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Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

nautil.us

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Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#61

Post by anigbrowl »

ben_jones wrote: post #34
rxhernandez wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I deleted my Facebook in 2010 and it stayed deleted until the end of 2016. Now I get invited to more events, my friends no longer feel like distant strangers when I see them for the first time in months and I know how all my family is doing. It really sucks seeing how much more of a life some people have through facebook but research is a lifestyle and I knew what I signed up for. Your miles may vary though as I have…

As someone toying with the idea of "getting back into" social media, how did you go about making your profile "normal"? I'm not the type to take tons of selfies, so do I just start out with a shitty profile picture? I feel like it'll look like a fake account, or me like a weird dude, compared to my friends who all have amazing profiles. ^^^ And this is the type of mentality that makes me not want to use social media…

I hardly ever think about how many reactions I get relative to how many my friends get, because different people have different numbers of friends and friendship patterns. It's not a score and I don't know anyone who treats it that way other than people in their teens or involved in marketing.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#62

Post by anigbrowl »

abootstrapper wrote: post #49
eighthnate wrote: post #46

The past 3 months, there hasn't been a single day on HN without a post attacking FB specifically or social media in general by news organizations or other "journalists/writers". Not only that, we get the same generic "I deleted facebook and I feel great" comments. Certainly this isn't the work of the russian trolls. Then who or what is behind the constant "I hate social media" spam.

What if a lot of us actually hate social media.

Get therapy for your anger issues?

I mean, you don't want to use it, don't. I stopped using FB for 5 years but I didn't lecture other people about it. Now I use it a lot and I don't demand that other people follow my lead.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#63

Post by jorgec »

In my experience, i tried to join facebook a couple of months ago and: a) It asked me for a lot of private information. I submit all of them. b) Then i entered. Facebook suggested me, a list of contacts. All of them are ugly people. c) And finally, facebook asked me for a real photo. I used a real photo the first time but i think facebook is a bit faulty.. d) The interface is a real mess.

Conclusion: i am seasoned with linkedin, where everybody is a "winner", may be not but they try to do that. In facebook its the opposite, everybody show the worst.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#64

Post by quickthrower2 »

rxhernandez wrote: post #24
surrey-fringe wrote: post #22

Ever since deleting facebook I've felt so much ___. It's only once I quit the site I was able to take a long hard look at my perception of ____ and realized that everyone else does ____ while I should do _____. I realized that I'm actually ____, not ____. I started handling my _____ relationships in a healthier, more ____ manner.

I deleted my Facebook in 2010 and it stayed deleted until the end of 2016. Now I get invited to more events, my friends no longer feel like distant strangers when I see them for the first time in months and I know how all my family is doing. It really sucks seeing how much more of a life some people have through facebook but research is a lifestyle and I knew what I signed up for. Your miles may vary though as I have…

This is worrying from the perspective of Facebook having so much power. It sounds like in your case, the enjoyment of your life i.e. "get invited to more events" and indeed one of the lower 'needs' is enhanced by joining Facebook (and reduced by leaving it).

If Facebook is the Junk Food of Socializing, it is like a McDonalds that has successfully lobbied for a ban on the sale of home cookware, whilst buying out all the other restaurant chains.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#65

Post by nether »

rayiner wrote: post #42

These articles ignore people’s real alternatives. I’m in my 30s and have a small child. While I love to fly into Chicago or New York for a night of drinking with my still-single friends, that’s not really something I get to do more than once every couple of months. Seeing my wife’s extended family (3,000 miles away in the west coast) is a once every year thing, and seeing my extended family (7,000 miles away in Asia)…

People used to make new friends who lived close to them. Are you unable to do that today?

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#66

Post by sonnyz »

anigbrowl wrote: post #60
caterama wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having quit Facebook some 4+ years ago, I think about these things too and have come to the conclusion that: a) I don't need to know about the project my distant friend is working on, or the food anyone is making or eating* . b) A solution that existed before Facebook were X-Mas cards. So, I think that's what I'll be doing when I no longer see my parents and close friends daily. * On a side note, my mom calls my gran…

This isn't helpful. Fine, you don't care about your distant friends/relatives daily activities, but that's no help to those of us who do . I live in California and some people who are personally important to me live in florida. I talk to them at least once a day but on an ad-hoc basis, so email isn't that suitable. Edit: corrected geographic confusion Really, what is the point of a post like yours other than to negat…

I think the point of his/her post is to show that from his/her perspective, the "connection" you get to friends and family via facebook isn't valuable. Although it may be to some, it isn't to everyone.

I have to agree, as someone that quit many years ago and hasn't looked back since. I still communicate with my long distance relatives, just not publicly. I use a combination of Google Hangouts, email, and just plain old phone calls to keep up to date with their lives. I share photos daily, via google photos, directly to those that I want to see them. And my family, who happen to use Facebook, know to send me photos using other methods.

This way, I only get information/photos that is meant for me to see. Not just every day stuff that's going on in everyone's life. To me, that's not important to my relationships, and is really a waste of my time that I can be using with my family in my house. The interactions I do share, though, is extremely important to me.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#67

Post by codezero »

jorgec wrote: post #63

In my experience, i tried to join facebook a couple of months ago and: a) It asked me for a lot of private information. I submit all of them. b) Then i entered. Facebook suggested me, a list of contacts. All of them are ugly people. c) And finally, facebook asked me for a real photo. I used a real photo the first time but i think facebook is a bit faulty.. d) The interface is a real mess. Conclusion: i am seasoned wi…

I’m confused about b)

Were you expecting Facebook to only suggest attractive people, if so why?

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#68

Post by Swizec »

badestrand wrote: post #54
rayiner wrote: post #42

These articles ignore people’s real alternatives. I’m in my 30s and have a small child. While I love to fly into Chicago or New York for a night of drinking with my still-single friends, that’s not really something I get to do more than once every couple of months. Seeing my wife’s extended family (3,000 miles away in the west coast) is a once every year thing, and seeing my extended family (7,000 miles away in Asia)…

I would love it if Facebook worked that way for me. But unfortunately its just selfies and crappy shares of motivational or "funny" memes. The people that I am interested in mostly never post anything - and me neither, because I a) would like to share with close friends and family but not everyone I am connected to* and b) I find it too stressful to having to worry that my post won't garner many likes and thus will b…

> I find it too stressful to having to worry that my post won't garner many likes and thus will be a "social failure"

Shitposting has helped me personally get over that. I share stuff I find interesting and fun. If people like it, wonderful, if they don’t, eh it was a shitpost anyway what do I care.

The reasons I keep doing it are in part the same as everyone, it’s great when a little thing you found cool garners some attention, much dopamine, or brings out some stimulating discussion, much learn. But when it doesn’t do any of those, it still helps me better remember and notice those little moments in life that otherwise pale into the background. A form of intentionalness and inthemomentness or whatever the zen buzzwords are these days, if you will.

Strangely enough, I get more comments and questions IRL than I do likes/comments on Facebook. Seems people love to watch and read, but don’t lik publicly exposing themselves as having done so.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#69

Post by dynamoa »

rayiner wrote: post #42

These articles ignore people’s real alternatives. I’m in my 30s and have a small child. While I love to fly into Chicago or New York for a night of drinking with my still-single friends, that’s not really something I get to do more than once every couple of months. Seeing my wife’s extended family (3,000 miles away in the west coast) is a once every year thing, and seeing my extended family (7,000 miles away in Asia)…

But you don't need Facebook for any of that. If you are truly really interested on what your family and friends are up to, message them, call them up or use video chat. That way you can have a direct and personal communication with them, which is more important to human relationships than the passive mass consumption of whatever content, good or bad, they are spitting out on their feed.

Re: Facebook Is the Junk Food of Socializing (2015)

#70

Post by Noos »

Why do people pay articles like this any mind? It's just yet another moral panic over a technology that wound up not doing what the elite wanted. You could replace the subject with television or video games and the article wouldn't change all that much.
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