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Facebook wants your children's mind

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131–140 of 155 posts

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally use it quite a bit for keeping these relationships alive. I think Facebook is a great tool for that. I have contentious debates over ideas with people I know, but more importantly, with people a couple links away from me. It's been an extremely helpful bridge out of the filter bubble I'd probably otherwise inhabit. Of course, I'm not at all sure the benefits I've gotten have any resemblance to most peopl…

Surely there’s a way to keep these relationships alive outside of the system! Even an opportunity to make them more meaningful.

We share video with grandparents, for example, you could do it by links sent over email but social-media is easier. I used to use YouTube, but Facebook upload is easier and privacy controls are easier for me.

We get to see them about twice a year because of cost and distance of travel.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#132
post #26

All advertising is (intended to be) mind control. It wants to get you to take an action you weren't previously inclined to take. It follows that any product that's successful at controlling people can sell that control. If you consider the implications of Facebook-as-mass-mind-control, then Russian election-meddling, viral suicides, and all of Facebook's other facets make a lot of sense. It also makes sense that Face…

Targeted brainwashing as a service

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#133

Zuck: > My philosophy is that for education you need to start at a really, really young age. According to Wikipedia, Zuck has two children. Let's see their public profiles!

If you replace "education" with "indoctrination" in that statement, you end up with what he actually means.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My reason to use Facebook is to communicate with local businesses. They are not responsive on emails and calling them seem to much a hassle. I use it for purely 'commercial' purpose and not remotely close of gaining information about what's going on on the world. One other reason for me just 'having' it oppose to using it, it I just moved into a new city. It's, I think, a good way to have them added on the platform t…

I would check out this app called “the telephone”. They say it was invented in 1876 and that local businesses answer them. When I use the app, I receive near instant feedback. There is even full-duplex voice recognition.

Asynchronicity is a benefit to me of messaging systems, small businesses (I'm part of one) are more responsive via SMS or Facebook because it's easier to be so. Most calls to us go to answerphone, many times we return a call and get a voicemail service, ... that gets tiresome fast.

With POTS we have to keep contacts separate, with a meeting service contract retention and interaction history - which improve customer service - are built in.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#135
post #5

Jeez I quit Facebook like 6 years ago and never looked back. What’s the real need here? Old buddies you barely know of? Let them go. Just drop FB, it’s not that important, and 70% of people are clearly (by reading all the “I quit Facebook drama posts”) over attached to it.

I would have quit Facebook years ago, apart from the need for Messenger and the Events system. Sure, people you knew years ago might be on Facebook, but people you currently know are also there, and it's often the easiest way to coordinate an event or get in contact with people, because they actually bother to check it. I basically haven't used the feed part of Facebook in years, and I am happy to stay away.

You can disable your account and still use Messenger, you know.

That's what I'm doing. Hopefully someday I can kill Messenger too.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#136
post #41
post #5

Jeez I quit Facebook like 6 years ago and never looked back. What’s the real need here? Old buddies you barely know of? Let them go. Just drop FB, it’s not that important, and 70% of people are clearly (by reading all the “I quit Facebook drama posts”) over attached to it.

I think people forget that it is natural and necessary to have friendships that end or change. You don't need to know everyone your entire life.

But there's utility in a wide-field of acquaintances. It's not needed, you can live on an island by yourself after all, some will find the utility is not worth the cost.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#137
post #120
post #5

Jeez I quit Facebook like 6 years ago and never looked back. What’s the real need here? Old buddies you barely know of? Let them go. Just drop FB, it’s not that important, and 70% of people are clearly (by reading all the “I quit Facebook drama posts”) over attached to it.

Exactly. I quit Facebook about a month ago, not missing it one bit. Never used Instagram really, WhatsApp is soon to follow.

Same. I had quit some years ago but that lasted only six months and I went back. Think it'll stick this time.

I use/abuse Twitter and Instagram though. I'm not nearly as glued to them as a Facebook feed though and they've actually provided real value/connections to me.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Protip: you can call businesses but you don't have to answer any calls from numbers you don't know or approve. This is a nice balance that I maintain. I used to be phone-shy but at some point I just realised that it's usually the fastest way to get the answers or service I look for.

The phone rings anyways though...and they keep trying relentlessly

You can always mute your phone and join the national do-not-call registry to cut down on the calls.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#139
post #5

Jeez I quit Facebook like 6 years ago and never looked back. What’s the real need here? Old buddies you barely know of? Let them go. Just drop FB, it’s not that important, and 70% of people are clearly (by reading all the “I quit Facebook drama posts”) over attached to it.

Lots of social groups I'm a part of use fb for discussion and event coordination. There's no way to make other people use email or slack or whatever your favorite tool is; the only two options are FB and non participation.

Re: Facebook wants your children's mind

#140

What if we declared Facebook to be a monopoly and broke it up like we did Ma Bell in the 70s? I dunno. Feels like it's too big, too ubiquitous, and is too much oriented towards encouraging behaviors that are much better for their pockets than for anyone using it. Hell, look at this story: Facebook already has (according to a quick google search, [citation needed]) about 58% of the US' entire adult population, or 3/4…

An interesting idea, which raises a lot of questions: Along which lines could it be broken up? Datacenters? Subsets of the social graph? Would you liked to be grouped with your family, your school or your church? It seems very plausible that one of them would grow and engulf everyone, while the others woulg go the way of MySpace. What then?

There is really only one change that needs to be made: undo the Instagram acquisition.
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