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Why do we keep using Facebook?

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Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#51

Post by speedplane »

tpeo wrote: post #40

How much does the average user actually use Facebook, specially nowadays? I'd be rather surprised if the total amount of time spent on Facebook didn't have something like a power-law distribution. The only reason I have an account at all is so that, in the unlikely event that I might be notified of something that I actually care about or that someone might try to reach me, I'll know it. And I'm sure that is true of a…

Zuckerberg and Facebook are smart. They know FB isn't for everyone, that's why they have Instagram and whatsapp.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#52

Post by speedplane »

tpeo wrote: post #48
henrikschroder wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 val…

Agreed. My problems with FB aren't deep rooted or ideological, I used to use it all the time. But now it's gotten so big, and I have so many friends, and friends-of-friends, it feels more like the open internet than a community of my friends.

It's hard to manage, but with the right controls and tweaks, they could make it more comfortable again... and I'd start using it again.

Kind of a good counter-example: LinkedIn may be much smaller and less loved, but when you post something there, you know it's going out to your work colleagues, and it'll maintain the respective level of discourse. FB is just all over the map.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#53

Post by Yetanfou »

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…

Apart from the already mentioned alternative of having zero ads - more or less the way I see the 'net due to the rather extensive ad filtering I apply (on DNS, router and browser) - I'd prefer for ad companies to advertise on sites related to the material they're advertising. Sell drills? Advertise on DIY forums. Sell cat food? Sell on pet forums. Sell sex? Advertise on porn sites. Sell creepy products designed to profile users? Advertise on toilet paper.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#54

Post by srge »

jamesrcole wrote: post #36
srge wrote: post #19

It's been 2 years that I have deleted both my FB accounts (one for family and friends, the other for business), my IG account and my Twitter account. All accounts had many years of activity and substantial following. I never looked back and I am very much happier. What made me decide is that I realized that I had become an self inflicted obligation to create content to feed my online personas every days. Basically I…

I've heard other people make the same point, and I don't understand it. Why did you feel obligated to create content? A lot of the time I've used it, I've personally been happy just seeing what other people have posted.

One could argue that those social platforms are designed to keep you engaged.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#55

Post by humanrebar »

zw123456 wrote: post #9

I removed my account a few months back (you have to request that, you can't delete it on your own, which I think sucks). I did it because I feel that they betrayed our democracy for profit and I do not want to support an organization like that. And that was the feedback I gave them. I do not miss it one bit.

If you think companies like facebook can manipulate democracy, you have problems with open democracy, at least information-age democracy, not facebook in particular.

Undergirding democracy is the idea that citizens are intelligent and trustworthy enough to deal with yellow journalism, propaganda, etc. Or, at least, that is a downside of the least bad approach to governance so far.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#56

Post by Xoros »

I use Facebook essentially as a RSS feed for bands I like since a concert I missed of one of my favorite band in 2007. They were playing in my town and I wasn't aware of it. Since then they split so I'll never see them live.

So I started subscribing on my bands Facebook pages to never miss anything again.

Also using it to comment sometimes.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#57

Post by wink »

pritishc wrote: post #45
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.

Confirmation bias aside, I've actually had people who neevr respond to email, don't use any standalone messengers, only read their private facebook messages weeks later... but are indeed replying to status posts and comments. So yes, you either stop communicating or adapt.

And no, phone calls are not an option. These are people I've never talked to on the phone in my whole life, why would I start now?

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#58

Post by rendall »

In my observation, unhappiness leads to more social media use, rather than the causal arrow going the other way. It's not that Facebook makes people unhappy, but unhappiness that drives many people to post prolifically on Facebook.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#59

Post by skrebbel »

jamesrcole wrote: post #35
skrebbel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want to hear about the new babies, jobs, city moves, projects, and parties that people have going on This is the point. We non Facebook users decided we don't care enough about that stuff. Or at least not until someone tells us about it in person. There's no real problem with hearing half a year late that a friend of a friend, who is also a direct acquaintance of sorts, became a parent.

You're generalising a lot about the motivations of users and non-users.

Fair enough.

Re: Why do we keep using Facebook?

#60

Post by kthejoker2 »

heroprotagonist wrote: post #41
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 p…

Advertising is part of the modern infrastructure because almost every service charges zero dollars for use. So you're asking the wrong question: why won't people pay for social networks?
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