Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#21

Post by evrydayhustling » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:25 AM UTC

> I hate that, if I somehow don’t want to consign my personal data, beliefs, preferences, relationships, work history, daily plans, and private messages to a massive advertising corporation, I have to risk missing out on seminal life events. Not being on Facebook is sort of like not having a cellphone. Sure, me and a small number of weirdos can opt out, but we are increasingly disadvantaged by it.

This captures perfectly my reasons for getting on Facebook in ~2007. One of my best friends had a baby and I was the only one who didn't know because I wasn't on there. I'd also been one of the last of my friends to get a cellphone 3 years before, and was starting to worry that I was just a jerk about keeping in touch.

It's really interesting to compare those two decisions now. The slider phone I got in 2003 was nothing like what we have today, but buying it let me participate in a communication ecosystem that's still evolving fast.

Facebook feels really stagnant by comparison. Its core mechanics, at least the ones I care about, are unchanged. Everyone's usage of it long ago stagnated into the same patterns. I still check it because I have to for life events, but it's not something I look forward to.

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#22

Post by sparkie » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:25 AM UTC

FargoPelz wrote: post #20

ExcelSaga wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Naive. Facebook does more than just passively let you fill out surveys, with their Pixel and snooping on your texts and contacts being just a couple of examples.

Could you elaborate? I'm concerned about these things myself, so I already don't use the Facebook app on my phone. What else can they collect?

Every website you visit that has a Facebook beacon on it. They collect this even if you're not a Facebook user.

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#23

Post by wsxcde » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:25 AM UTC

FargoPelz wrote: post #10

If you're concerned about "consign[ing] my personal data, beliefs, preferences, relationships, work history, daily plans, and private messages to a massive advertising corporation" but don't want to miss out on seminal life events, why not just maintain a Facebook account without ever posting to it? As long as you remain friends with people you need to keep in touch with, but never post anything or fill out your pers…

They'll still know where you live, where you work, what devices you use, what places you travel to, what hotels you stay in, what times you're usually awake, who your friends are, which friends you're more interested in, what invitations you respond to, what invitations you ignore, which of your friends are interested in you, what your hobbies and interests are, what texts you send on messenger, what other websites you visit on the internet, ...

Should I go on?

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#24

Post by errantmind » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:29 AM UTC

FargoPelz wrote: post #10

If you're concerned about "consign[ing] my personal data, beliefs, preferences, relationships, work history, daily plans, and private messages to a massive advertising corporation" but don't want to miss out on seminal life events, why not just maintain a Facebook account without ever posting to it? As long as you remain friends with people you need to keep in touch with, but never post anything or fill out your pers…

You do give up privacy just by having a profile on facebook. It makes it easy to tie your browsing habits to your account, even if you are logged out. See previous discussion : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14694451

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#25

Post by dexterdog » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:29 AM UTC

wsxcde wrote: post #23

FargoPelz wrote: post #10

If you're concerned about "consign[ing] my personal data, beliefs, preferences, relationships, work history, daily plans, and private messages to a massive advertising corporation" but don't want to miss out on seminal life events, why not just maintain a Facebook account without ever posting to it? As long as you remain friends with people you need to keep in touch with, but never post anything or fill out your pers…

They'll still know where you live, where you work, what devices you use, what places you travel to, what hotels you stay in, what times you're usually awake, who your friends are, which friends you're more interested in, what invitations you respond to, what invitations you ignore, which of your friends are interested in you, what your hobbies and interests are, what texts you send on messenger, what other websites y…

Don't use the app and they won't know most of that.

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#26

Post by komali2 » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:29 AM UTC

brianfitz wrote: post #15

I remember reading this when it was originally posted years ago and have had time to think about the implications. I am just over 40, so most of my class reunions were organized through Facebook and was amazed at the turn-out possible because of these new social networks. For my mother, there were simply people she no longer knew how to reach — including one of her best friends from childhood. Years went by until Fac…

Agreed. Furthermore, Facebook doesn't require your work history or any of the other things the author claims is it's blood payment cost of entry. Last I checked it needs a valid email address, name, and password.

I've stripped most of my personal information off Facebook and now just use it as a messaging app and a "find me by name" sort of internet yellow pages thing.

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#27

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:30 AM UTC

FargoPelz wrote: post #16

tunesmith wrote: post #4

Honestly, this is true even if you're on facebook, if the algorithms don't feel like putting the event in your feed.

When someone invites you to an event, you receive a notification. You will be directly informed, you don't have to see it in your feed.

[deleted]

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#28

Post by matz1 » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:32 AM UTC

I can relate to this since I'm an introvert to and don't like social media in general but I do realize that this is how the current generation of society works. If I want to participate in it I have to adapt too.

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#29

Post by ExcelSaga » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:35 AM UTC

dexterdog wrote: post #25

wsxcde wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll still know where you live, where you work, what devices you use, what places you travel to, what hotels you stay in, what times you're usually awake, who your friends are, which friends you're more interested in, what invitations you respond to, what invitations you ignore, which of your friends are interested in you, what your hobbies and interests are, what texts you send on messenger, what other websites y…

Don't use the app and they won't know most of that.

Also don’t let your friends and family use it, block their Pixel, don’t let them buy brokered info on you, don’t let anyone else with Facebook on your WiFi... and do this all perfectly 100% of the time.

Re: Personal Reason for Hating Facebook (2015)

#30

Post by jmspring » Mon, Mar 26, 2018, 1:37 AM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #26

brianfitz wrote: post #15

I remember reading this when it was originally posted years ago and have had time to think about the implications. I am just over 40, so most of my class reunions were organized through Facebook and was amazed at the turn-out possible because of these new social networks. For my mother, there were simply people she no longer knew how to reach — including one of her best friends from childhood. Years went by until Fac…

Agreed. Furthermore, Facebook doesn't require your work history or any of the other things the author claims is it's blood payment cost of entry. Last I checked it needs a valid email address, name, and password. I've stripped most of my personal information off Facebook and now just use it as a messaging app and a "find me by name" sort of internet yellow pages thing.

I'm not a fan of Facebook, use it, also happen to be cutting back. You are correct at the minimal set of interactions necessary to be on there. Honestly, the post mentioned sounded more like whining and an excuse for personal lapses -- "don't contact close friends for an extended period of time". If the writer had put a bit more energy into maintaining offline relationships, maybe he would have heard about both events prior to them happening.

edit: cleaning up the grammar