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Against Facebook

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1–10 of 93 posts

Re: Against Facebook

#3
The sad thing here is that the people who need to hear what is said in this essay the most, no longer have the attention span to absorb it due to the damage Facebook and similar platforms have caused to their minds.

Re: Against Facebook

#5
This article makes it sound like people are forced to be social addicts. Maybe some of us our outliers here so it may be odd for me to say this but I honestly have spent more time coding social networks than actually using them. So no, I don't get how people are forced to use them.

Re: Against Facebook

#7
post #5

This article makes it sound like people are forced to be social addicts. Maybe some of us our outliers here so it may be odd for me to say this but I honestly have spent more time coding social networks than actually using them. So no, I don't get how people are forced to use them.

They aren't forced to, they are trained to. The usage of a social network is innocuous at first.

Similarly, a person is not necessarily forced to start using narcotics to develop a dependency.

Re: Against Facebook

#8
> Media Consumption Strike

...

> No TV/Netflix/Youtube

> No radio

> No podcasts

> No social media, delete your Facebook account

> No messaging/chat

> No idle web browsing

> No news aggregation sites

> No gaming

> No using a computer if it is not directly related to creating or resisting (not consuming)

Seems kind of extreme to me. Article mentions that our "attention has been colonized". Maybe focus a little more on how your attention is being sold instead of targeted.

Understanding the way FB values users ($100/year if you're in the US) and sells their attention to marketers would instruct better ways to deal with attention colonization IMHO.

Re: Against Facebook

#9
In my experience, people that have been absorbed into the collective must decide for themselves to leave it. Some may not have the will power or desire to do so and some may be oblivious to the effects it has on them.

In my opinion, this is nearly identical to seeing friends hooked on powerful drugs. I can't tell them it's hurting them. They have to experience enough negative effects to reach out for help themselves. Some choose to ignore many of the harmful effects. Usually a significant amount of damage has occurred by the time they accept something is wrong.

Re: Against Facebook

#10
post #5

This article makes it sound like people are forced to be social addicts. Maybe some of us our outliers here so it may be odd for me to say this but I honestly have spent more time coding social networks than actually using them. So no, I don't get how people are forced to use them.

I don't know how old you are and I don't want to make assumptions, but in high school and college, societies, school sports teams and friends all tend to use Facebook as their sole means of communication. As someone who refuses to make a Facebook account (on principle and because I'm really stubborn), I do feel like I'm being compelled to use social networks more than I want to.
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