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Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

slate.com

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Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#91

Post by ryguytilidie »

Perceval wrote: post #55
dkulchenko wrote: post #28

Teen here. I'm firmly in the "hate it but can't stop using it" camp. I've tried G+, and for a brief period a few of my friends tried it as well, but we switched back when it failed to reach critical mass. That's all Facebook has going for it, really, is the people using it; I'm sure most of us would switch to a better network if given the chance, but we won't do it unless a significant majority of our friends come al…

> if I cut myself off of Facebook I'm losing out on a huge, huge percentage of social interaction Is it possible to have a Facebook account but just use it as a back-end? For instance, don't use the website or the app. But use Cue to pull events out onto your calendar, and Verbs to get Facebook chat, and so on? https://www.cueup.com/ http://verbs.im/ Is there a way to use a constellation of apps that access Facebook…

This is awesome. I actually deleted the app and stuff for a few days, but the main problem was with stuff like events. I would have an event on FB but forget where it was and have to log in to check. I'm really not sure I could emphasize enough what a POS facebook is for actually interacting with other human beings.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#92

Post by LordHumungous »

wambotron wrote: post #83
dkulchenko wrote: post #28

Teen here. I'm firmly in the "hate it but can't stop using it" camp. I've tried G+, and for a brief period a few of my friends tried it as well, but we switched back when it failed to reach critical mass. That's all Facebook has going for it, really, is the people using it; I'm sure most of us would switch to a better network if given the chance, but we won't do it unless a significant majority of our friends come al…

I don't use Facebook personally. My wife and family use it quite heavily, and I've seen the interactions on it. Those relationships you think you're keeping alive by staying on Facebook are not worth keeping, generally. I graduated before social networks were a thing, but I distinctly remember having groups of friends at school who just didn't matter much outside of it. I'm 30 now and only keep in touch with two peop…

>It saddens me that people feel like they NEED these relationships that would naturally disintegrate without online networks.

>When I am trying to find someone to hang with, I just call or text them.

It saddens me that you need these relationships that would disintegrate without cellular communications technology.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#93

Post by parm289 »

superuser2 wrote: post #80
parm289 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you/we think would constitute a better network? You mention privacy as a key factor -- I agree, but rationally a free social network must encourage sharing to stock its shelves with user information to provide to advertisers. In the other direction, there's App.net which can afford to enforce privacy because its income depends only on membership fees. (Unfortunately, membership fe…

>stock its shelves with user information to provide to advertisers People are always talking about how Facebook is selling your data. Is there any evidence for this? They'll use your data internally to target ads on behalf of advertisers, but do we know that they're actually giving the advertisers any information?

You're right. In retrospect that sentence had a negative connotation, but I didn't mean it that way. By "providing" I didn't strictly mean selling. Facebook encourages sharing to learn as much as possible about its users, then enables advertisers to fine-grain their target audiences based on specific information about users. I actually don't see a problem with that model, as long as ads are relevant to me and presented in a sane way.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#94

Post by parm289 »

dkulchenko wrote: post #75
parm289 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you/we think would constitute a better network? You mention privacy as a key factor -- I agree, but rationally a free social network must encourage sharing to stock its shelves with user information to provide to advertisers. In the other direction, there's App.net which can afford to enforce privacy because its income depends only on membership fees. (Unfortunately, membership fe…

I have no problem with the fact that Facebook has to gather and distribute some sort of information on you to get advertiser money, it's just a matter of the way they do it. There's obviously the whole Facebook uploading all your contacts without your permission issue (IIRC, that's still going on) and the fact that for whatever reason whenever I open up the Facebook app on an Android device, the GPS icon in my notifi…

I agree that the technology is impressive -- after all, serving a billion users boggles the mind.

I was getting at the faults of the platform, though. It seems that people are satisfied with Facebook's groups, chat, and events features, but not the news feed/status updates portion of the site. I was wondering aloud if a social network like Path, which seeks to encourage more honest sharing as opposed to a greater volume of sharing, offered some insight into why people are becoming dissatisfied with Facebook.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#96

Post by dattaway »

dkulchenko wrote: post #28

Teen here. I'm firmly in the "hate it but can't stop using it" camp. I've tried G+, and for a brief period a few of my friends tried it as well, but we switched back when it failed to reach critical mass. That's all Facebook has going for it, really, is the people using it; I'm sure most of us would switch to a better network if given the chance, but we won't do it unless a significant majority of our friends come al…

I found facebook cannot beat google+ if focused on tech personalities. Facebook is great for my old world of interaction, but google+ appears to be better optimized for the scientific world. Both stimulate my mind, but I'm starting to spend more time on google+. Facebook development seems to have long been down the path to the cash cow.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#97

Post by superuser2 »

When people I know (teens) say they "hate" Facebook, they mean they hate the amount of time they waste on Facebook. That's my chief complaint. It's an easy thing to do while mentally idling, and costs no effort, attention, or money. And you're on a variable-ratio schedule for dopamine hits. I quickly developed a habit where I spend dead time mindlessly browsing Facebook instead of doing something productive.

This is the only complaint I hear from my friends. Nobody in my age group has ever mentioned ad targeting, and people with nosy adult "friends" know how to use privacy settings to hide from them. The only reason I've ever been given in person for quitting Facebook is the time-sink.

My point is that we don't want to "leave" to another social network. We want to stop using social networking. But we can't, because spam-free email by real name is powerful, locked in, and occasionally necessary.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#98

Post by superuser2 »

johnchristopher wrote: post #56
dkulchenko wrote: post #28

Teen here. I'm firmly in the "hate it but can't stop using it" camp. I've tried G+, and for a brief period a few of my friends tried it as well, but we switched back when it failed to reach critical mass. That's all Facebook has going for it, really, is the people using it; I'm sure most of us would switch to a better network if given the chance, but we won't do it unless a significant majority of our friends come al…

> An important part of it mentioned elsewhere in the thread is the fact that Facebook basically acts as a glorified address book/communications hub - if I want Chris to come to my party or add him to a group conversation about something or share a picture with him, all I need is his name. Not an email, not a phone number, just a name. It's pretty incredible if you think about it. Nothing else comes close. I thought I…

Exactly two people out of 251 on my list have ever used pseudonyms. In both cases it was brief as it annoyed the hell out of everyone else and we told them so.

A spam-free email account where everyone can be reached by real name is really quite attractive.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#99

Post by zachlatta »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #17
mladenkovacevic wrote: post #9

If anyone can leave Facebook it's teens. Their social networks aren't developed/mature enough where they have to depend on other people's social network preferences. Most teens could literally leave on a whim and bring most of their friend with them. I still remember how quick the exodus from ICQ to MSN was (and nobody hated ICQ.. it just kinda happened). Also when a teen tells you that they hate something because th…

>> "If anyone can leave Facebook it's teens. Their social networks aren't developed/mature enough where they have to depend on other people's social network preferences. Most teens could literally leave on a whim and bring most of their friend with them. I still remember how quick the exodus from ICQ to MSN was (and nobody hated ICQ.. it just kinda happened)." I think it's completely the opposite. It's not bringing y…

Bringing friends over is the hard part. Bringing photos over from Facebook to Google+ is extremely easy with its facial recognition.

Re: Teenagers Hate Facebook, but They're Not Logging Off

#100

Post by icebraining »

examancer wrote: post #15
stephengillie wrote: post #10

Mobile page looks down, but article is still up on main page: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/05/22/teenagers_ha...

Thanks for this link. Frustrated that posters think they are clever by linking to a mobile version of a story, to avoid ads or whatever. I couldn't find the non-mobile story on slate.com for some reason. I'd rather support the magazine and view their silly ads. Plus, the mobile version stretches paragraphs across the width of the entire browser window, which is unreadable using the window size I normally use, and I'd…

Isn't PPC the norm nowadays? Unless I'm wrong, viewing the ads gives them no benefit; only clicking would.
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