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Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

bradfrost.com

141–150 of 401 posts

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#141
post #33
post #2

The best thing I ever did was delete the Facebook app from my phone. I had already disabled all the notifications, but that didn't change things like deleting the app. Not being able to get to Facebook wherever you are. As silly as it sounds it was liberating. I still access Facebook from my laptop - but now that it's off of my phone, I'm accessing Facebook less and less frequently and I'm find I'm happier as a resul…

> Less Facebook == more happy More productive, less distracted, etc., sure but was FB really getting you down that much? Am I just using Facebook "wrong" in that it's not upsetting me the same way it upsets others?

I quit Facebook initially because of notification spam. However I discovered something afterwards. I had less negative feelings toward family and friends. I had unconsciously been forming an opinion of them that was based on the habits Facebook was encouraging rather than their actual personality.

In a sense I'm a lot happier not knowing that Great Aunt Gertrude shared that post. And most of the time Aunt Gertrude didn't even think about what she was sharing so the opinion wasn't based in fact.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#142
post #117
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual question: what's the point of Messenger if you don't have notifications enabled?

To communicate with other people on my terms, when I want to communicate. It's the same reason there are only a few phone numbers that can actually make my phone ring (my wife, the school my children attend, and pager duty (:P)) My device exists for my convenience.

You can also make only some email messages cause notifications.

Not sure if there's a better way for gmail, but the way I did it was to have a second gmail account, then create filters that send only important messages to that account. Then in the gmail app you can control notifications on a per-account level.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#143
post #78

Ye, Facebook is Facebook, which is creepy. Some friends asked me to sign up for it because they wanted to use the messenger service for a groupchat. When I registered it immediately propagated my profile with information about my highschool (10 years ago) and suggested a lot of people I knew from back then as well as some devs I've collaborated with on Github. All this from a new email. So I went into the settings an…

From what I understand Facebook has "phantom" profiles for people who aren't on Facebook but who have friends who are.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#144
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To communicate with other people on my terms, when I want to communicate. It's the same reason there are only a few phone numbers that can actually make my phone ring (my wife, the school my children attend, and pager duty (:P)) My device exists for my convenience.

>there are only a few phone numbers that can actually make my phone ring Could you describe briefly how to configure that state of affairs? What OS do you use?

In Android Do Not Disturb mode can do this. You can set it to "priority only" and define who is the priority contacts. iOS should have a similar function.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#145
Im glad that im not on facebook. 20 years ago, facebook could be equivalent of sitting in street and checking on what others are doing/liking/commenting/ranting/watching. Nutsos.

And even for that matter i ve stopped limited use of twitter. As i see some of good classmates have become kind of trolls on few topics.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#146
As someone with maybe an "outside" perspective (I never got "in" to Facebook, I never logged in with any regularity, I've posted once, and I essentially have a blank profile), the "We haven’t heard from you in a while" thing is what keeps from using the platform at all. I'm an "inbox zero" kind of person, and there's so much noise on Facebook that I can't get any signal.

Every time I log in I somehow have around 6 notifications. Facebook always finds something to notify me about. It's never a daunting number, but it's never zero either. If I log in twice in a week, I'll have something under a dozen notifications both days. So you'd think that after not logging in for 3 months I'd have dozens of notifications, right? Nope. Always some kind of number that I imagine Facebook has decided is the ideal number of notifications to keep me interested.

I've tried in vain to limit my notifications to things that I actually care about, but I've never been able to get rid of the random noise. Facebook is determined to send me push notifications about something. I can't stand it.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#147
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similarly simply logging out of Facebook on Chrome and only accessing it through incognito or another browser has been great. Added benefit: (a little) less tracking. First week or so was string of surprising moments where I would suddenly find myself at the FB login screen having mindlessly tried to navigate there.

I deactivated on January 1, still find myself typing `f` in the address bar in a new tab. They've done a very good job of getting in the brain stem.

[deleted]

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#148
post #96
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I installed the Lite version of Messenger, and it's way better. (Not available in the US App Store; there are verified APKs floating around the internet.) It's just a bare-bones chat app that launches when I want it, without all the nagging about chat bubbles, their Snapchat knockoff, and whatever else.

You can also go to Facebook on Chrome and request the desktop version of the site- Messages will work in that. That way you don't have to install a Messages app.

This used to work for me but stopped a while ago on android (still seems to work on iPhones somehow). mbasic.facebook.com is a really nice fast and minimalist interface where messages still work and I use it exclusively now.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#149
post #2

The best thing I ever did was delete the Facebook app from my phone. I had already disabled all the notifications, but that didn't change things like deleting the app. Not being able to get to Facebook wherever you are. As silly as it sounds it was liberating. I still access Facebook from my laptop - but now that it's off of my phone, I'm accessing Facebook less and less frequently and I'm find I'm happier as a resul…

Same.. couldn't be happier. started by removing messenger & ended up removing FB entirely. I Hated it when my old ATT Galaxy S6 came with it pre-installed and you couldn't delete it only disable it so I did just that. The phone runs faster too.

Wasnt there some stanford study that concluded that more people engage with social media like FB more unhappier they felt. something to do with selection bias in feed.

Re: Facebook, You Needy Sonofabitch

#150
> it seems strange and disturbing to talk to regular users like they’re all marketeers

It doesn't surprise me, not anymore. A lot of marketing is getting high on its own supply, as in, they actually somewhat believe what they are saying; even if they're not believing the euphemisms they put out externally, they still have euphemisms internally they are really not thinking through.

The other explanation is A/B testing, which would be even more sad.

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