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Facebook’s war on free will

theguardian.com

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Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#181

Post by Chardok »

root_axis wrote: post #175
Chardok wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats not entirely true. Facebook will build a profile on you through like buttons and information shared from family/friends/acquaintances whether you choose to or not.

This is not unique to Facebook; Amazon, Google, Equifax and many other businesses build a profile on you regardless of whether you want them to or not.

Right, just in the same sense that Google and Equifax are not just websites, Facebook is not something you can entirely ignore without consequence.

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#182

Post by SN76477 »

52-6F-62 wrote: post #95
athenot wrote: post #65

> The problem is that when we outsource thinking to machines, we are really outsourcing thinking to the organisations that run the machines. This is the money quote of this article, and it's been on my mind quite a bit as of late. More than ever, we live in a world where there are many forces ready to take full advantage of our laziness. It takes a bit of introspection to really understand the tradeoffs that are appr…

I left Facebook about two years ago now. I nearly immediately lost contact with all of the people I'd spent my time with in the city (outside of work). I don't chase them down for other reasons, but it is striking how much it supplanted everything else. After returning an old work phone I'd made the mistake of not copying all of their numbers over. I moved elsewhere within the city, and so I don't run into them in th…

I removed it from my phone, blocked it in my browser my only way to check it now is with my phone browser ... I still have the heinous facebook messenger app installed.

but much like you the FOMO is gone, but so is a lot of anxiety. I can focus on things that are more important ( reading is my new hobby) and spent more focused time with my family.

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#183

Post by noncoml »

dTal wrote: post #78
noncoml wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we talking about friends or acquaintances? Because if ones friends forget to invite them to events because they are not on FB, then it’s time to find new friends.

While I tend to agree, it's a little like telling someone to just "find a better job"; it's not always so easy. Maybe some people are unfortunate enough to not have real friends, and shallow Facebook connections are all they have. Even though the shallow connections take up time that could be spent forging more meaningful connections with those around them, not everyone is self-confident enough to go cold-turkey.

Definitely, for some people it’s easier said than done, but I think that’s a very small minority and not your average FB user?

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#184

Post by bridge_ro »

ue_ wrote: post #164
bridge_ro wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been thinking about this sort of thing for a couple of months now. I really like the idea of an open-source social network, maybe supported in part or in full by crowdfunding via something like Patreon. If the intention is connection rather than profit, you'd mostly just need to cover server/hosting fees. Of course, that's still not a cheap proposition. But I'd rather have a small network focused on good connect…

Open source social networks already exist, for example GNU Social and Mastodon which form part of the Fediverse.

I'll look those two up - thanks for the tip!

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#186

Post by tyfon »

Chardok wrote: post #157
ryandrake wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...that you can choose whether or not to use.

Thats not entirely true. Facebook will build a profile on you through like buttons and information shared from family/friends/acquaintances whether you choose to or not.

I can't wait for GDPR.

Then facebook/google/whatever can't process data from me without consent (which they do not have without an account)..

"Under GDPR organizations in breach of GDPR can be fined up to 4% of annual global turnover or €20 Million (whichever is greater). This is the maximum fine that can be imposed for the most serious infringements e.g._not having sufficient customer consent to process data_ or violating the core of Privacy by Design concepts."

http://www.eugdpr.org/the-regulation.html

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#187

Post by chillingeffect »

ams6110 wrote: post #85
zizek23 wrote: post #28

It's the Internet that enables communication. Families and friends would be able to communicate once the Internet became possible whether Facebook exists or not. People would be able to use and get value from the Internet whether Google exists or not. These companies add value but they are not the Internet. If they didn't exist the Internet will continue being useful. What they have been able to do is inject themselv…

I'm not sure if you remember the internet before Google, but finding stuff was significantly more difficult. Other search engines were either based off of manually curated indexes or were simple keyword searches and you'd often need to scroll pages of results to find a match that was actually relevant to what you wanted. People used to buy printed books with lists of useful websites to help find things. So yes, the i…

Yes, you're right, BUT finding stuff wasn't always the primary use case in the internet before google.

Many people traversed around from Links section to Links section, or around web rings as their primary use case.

Web sites were connected as trees and rings as opposed to a few central hubs.

This is why the term "surfing the web" used to be much more germane. Today, we don't surf much: we simply target information and acquire it. Or we check daily aggregators/social networks.

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#188

Post by chillingeffect »

ivm wrote: post #130
ams6110 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if you remember the internet before Google, but finding stuff was significantly more difficult. Other search engines were either based off of manually curated indexes or were simple keyword searches and you'd often need to scroll pages of results to find a match that was actually relevant to what you wanted. People used to buy printed books with lists of useful websites to help find things. So yes, the i…

A better search was inevitable. Google achieved it first and snowballed into a monopoly. Same with Facebook – many social networks went extinct just because it was spreading faster. These companies appropriated the natural course of evolution of information exchange between humans.

I don't understand how mp3.com declined. It seemed to be going very strong and then withered. Does anyone know?

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#189

Post by gaius »

feelin_googley wrote: post #169
ivm wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A better search was inevitable. Google achieved it first and snowballed into a monopoly. Same with Facebook – many social networks went extinct just because it was spreading faster. These companies appropriated the natural course of evolution of information exchange between humans.

"A better search was inevitable." I see it this way too. As usual, most of this confused brain dump by yet another technology-challenged journalist could be reduced, per the "engineering mindset", to few lines: Facebook is a website protected by a password. There is a backend database. It contains photos, among other things. (Including personal data no web user would have shared with some random website in the 1990's…

Does every web user really want to visit the same website, all day, every day?

Actually in the 90's the theory was that people did want this, they were called portals and various companies competed to build the ultimate portal that would have your news and stock quotes and weather and whatever else all on your browser's start page.

we have come a long way from the web of the 1990's

In some ways yes, but in others we've come full circle. Facebook is AOL.

Re: Facebook’s war on free will

#190

Post by adamrezich »

emilburzo wrote: post #77
jknz wrote: post #30

Getting off facebook will not suit everyone, mostly because a lot of users will use messenger or need facebook to beventa in the loop of some social events. There is way to empty one's Facebook feed and remove all notifications that are not related to messenger. The solution is to unfollow everyone, until the facebook feed displays "no more posts to show". One can then enjoy the messaging features of facebook without…

Or just install 'Kill news feed' -> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kill-news-feed/hjo... (no affiliation)

or just use messenger.com. I haven't checked my Facebook wall in forever, but I use messenger almost daily to communicate with friends and family.
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