11–20 of 123 posts
Nowadays I often wonder if my sentimental feeling about the social networks of yesterday is just a function of me getting old.
The world changes. It is probably neither better nor worse. It’s just different.
Facebook is designed to be addictive and pervasive. Missing it does not mean you need it back in your life. Stay strong.
After reading the article, better phrasing would be “I miss what Facebook used to be”. It may be addictive and pervasive now, but the feeling is that it no longer fills the niche it used to.
So when I say I miss IRC, it’s probably more true to say that I miss the freedom that comes with having almost no responsibilities. Maybe I should work on making more of my time, mine though.
The social landscape has changed for the worse. People no longer want to connect with friends, they want to show off how better/popular/wealthier they think they are.
Even if someone relaunched that era's Facebook without all the crap I wouldn't be surprised if today's society still manages to make it toxic.
For me the main uses of FB are now:
1) Rolodex of friends, with reminders from the ones who actually use it.
2) Bad version of stumbleupon. Seriously large amount of unuseful content, but it does kick up something interesting now and again.
3) Reasonable funnies stream. There's always someone with a good meme.
There's no real content though. All the news commentary is simply terrible. Loads of people trying to be funny. An enormous number of flamewars. Very few people who know anything at all, not just in politics but science as well. The actually insightful comments are drowned out completely.
Other things:
- Loads of comments are just people tagging a friend so they see an article. FB could fix this very easily, I don't really care if Richard Head wants his friend James Smith to see some article.
- Autoplay videos are annoying
- Obvious parasite accounts aren't dealt with. I know my dad hasn't started a new account with the same pic and added me. Do something about it.
All in all, I'm not sure FB would have become FB if its product was what it is now 10 yers ago.
Perhaps the writer misses their 20s now that they are 35, like almost everyone.
I miss IRC, for a lot of the same reasons the author misses Facebook. Being above 35 like the author, I think it’s more the fact that people just aren’t chatty anymore. It’s anecdotal of course, but if I look at myself, I’m really not that chatty anymore either. I too used to have late night chats about random stupid things, but right now, I can even remember when I last saw 3AM unless it was to feed a baby or clean…
Hits the nail on the head. For me the main uses of FB are now: 1) Rolodex of friends, with reminders from the ones who actually use it. 2) Bad version of stumbleupon. Seriously large amount of unuseful content, but it does kick up something interesting now and again. 3) Reasonable funnies stream. There's always someone with a good meme. There's no real content though. All the news commentary is simply terrible. Loads…
I miss IRC, for a lot of the same reasons the author misses Facebook. Being above 35 like the author, I think it’s more the fact that people just aren’t chatty anymore. It’s anecdotal of course, but if I look at myself, I’m really not that chatty anymore either. I too used to have late night chats about random stupid things, but right now, I can even remember when I last saw 3AM unless it was to feed a baby or clean…
I am not sure the "niche" Facebook used to fill even exists anymore. The social landscape has changed for the worse. People no longer want to connect with friends, they want to show off how better/popular/wealthier they think they are. Even if someone relaunched that era's Facebook without all the crap I wouldn't be surprised if today's society still manages to make it toxic.