Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The end of the Facebook era

takeaswig.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 139 posts

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#121

Post by Swizec »

waps wrote: post #104
cenhyperion wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why do people have so much trouble with being themselves? Because people's lives have different sections that often have parts you don't want to overlap. You probably don't want your boss seeing a photo of you drunk at a party, and you probably don't want your conservative uncle to see that you are politically liberal. In both those circumstances it's not that you'd necessarily hide those parts of your personality f…

Well, for one thing, when working for an American company, having real flaws kills your career. Alcohol abuse in the past. Getting arrested once for drug abuse. Having participated in manifestations. All of those will turn a ridiculous amount of Americans into your personal enemy at work, to extents that I never saw in Europe. If you ever want to be working for a large American firm : firstly, you deny anything remot…

> You got to have priorities, and "being yourself" is lower than having a good job and career.

Perhaps for you, for me, being myself is the highest priority. You can always find a new job or a new career, but once your back has been broken, you will forever be a spineless wimp whom nobody will respect.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#122

Post by qq66 »

wcummings wrote: post #109

I agree 100% with the author. I log into Facebook once a day, maybe. I don't have fb messenger on my phone. I use mailing lists (set one up for your friends, great, simple way to share photos etc w/ a select group of people)/WhatsApp/Snapchat/IRC (IRCCloud on my phone, because SSH eats up battery). I used to be a much heavier Facebook user. Now I get hassled by family for saying uncouth things, and generally see it a…

You "log into Facebook once a day, maybe."

How few companies can you say that about? That you use their product every day? Your mattress. Your refrigerator. Your toothpaste. Your car. Not only have all of their manufacturers have been around for nearly a century, but they all have perfect substitutes: Crest and Colgate. By your own anecdote, Facebook is in a very enviable position.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#123

Post by visakanv »

RandallBrown wrote: post #107
cylinder wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't care about teenagers, but I do find it very interesting that the "founding members" of Facebook, people who were college students in 2004-2005 who excitedly joined and engaged with Facebook in its early years, are just not very engaged with FB anymore (I'm one of them), unless they maybe just had a baby. It's almost disturbing that these days a company can be founded, become an overnight success, grow immense…

I joined facebook in 2005 and I think I'm just as engaged as ever. I use it for sharing pictures with my friends and family. Hiking, skiing, camping, vacations, whatever. My family loves seeing that crap. My friends do too. The group album feature released a few months ago is AWESOME for that stuff. Organizing events without facebook is tough. Facebook handles RSVPs. Has polls for things at the event (where should it…

I highly recommend deactivating for a month, just to experience the difference. It's phenomenal. If you choose to reconnect, you'll look at everything differently. It's just amazing, you have to try it.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#124

Post by cfreeman »

Swizec wrote: post #121
waps wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, for one thing, when working for an American company, having real flaws kills your career. Alcohol abuse in the past. Getting arrested once for drug abuse. Having participated in manifestations. All of those will turn a ridiculous amount of Americans into your personal enemy at work, to extents that I never saw in Europe. If you ever want to be working for a large American firm : firstly, you deny anything remot…

> You got to have priorities, and "being yourself" is lower than having a good job and career. Perhaps for you, for me, being myself is the highest priority. You can always find a new job or a new career, but once your back has been broken, you will forever be a spineless wimp whom nobody will respect.

> You can always find a new job or a new career

That simply isn't true or realistic for a large amount of people.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#125

Post by parasubvert »

cylinder wrote: post #85
crazygringo wrote: post #60

> Teens likely see Facebook the same way the Facebook generation sees LinkedIn – like a utilitarian place to manage connections. I've heard it a billion times that teens aren't using Facebook. But who cares ? I just don't see any evidence that this heralds the end of Facebook. It's not necessarily any more meaningful than "people ages 65-70 don't use Facebook". It's a small percentage of the population. And there's n…

I don't care about teenagers, but I do find it very interesting that the "founding members" of Facebook, people who were college students in 2004-2005 who excitedly joined and engaged with Facebook in its early years, are just not very engaged with FB anymore (I'm one of them), unless they maybe just had a baby. It's almost disturbing that these days a company can be founded, become an overnight success, grow immense…

That would be your anecdote. I wouldn't make the assumption that Facebook is being disrupted (by what? Snapchat?)

Been on Facebook since 2005 (after I left college) and I'd say that it's busier than it has ever been. A huge chunk of my social sphere uses it for photo and link sharing; it has completely replaced mailing lists and instant messaging of years past.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#126

Post by parasubvert »

Swizec wrote: post #90
cenhyperion wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why do people have so much trouble with being themselves? Because people's lives have different sections that often have parts you don't want to overlap. You probably don't want your boss seeing a photo of you drunk at a party, and you probably don't want your conservative uncle to see that you are politically liberal. In both those circumstances it's not that you'd necessarily hide those parts of your personality f…

> Because people's lives have different sections that often have parts you don't want to overlap. You probably don't want your boss seeing a photo of you drunk at a party, and you probably don't want your conservative uncle to see that you are politically liberal. Quite the contrary. I don't want a boss who has a problem with my being drunk when I'm not at work and I would love nothing more than to have a good debate…

I think that perhaps your circumstances and privileges may differ from others.

Not everyone carries the same social skills to be able to emotionally handle being fired from work over a Facebook photo (which has happened in the US many times).

Many also lack the ability or desire to want to form intimate friendships with all but a small number of people.

Others may be actively stalked, harassed and/or physically or sexually assaulted for being too open with others online that seemed trustworthy early on, but later abused that trust.

Jennifer Lawrence seems like a lovely person, but she also is white, financially secure, and has a bodyguard.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#127

Post by rsl7 »

Swizec wrote: post #88
rsl7 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Ok. The answer is that there is no you. It's not a society problem. My read on a comment like yours is that you are young and have not experienced a life partitioned into parts that you don't want to overlap. That, if anything, is the reality of the human experience. Forcing together what should be separate is what is wrong and unnatural. Sorry.

Oh I've done plenty of partitioning life into parts that I didn't want to overlap. But then I grew up and became me . What I've found is that people are far more accepting of me, like me much better, and I generally build better and deeper relationships quicker. My life has also become much simpler since I no longer have to filter myself all the freaking time. It's really nice. You should try it. But it does take ood…

You grew up and became you? ok.

Next you're going to tell me how you're living a minimalist lifestyle and have shed most material goods that drag everyone else down, and you don't understand why other people don't. I don't believe you because I know too many actual, complex people. We live private, inner lives. We think we know how certain people see us. We think we know how our actions are perceived. We think we know who we are. But we are wrong.

Your response sounds like the beginning of a novel, followed by "and then one day everything changed"

I don't know. Good luck with being the real you.

Re: The end of the Facebook era

#128

Post by yaeger »

selmnoo wrote: post #34
melling wrote: post #20

Here are some titles for the next story. "The end of the Apple era" "The end of the Microsoft era" "The end of the Netflix era" "The end of the Yahoo era" Seriously, why do people waste time writing these types of stories? My guess is that it's because it's so much easier than actually trying to build something of value. The real problem is there is no penalty for being wrong. Everyone simply forgets. Write a thousan…

Why. Why must you do this. Why must you dismiss articles on hackneyed grounds and kill the chance for an interesting discussion about the nature and direction of social technologies. I thought this article was very interesting, it brought to light several factual points, and several not-heard-before insights -- e.g., I thought this in particular was very true and interesting: This is why social networks, like Google+…

Okay then, here is a discussion topic.

The author mentions that teens see Facebook as a utensil and not as something "cool" anymore.

Okay, fine, but how does that predict the end of facebook? If facebook becomes a utensil, a utensil that a good chunk of grownups still continue to use no less, why would that mean the end of facebook?

The author further talks about the 70s and 80s and things that were cool. Great, but if he stated that teens see facebook as a utensil, what does "cool" have to do with anything? If we stay with the 70s and 80s statement, do you know what other utensils we had in the 70s and 80s? Cars. Cars are utensils as a mode of transportation but also they are an outlet for some people to show the world who they are. What I mean is, we still drive cars even though we had them in the 70s and 80s. They just look different as technology and consumer demands have changed over time.

So, there is no reason why facebook would go down just because teens currently don't see it as "cool" anymore. As long as it is useful to manage your private contacts, and as long as it adapts to people's changing demands it can go on.

In short, were facebook on its way out, there would have to be one new "cool" thing to replace it. It is not enough to just have something similar but without users like g+. And if such a thing emerges, facebook still isn't doomed right away. They would just now have a reason why they maybe should listen to their users a little more. Regarding thins like privacy settings etc. As long as they don't have a competitor, they can pretty much do whatever they like as people don't really have an alternative. Should we start seeing teens leaving in droves for new hip platform X, I think facebook would recognize this and we would start seeing some more user friendly changes.

Post reply on HN