not only are more people using it, a higher proportion are checking Facebook at least once a day.

are also true of heroin. And no, I'm not saying that Facebook is like an opioid but it just isn't a convincing argument about its value.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#45

Post by pritishc »

Kluny wrote: post #12

Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Fair enough, but I'm in the same camp as the article's author, and looking for a way out. I might be unique, but I didn't really have much of a social life before facebook. That's not causal relationship - before 2007ish I was a very introverted kid who didn't know how to make friends or form strong relationships. A…

If what you want to maintain is contact with all those people, you can deactivate your Facebook but keep Messenger on. They're separate apps. It's worked wonders for me.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#46

Post by KozmoNau7 »

ubercow wrote: post #6
KozmoNau7 wrote: post #5

I don't know about others, but I use it primarily to keep up to date on bands I like, and because it's a convenient way to manage an event and invite people.

>keep up to date on bands I like Specifically for this use case I like Songkick [0]. Lets me know when anyone I'm following is touring near me. Lets you import artists from Spotify too. 0: https://www.songkick.com/home

I used Bandsintown for the same thing for a while. But neither gives you updates straight from the bands, about contests and other stuff that isn't directly tour-related.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#47

Post by xiaoma »

henrikschroder wrote: post #24
Kluny wrote: post #12

Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Fair enough, but I'm in the same camp as the article's author, and looking for a way out. I might be unique, but I didn't really have much of a social life before facebook. That's not causal relationship - before 2007ish I was a very introverted kid who didn't know how to make friends or form strong relationships. A…

> Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Let's just say that the "sour grapes" crowd are much more likely to pile on to stories like this. Facebook provides me and my friends with immense value, I'm a very happy user, and as long as that value is higher than the annoyances of using Facebook, we will keep using it. The reality is that Facebook's DAU numbe…

Zynga also had great DAU numbers while frustrating more and more of its users. Blackhat engagement techniques are strong in the short to medium time horizon. There's so much opportunity for fb if they could just focus on slightly different goals.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#48

Post by tpeo »

henrikschroder wrote: post #24
Kluny wrote: post #12

Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Fair enough, but I'm in the same camp as the article's author, and looking for a way out. I might be unique, but I didn't really have much of a social life before facebook. That's not causal relationship - before 2007ish I was a very introverted kid who didn't know how to make friends or form strong relationships. A…

> Based on the other comments so far, it sounds like HN'ers mostly don't use facebook and don't miss it. Let's just say that the "sour grapes" crowd are much more likely to pile on to stories like this. Facebook provides me and my friends with immense value, I'm a very happy user, and as long as that value is higher than the annoyances of using Facebook, we will keep using it. The reality is that Facebook's DAU numbe…

It's not like having and using Facebook is necessarily unfeasible for people who aren't crazy about it, which makes that a bad metaphor. Having a case of "sour grapes" over Facebook makes as much sense as having a case of "sour grapes" over pie. Just go out and buy some if you want. But what makes it a really bad metaphor is that the likelihood of someone using Facebook or not on a daily basis depends on how much value they attach to it. But why would anyone resent others for doing stuff that they don't care about?

Now, if you think Facebook provides with you with something of value, good for you. You're using a service and you're happy about it. But that says nothing about the preferences of others.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#49

Post by speedplane »

jamesrcole wrote: post #30
speedplane wrote: post #26

Facebook says that 5.5%-11% of accounts are "fake". I'd guess the number is higher. There is so much spam, fake friend requests, and general internet hucksters on FB, that I've lost trust in the platform. Real-life people send me friend requests a few times a week, but I easily get 5-10 spammer friend requests a day. I don't know if stuff I'm reading is (1) just there; (2) put there due to an algorithm trying to cate…

I don't know what the average person's FB experience is like, but yours sounds very different to mine. I rarely get fake friend requests.

Not sure what I'm doing, I got 6 requests in the past 2 days. As far as I can tell, all but one are fakes. Sometimes it's hard to tell if it's a fake or a person who I met only briefly.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#50

Post by speedplane »

ship_it wrote: post #29
speedplane wrote: post #26

Facebook says that 5.5%-11% of accounts are "fake". I'd guess the number is higher. There is so much spam, fake friend requests, and general internet hucksters on FB, that I've lost trust in the platform. Real-life people send me friend requests a few times a week, but I easily get 5-10 spammer friend requests a day. I don't know if stuff I'm reading is (1) just there; (2) put there due to an algorithm trying to cate…

Just curious, why are you still on there?

I don't have a moral or ideological opposition to FB, more of a practical one... I don't really know who my friends are on there or who I'm talking to when I post something. I know I could exhaustively go through my friends and sort them out... but it's a pain. So I keep the account and check in once every few months. If they fixed the problems, I'd use it more.
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