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When will we stop using Facebook?

thepinchandzoom.com

181–190 of 252 posts

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#181
post #34

I stopped two years ago. As far as I am aware I'm not missing much. I did have a lot of old friends on FB, but I didn't stay in contact with them in real life. I was just lazily snooping on their lives, without giving anything in return. To be completely honest, I don't have space or time for them in my real life. It isn't because I didn't like them anymore, it was simply that I didn't have the time or energy to stay…

Agreed – I stopped because there were too many posts I didn't really care about. I've found that if there's anything significant, someone will mention it to you anyway.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#182
post #141
post #34

I stopped two years ago. As far as I am aware I'm not missing much. I did have a lot of old friends on FB, but I didn't stay in contact with them in real life. I was just lazily snooping on their lives, without giving anything in return. To be completely honest, I don't have space or time for them in my real life. It isn't because I didn't like them anymore, it was simply that I didn't have the time or energy to stay…

I stopped at about the same time as you, but I actually returned a couple of months ago. Without friending anyone. And the reason? I use Facebook as a very simple way to get news about really minor things of importance to me: + my climbing gym has some new routes! + a new video by K.I.Z, yeah! + oh, demonstration against some Nazis demonstrating in my neighbourhood, should definitely go there + Someone's looking for…

OMG U CLIMB TOO? ^5

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#184
The methodology and reasoning behind this study is dubious at best.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=myspace%2C%20facebook...

If google trends is of any predictive value, Uber and Instagram should not exist (or at least be worse than myspace). The keyword 'snapchat' also shows near zero volume.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#185

I read facebooks terms and conditions before I created my account (you can guess, I am over 50). After that, I never thought about joining. Tried to discourage our kids, too (no success - they are under 50 ;o).

I am impressed this got upvoted. A couple of years ago, telling everybody I am not on facebook and have never been for such uncool reasons, would have drowned like a lead-duck.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#186
post #34

I stopped two years ago. As far as I am aware I'm not missing much. I did have a lot of old friends on FB, but I didn't stay in contact with them in real life. I was just lazily snooping on their lives, without giving anything in return. To be completely honest, I don't have space or time for them in my real life. It isn't because I didn't like them anymore, it was simply that I didn't have the time or energy to stay…

Yeah I slowed down heavily around 2 years ago. The original value prop of connecting me with my friends is all but gone from the platform. It reminds me of AIM which started off as a great chat program, but AOL added too many features and ads. The original reason why I wanted to use AIM was peppered with so much bloated software cruft on it, that it became to frustrating to use. 12 years later, I'm at the same point with Facebook.

The only reason I still have it is because I have friends overseas and it's the best way to keep in touch with them if I need to get a hold of them; otherwise I don't need it.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#187
post #147
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also stopped using Facebook, shortly before the revelations of massive surveillance. At that time I was convinced I shouldn't be in the arms of companies, stopped using many services and started self-hosting stuff. People didn't understand me. Then, Edward Snowden revealed that the possible abstract threats I wanted to avoid can in fact become real. We are fortunate to have received this information. People still d…

Similar situation here. Frustrating as it is, it's The Right Thing to do. It's a shame that some people assume you're disinterested, but then don't return emails/calls. I heard about an old Norwegian guy who had always made short calls to friends and family throughout his life and that those people appreciated that. That's more the direction I'd rather go in over the passive friend-surveillance that has crept in. I'd…

I would like to follow your lead, but in some ways it feels selfish of me and thats why I stick around on FB. I live quite some distance from my family and it is the easiest way to share photos of my family with all of them without requiring them to all get a new account somewhere else.

Are there better more private solutions that are still very convenient for everyone from my 15 year old niece to my 80 year old grandparents? I also am friends with just about everyone I've ever had any sort of meaningful interaction with and I hate that I am constantly scrolling through my news feed seeing stuff that I could care less about but just doing it to pass time. I would love to shut Facebook off if it didn't mean losing the ability to share photos with my close family and friends.

Maybe its just a matter of paring my Friend list down to about 20-30 people (from about 350) but I'd still like to stop offering my personal information to a megacorp to sell out to their advertisers and who knows who else.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#188
post #171

For those using fb mostly as a directory/contacts books, I highly recommend FB Purity. In fact I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet. It lets you filter out certain posts or in my case, put in a bit of custom CSS to never show the news feed => no distractions when I go onto fb chat.

There is also Messenger.com which would appear to do what you want.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#189
Not soon enough. My son lost out on a job opportunity because of a photo of him published in fb when he was in grade 9. It's just a massive invasion of privacy, and for what? The "make a buck off the internet" guys hit the jackpot with that one.

Re: When will we stop using Facebook?

#190
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook has something MySpace never achieved and something that could easily set it's place firmly where it's at, given they don't make any major changes to mess it up: The Geriatric Crowd . If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time in history that anyone in the tech industry captured this crowd in a major way. Those in my family over 70, on both sides, can barely make a phone call on a cell phone and don't even r…

I know this is going to be morbid, but the problem with the geriatric crowd when it comes to technology is that they have a tendency to die. The current geriatric generation is using Facebook to some degree (though in the case of my family no one over 70 uses it). What about the next generation of old people? Facebook will have to keep recapturing this market. This is very problematic because the older generation onl…

>I know this is going to be morbid, but the problem with the geriatric crowd when it comes to technology is that they have a tendency to die.

I actually thought about that too... but if you think about it relatively, the expected lifespan of someone who's 70 in 2015 (10-20yrs) is nearly an eternity in technology.

And those who are in that age group currently are very reluctant to change. It's just part of getting old. I can't see new generations of older people being much different. Maybe more accepting of change, but not actively seeking it like someone in their 20's.

>Facebook is the family friendly zone for sharing photos and short notes, and it's increasingly only that and nothing else.

I don't see this as a bad thing, but as a huge positive. Look at movies. There has even been a push in the decade or so to PG-13 everything to make more money.

But unlike movies, where they destroy stories in the name of making them Family Friendly, you can just move your non-family friendly content somewhere else. Which is personally exactly what I do.

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