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I miss Facebook

cfenollosa.com

51–60 of 123 posts

Re: I miss Facebook

#51
post #13

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 still use IRC. People are still plenty chatty.

Re: I miss Facebook

#52
This really hits home. So what ruined Facebook?

The Wall was replaced by an algorithm which sunk original content below a flood of ads, fake news, and externally shared content "you might like". We stopped seeing original content. Then, people stopped sharing personal stuff, as nobody interacted with it.

Re: I miss Facebook

#53
I am from approximately the same age group as the author. I remember FidoNet and PhpBB forums. I remember blogging, and LiveJournal. But I completely missed the Facebook craze. The first time I logged into Facebook — after having used LiveJournal for several years — I was shocked by the unfamiliarity and unintuitiveness of the interface, and the total absence of formatting options. I looked around — and then ran back to the familiar internet tools and services.

It’s weird. Seeing stories pop up lately about how people get disenchanted with Facebook, I keep wondering what the big deal was.

(And another source of wonder and cognitive dissonance is how a company with what seemed like such an unappealing product managed to attract so smart engineers and to bring about a number of significant technical innovations.)

Re: I miss Facebook

#54
post #49
post #44

IMO Facebook has three useful features left: the personal rolodex, event planning, and groups. I truly think that a large number of users would migrate over if someone replicated those three. No large info collection on your profile, no wall or posts, just a friend/messaging option, the ability to create events, and to organize into groups made by users to make posts there only, not in public. You know, to actually m…

Those were the same three features that were a core part of thefacebook before they introduced the News Feed. If it was the same site that it was in 2005, but with more people, I'd still be using it. But now, it's mainly a machine that turns other people's content into dollars.

If the news feed was status updates only, no links, no news, no pics, it’d be decent.

Re: I miss Facebook

#55

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…

Nice alternatives for (3) are 9gag and imgur. They got the 'typical': connect.facebook.net, google-analytics.com, googletagservices.com, gstatic.com, imasdk.googleapis.com, scorecardresearch.com, platform.twitter.com, amplitude.com, amazon-adsystem.com, googletagmanager.com but once you block them with Privacy Badger and/or NoScript (or add them to your hosts file), they are an endless source of memes and other funni…

>but once you block them with Privacy Badger and/or NoScript

or run uBlock in dynamic filtering mode.

Re: I miss Facebook

#56

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…

Nice alternatives for (3) are 9gag and imgur. They got the 'typical': connect.facebook.net, google-analytics.com, googletagservices.com, gstatic.com, imasdk.googleapis.com, scorecardresearch.com, platform.twitter.com, amplitude.com, amazon-adsystem.com, googletagmanager.com but once you block them with Privacy Badger and/or NoScript (or add them to your hosts file), they are an endless source of memes and other funni…

I don't want to sound like a snob, but 9GAG and Imgur are pretty awful communities with content taken from Reddit–which itself "steals" content, but it's less horrible about it. Both of these communities are heavily moderated and most users don't actually realize where their "fresh memes" are coming from: 9GAG's moderation team actually sways voting to control what hits the front page and immediately bans accounts that mention "Reddit" in any way.

Re: I miss Facebook

#57
As soon as Facebook became a widespread thing I knew it was going to become a shitshow, and Zuckersnuffles was such an obvious snake I couldn't even consider empowering him by turning over personal info. I've never had a real account, and even my fake dev accounts fell into disuse as I rejected more contracting gigs involving FB integration. I feel somewhat vindicated, though we have a way to go when even many 'ethical' NGOs still require FB for engagement.

Re: I miss Facebook

#58
I miss 2005-2007 era Facebook. It was so different before the Newsfeed was introduced. It was a really different concept when it was limited to college students. You could add your dorm or class and see other students in the same groups. It was really useful for making friends.

Now it’s just shameless bragging or political shouting and Zuck has become a quasi-villain which makes using it more unsavory.

Re: I miss Facebook

#59

My solution was to create a fake account with a fake name on FB, never download the app to my phone, never share my phone number, never upload any contacts, never use a real picture, and only add close friends who know who the fake profile is. Makes me pretty much impossible to look up on the system, I value my privacy and not being listed is important to me. This gives me the best of both worlds. I can join all the…

I'd expect it to not be very hard to find you, from the perspective of someone willing to put in a bit of effort, based on who your friends are associated with.

Re: I miss Facebook

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you just turn up in jeans/t-shirt to listen to some Rachmaninoff?

You don't? I generally wear long sleeves, but I prefer to be comfortable at concerts.

I actually haven't been to one, but I should go and see what it's like. Apparently the sound is much better?

Wearing a suit feels a bit pompous, but it would be interesting to hear what the musicians and conductors think about the audiance's attire. I assume most don't care.

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