Reasons not to use Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#11

Post by cloakandswagger » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:03 AM UTC

logn wrote: post #5

PebblesHD wrote: post #2

At this point in the evolution in technology, I find that Stallman is increasingly irrelevant when his commentary is basically stating every basic point of the site and then saying its bad. Don't want to use your real name? Don't join a site where the goal is to publicly connect with people you know. Don't want your privacy violated, post only what you feel comfortable with. With every new step in the advance of tech…

Almost none of his complaints strike at essential features of a social network. Real names, censorship, tracking un-submitted text, etc are all just evil and not part of any functionality users care about.

Being able to search and find people by their real name is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#12

Post by walterbell » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:08 AM UTC

cloakandswagger wrote: post #11

logn wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost none of his complaints strike at essential features of a social network. Real names, censorship, tracking un-submitted text, etc are all just evil and not part of any functionality users care about.

Being able to search and find people by their real name is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network.

This can be an optional disclosure made by people who wish to be found by their real name.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#13

Post by logn » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:09 AM UTC

gaadd33 wrote: post #7

> Algorithmic filtering can affect history, not just hide history. Facebook's filtering algorithm suppressed news about the thug riot in Ferguson until after it became national news. Calling all of the protestors in Ferguson "thugs" seems pretty off base. I'm surprised he characterized everyone there like that when his previous few points seemed to be in favor of the ability to protest the government. I guess he only…

I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt in that the link where he writes "thug" is to an article that has this line:

"We" hear it only through official statements, often dismissing local concerns, painting them as looters, thugs, troublemakers.

So I don't think he was speaking from his point of view but from how it might have been presented to a common person.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#14

Post by krisgenre » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:09 AM UTC

logn wrote: post #5

PebblesHD wrote: post #2

At this point in the evolution in technology, I find that Stallman is increasingly irrelevant when his commentary is basically stating every basic point of the site and then saying its bad. Don't want to use your real name? Don't join a site where the goal is to publicly connect with people you know. Don't want your privacy violated, post only what you feel comfortable with. With every new step in the advance of tech…

Almost none of his complaints strike at essential features of a social network. Real names, censorship, tracking un-submitted text, etc are all just evil and not part of any functionality users care about.

One of the annoying things about Orkut was that most people used to change their name to something hippie and it became very hard to identify them when they messaged (scrap?) me.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#15

Post by Sanddancer » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:10 AM UTC

cloakandswagger wrote: post #11

logn wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost none of his complaints strike at essential features of a social network. Real names, censorship, tracking un-submitted text, etc are all just evil and not part of any functionality users care about.

Being able to search and find people by their real name is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network.

Being able to search and find people by the names they actually use on a day to day basis is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network. Being able to hide from abusive people in one's past is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network. I know a number of people -- transpeople, people from other countries, people who just don't like their given name -- who don't use their "real" name in "real" life. Why should facebook require one's legal name when no in person congregation requires you to wear a name badge that identifies you with a name you may not be comfortable with?

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#16

Post by __david__ » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:14 AM UTC

PebblesHD wrote: post #2

At this point in the evolution in technology, I find that Stallman is increasingly irrelevant when his commentary is basically stating every basic point of the site and then saying its bad. Don't want to use your real name? Don't join a site where the goal is to publicly connect with people you know. Don't want your privacy violated, post only what you feel comfortable with. With every new step in the advance of tech…

> Don't want your privacy violated, post only what you feel comfortable with.

That sounds nice and simple, but it's sadly not enough. You also have to worry about other random people in your life uploading your info (even unknowingly):

http://www.jwz.org/blog/2013/06/facebook-shadow-profiles/

http://www.zdnet.com/article/firm-facebooks-shadow-profiles-...

I shudder to think about what info they've amassed about me even though I've never had an account.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#17

Post by neotek » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:15 AM UTC

PebblesHD wrote: post #2

At this point in the evolution in technology, I find that Stallman is increasingly irrelevant when his commentary is basically stating every basic point of the site and then saying its bad. Don't want to use your real name? Don't join a site where the goal is to publicly connect with people you know. Don't want your privacy violated, post only what you feel comfortable with. With every new step in the advance of tech…

I think you're firstly mischaracterising what Stallman is saying, and secondly forgetting exactly who Stallman is.

This isn't just a list of attributes with "NO" written next to it, Stallman's outlaying precisely why those attributes are detrimental to privacy and how they erode the freedoms he believes in. He even gives specific examples and links to source articles.

Someone who hasn't ever really considered the implications of using Facebook, like a teenager who's come of age in a world where sharing everything about yourself is the norm, reading this article might make them think a bit more about what they share and why, and what the implications might be. For that reason alone there's value in what Stallman has to say.

And in any case, this is who he is. It's not like he doesn't understand the evolution of technology - hell, he helped more than most to evolve it - and it's not like he doesn't understand why you and I use Facebook. He just doesn't agree with our motivations, doesn't feel it's worth the corresponding privacy trade-offs, and has made it the work of his lifetime to be an advocate for the privacy we're so eager to give away.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#18

Post by GigabyteCoin » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:16 AM UTC

A friend of mine was turned off of a potentially new employee the other day because the candidate exclaimed that they recognized a customer from their instagram profile and that they followed it, loved it, etc.

The customer was obviously embarrased, exclaimed that he had not used instagram in over a year, and promptly left the store.

This left an uneasy feeling in my friend (the store owner). Which confused me to be honest. What did that customer expect when they placed their picture and basically entire lives on a public website with geotagged images? The new employee was told to be talkative with all clients as they worked in customer service, and so they attempted to strike up a conversation or at least a similar interest in the customer's publicly viewable leisure activities.

That was how the candidate discovered him on instagram in the first place by the way. It was because he only posted pictures of the local area.

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#19

Post by TwoBit » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:18 AM UTC

Sanddancer wrote: post #15

cloakandswagger wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to search and find people by their real name is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network.

Being able to search and find people by the names they actually use on a day to day basis is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network. Being able to hide from abusive people in one's past is actually a feature I value very highly in a social network. I know a number of people -- transpeople, people from other countries, people who just don't like their given name -- who don't use their "real" name i…

Because it's your legal name?

Re: Reasons not to use Facebook

#20

Post by abdias » Sat, Mar 14, 2015, 6:19 AM UTC

Considering that Zuckerberg is a great admire of China and apparently socialism[0], it doesn't come to me as a huge surprise that these "ethics" are guidelines for Facebook.

“I’ve also bought copies of this book for my colleagues,” Zuckerberg was quoted as saying by a Chinese news website. “I want them to understand socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

[0]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/12/08...