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Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

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Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#181
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see privacy, but how do you give up free speech?

Can you post a picture with nudity in it? No? There you go.

Of course. Not to Facebook, but free speech doesn't imply a particular venue.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparing parents to genocidal dictators is quite a bit more hyperbolic than the OP.

I suspect the point of contention is lack of clarification of definitions and terms, particularly regarding 'freedom', the OP's phrase 'heinous violations of freedom', and the concept of violations of freedom in general. I would define 'freedom' in a very narrow and non-metaphysical sense, as 'the ability to make choices free of threats of violence by others'. I derive this definition by asking the following question…

How incredibly academic. Let's leave the ongoing debate about how to "characterize [their] actions" until a universal definition of 'freedom' is agreed upon. That should satisfy the monsters.

I think Sartre settled this one. We're either wholly determined, or else wholly free. And since consciousness means that fate isn't preordained - we're free. Anyway, in case he was off the mark, the alternative is a boot on a human face and the (real, nazi, concentration) camp that you pretended I was alluding to.

As to whether there are degrees of freedom, there's room for them in that philosophy. Take away movement, that's one. Take away speech, that's another. Hey, just go down the bill of rights - you don't have any at summer camp. Is it nazi germany? Did I say that? It was freakin Jewish camp. No fun for an atheist, but at least you survive. Unlike my grandparents. Now stop your trolling and own up to a position for once in your life.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#183
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is this different from someone saying, I am offended you don't smoke weed, or I am offended, in this country of XYZ religion, you are not ?

If you don't smoke, that doesn't prevent other people from smoking. If you're not on FB, that does prevent other people from messaging/whatever you on FB.

My God, you're right. I was never able to contact anybody before Facebook. It's a wonder I know other people at all.

Seriously, though, the biggest argument in favor of it that I hear is event invitations. But think about it, if the most effort that somebody can put into inviting you to their event is clicking a button to "send to all", they don't really value your friendship. I don't have a Facebook account, and when people invite me to something, they send a personal message that signals they actually value my friendship and want me to attend. As someone on the Internet said, Facebook maintains friendships in a persistent vegetative state.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#184
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

whose apparent sense of inadequacy and misunderstanding of the nature of personal relationships are written large across every aspect of that system I believe the contrary is true. Facebook is successful because Zuckerberg et al understand social ties to the point where they have locked people into their system, got them to interact more, provide all their private information, and then profit off them by serving them…

I think FB was able to quantify and monetize a certain kind of social tie its founders were probably aloof from themselves - bullshit friendship. I'm guessing Zuckerberg approached this with the irony of any self-respecting geek, ensaring phonies in their own "Let's be friends" routine. Sure, it's brilliant. But it's incredibly misanthropic, because it really thrives on the worst impulses in human nature. Underneath…

Absolutely. The site thrives off of a small set of human social weaknesses and tendencies. And when a competitor comes around, they do this even further. Each set of privacy changes is pushed out with a proportionate UI change; people spend their time complaining about the UI change instead of the underlying changes to privacy.

Again, brilliant but evil.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#185
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see privacy, but how do you give up free speech?

Can you post a picture with nudity in it? No? There you go.

So I assume you can post a picture with nudity on the NYT website?

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a world of difference between citizens complaining how their governments are corrupt, and husbands complaining how their wives boss them around. The former is a macro problem - if you're unhappy there's very little you can do to make a difference, you really need everyone to get behind your cause but because of weird behavioral science quirks this happens very rarely. The latter is a micro problem - learn to…

You tried camping and it was awesome. It was fun getting a group together and having a lot of interaction with them. Working on projects together, sharing gossip at meals and in tents, going on day trips and coming back with pictures and stories. Great stuff. People who spend time camping together share a bond and become potential lifelong friends. When camping was new, relatively few people went camping. The most ex…

p.s.

If the parent comment resonated with you, you might like this presentation:

http://www.infoq.com/presentations/A-P2P-Digital-Self-with-T...

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#187

When I was a kid, my parents sent me to camp, even though all I wanted to do was sit home and write text adventures in BASIC. I hated camp. I hated the kids, and the counselors, and most of all I hated how everyone acted like if you didn't like it, if you weren't having fun, then there was something messed up about you . Facebook = camp. The most oppressive and authoritarian thing about it is, at root, that most peop…

When I was a kid, my parents sent me to camp, even though all I wanted to do was sit home and write text adventures in BASIC. I hated camp. When I was a kid, my parents sent me to a computer camp. We sat around and wrote text adventures in BASIC, while we weren't sneaking bit copies of games. (Someone wrote a bit copier that let you play Pong in the foreground so the camp counselors couldn't catch you by looking over…

And you would have been one of my three best friends, and I would've begged my mom to let me stay at your house so we could stay up all night talking hypercard and c++ and compiling perl scripts for mac os 6, and figuring out what a regex is. My best friend from back then doesn't talk to me anymore, he went & joined the circus at burning man ;) Everything I ever learned was against my parents' wishes. They bought me a Mac II and then banned me from using it for more than an hour a day. Spent my childhood coding on pencil and paper with a flashlight.

You are the luckiest dude in the world.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#188
post #121

So am I the only person who thinks this characterization of facebook as a "parasite" or a "disease" is meaningless, useless hyperbole? Facebook isn't any more of a "parasite" than email.

email is not a private company looking for using you as their product.

substitute "e" with a "g" and there you go

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#189

When I was a kid, my parents sent me to camp, even though all I wanted to do was sit home and write text adventures in BASIC. I hated camp. I hated the kids, and the counselors, and most of all I hated how everyone acted like if you didn't like it, if you weren't having fun, then there was something messed up about you . Facebook = camp. The most oppressive and authoritarian thing about it is, at root, that most peop…

> It's kind of questionable that a one-paragraph throwaway rant like this has hit the front page of HN.

I was hoping that it would provide a good starting point for a discussion about using Facebook. I think it did.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#190

When I was a kid, my parents sent me to camp, even though all I wanted to do was sit home and write text adventures in BASIC. I hated camp. I hated the kids, and the counselors, and most of all I hated how everyone acted like if you didn't like it, if you weren't having fun, then there was something messed up about you . Facebook = camp. The most oppressive and authoritarian thing about it is, at root, that most peop…

The other oppressive and authoritative thing about it -- completely aside from the whole surveillance and tracking aspect -- is that it obliterates the past. There was a time when, if you just met someone at a bar or some event or while traveling, there was still a bit of mystery to them. You had to interact with them a bit more until you found out about their family, their friends, and where they've been in life. No…

You nailed it.

The worst part about that is that the people behind Facebook think this is a great thing.

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