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Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

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Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#81

Post by ChuckMcM »

evgen wrote: post #17
ChuckMcM wrote: post #6

Cache link is essential, of course the term 'gaslighting' [1] may be common in some groups, it was new to me. The general theme is that Facebook is making changes which make the service benefit Facebook more and is less user friendly. I'm not sure it rises to the level of abuse implied by the term but that is clearly subjective. The 'answer' of course is to leave. I know, I know, "But all my friends are there!" or "N…

The 'good' Facebook you are looking for has to charge its users for accounts because that is the only way to pay the bills without selling you off to less purient interests. Is that related to how the only 'good' search engine would be one that has to charge you per-search lest it be forced to sell your click info and search terms to less prurient interests?

Its a fair point. One would hope that the only information you share with advertisers is what the person is looking for, not things like they just signed up for a ski vacation with family, or recently became single, Etc.

One of the ways Blekko (a search engine) differentiates itself in this space is by having a privacy policy that let you keep all of your data private, up to and including not being advertised to at all. (and yes I work there, and no this isn't my pushing 'my' search engine, just that you applied your response to search engines and there is an existence proof of folks who took that step to give you the option of not sharing anything about your searches with anyone)

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#82

Post by pak »

thom wrote: post #63
droithomme wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm definitely not criticizing anyone who wants to be in the Matrix, I believe in freedom and free will. I read the referenced article and it was yet another one by someone in the Matrix complaining about the Matrix. It seems such a strange complaint since people are not only able to leave at any time but there are many other cyberworlds they could inhabit alternatively, and many they can even create themselves to th…

Okay, so long as we're not being incredibly creepy and paranoid then.

You know what's incredibly creepy? 3000 faceless people in Palo Alto know more about your distant friends than you will ever know.

Depending on how much time you spend on the site, they probably also have profiled a sizable portion of your thoughts simply by tracking clicks and pageviews.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#83

Post by mark_l_watson »

I like to login to FB for several minutes once or twice a week - a quick way to see what some friends are doing. However, I logout as soon as I am done. I also went through and disabled all FB apps, except for my own test app.

Given these simple precautions, is there really anything wrong with FB? Am I missing something?

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#84

Post by avree »

anildash wrote: post #39
chimeracoder wrote: post #32

How ironic that this blog's own comment system relies on Facebook.

It's not ironic, it's deliberate. I want to make sure I'm making informed criticisms of Facebook based on actual usage of the service as both an individual user and as a publisher.

Sorry, but this seems like a platitude.

If you had actually used the Facebook Comments system as a user outside of your own blog, you would realize that the behavior you're complaining about doesn't exist (except on your site, where a bug is apparently causing it.)

Comments on Techcrunch, for example, which uses this system do not flag any errors.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#85

Post by carols10cents »

bsimpson wrote: post #43

Good luck with that. Imagine all the YouTube-quality comments that would flood crbug: PLZ FIX TEH FACEBOOK LOGIN SCREEN!! We can have discussions all we like about whether or not Facebook is a net-positive or a net-negative for the Web, but there's no way Google, Microsoft, or Apple is going to blacklist them.

Exactly! I hate to say this because it makes me sound like a tech elitist, but some people really do need those warnings because they can't tell what website they're on.

See the ReadWriteWeb article that had to put a big "this is not Facebook" notice on it.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#86

Post by MBlume »

mark_l_watson wrote: post #83

I like to login to FB for several minutes once or twice a week - a quick way to see what some friends are doing. However, I logout as soon as I am done. I also went through and disabled all FB apps, except for my own test app. Given these simple precautions, is there really anything wrong with FB? Am I missing something?

If you think that people less prudent than you should be "protected" from Facebook, then your participation may be harmful to them because it's part of what encourages them to participate.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#87

Post by benregenspan »

anildash wrote: post #66
chc wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think so? It's intellectually honest to suggest that Stop Badware — a system intended to cordon off viruses, spyware and surreptitiously installed junkware — should be used to punish a site because its threat detection algorithms are overly cautious? That doesn't strike you as even a little bit spiteful?

Stop Badware regularly flags sites that issue spurious security warnings in an attempt to mislead users. Facebook certainly falls under that description.

But you didn't make a case either that Facebook is attempting to mislead users, or indeed that their actions are misleading users at all. A number of sites gate outbound traffic for security reasons, and the language Facebook shows users is totally consistent with this - it doesn't read "You are about to visit a dangerous site", instead it warns users in generic language of phishing, etc. The error here is attributing malice to a bug or annoyingly-implemented feature. That feature clearly falls short of any reasonable "badware" criteria.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#88

Post by [deleted] »

saturdayplace wrote: post #45
redthrowaway wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>(warning Wikipedia link) What's the warning for? If it's warning against being confronted with Jimbo's piercing gaze, that seems a bit snarky.

I took it as a warning that you're about to click a link that has a high potential of sending you down a rat hole that eventually ends up on the Philosophy article.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#89

Post by r00fus »

paganel wrote: post #14

If you believe FB is out-there trying to conquer and destroy the web then please don't use FB comments on your website.

But as a website user I don't get to choose the commenting system.

As a blog maintainer, there are three major drop-in comments providers (disqus, intensedebate, facebook included), and if I've had gripes with one of the others, I might end up going for FB comments, despite allowing FB to extend it's "creep" there.

Re: Facebook is gaslighting the web. We can fix it.

#90

Post by 101001010111 »

reinhardt wrote: post #47
ck2 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also the "fad" and "uncool" factor. When everyone's mom and dad (and their mom and dad) is also on facebook, it's going to slowly start losing it's edginess. Then the next "cool" site will emerge.

I put more hope to the "uncoolness" factor rather than the privacy and security concerns to drive FB's demise.

I see them as the same. It may take some years for non-nerds to see the "uncoolness" of FB, but I believe they will see it, in time.
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