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

The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

pastemagazine.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 58 posts

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#41

Post by danharaj »

jamesrcole wrote: post #31
danharaj wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Colloquially 'forced' is often used in a sense weaker than coercion. For example, a train delay might force you to take the bus. A move in Chess can be forced because all alternatives immediately lose. In this weaker sense, it might be taken as "left with no better option".

Yes, to force means to leave no alternative or option, and in this sense Facebook is not forcing those connections, and it's unreasonable to say it is forcing them.

So, in my examples, nothing forces you, in the strictest sense, to take the bus instead of walking. And in Chess nothing forces you in the strictest sense to not make a move that immediately loses.

So perhaps loosen your grip and understand what the OP was saying?

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#42

Post by kerng »

jamesrcole wrote: post #36
kerng wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also reminds you at the most inappropriate times about people either via "people you might know" and other annoyances on whom you should be connected with. These unwanted reminders can certainly create unwanted distress.

Absolutely. But I was just making the point that what they were describing wasn't a case of it forcing them to friend those people.

Yeah, force might be a strong word but I think for some it indeed creates social pressure and fear of repercussion if they dont friend people they "should be" connected with because of social structures, etc.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#43

Post by nunodonato »

Facebook is not going away, not soon, at least. Not until a fit replacement shows up.

I look at people around me, they love how easy it is to create a new facebook "group" just to get people together working on something (event, workgroup, plain discussion around a topic). Nothing matches this so far.

Nobody wants mailing lists (I do!), or newsgroups, or going to 2 or 3 other website (more registrations needed) to be able to do the same facebook does so simple.

Unfortunately.

PS - extra tip: take advantage of the containers in the new firefox, and make sure you isolate your facebook usage in one, at least it wont track you around the web

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#44

Post by 8bitsrule »

finaliteration wrote: post #5

Facebook prioritizes "connection", but doesn't question whether all of those connections are -good- ones. I know there are a million comments out there about how deleting Facebook led to someone having less anxiety, depression, etc., but I'm also in that camp for a reason that I don't think gets mentioned a lot. I suffer from PTSD due to childhood abuse and neglect (and I'm talking heavy drug use, physical, verbal, a…

It's a Strange Thing ... all the power, prestige, and money to be had by creating a pleasant alternative.

So far it hasn't happened. Many were called and none were chosen. Look for The Others.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#45

Post by rhizome »

jamesrcole wrote: post #13
finaliteration wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe "force" is too strong a word. However, it strongly pushes them by generating lists of people you may know even if you haven't talked to them in over a decade. It also makes it easier for someone to just click "Friend this person" rather than having to find someone's number and pick up the phone. Guilt is a strong motivator, as least for me, so granting someone that access makes it a lot more difficult to set ap…

It's up to you to accept a friend suggestion or request. And the UI makes it easy to delete any friend request. If there's pressure it comes from outside FB itself.

I'm jealous that there's nobody in your past you'd rather not be reminded.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#46

Post by dorchadas »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #35

Going cold turkey is never easy. If you're having trouble withdrawing, consider what I did over the past few years: 1. Turn off notifications for the Facebook app on your phone; next 2. Turn off notifications for the Facebook Messenger, Instagram, et cetera apps on your phone; then 3. Delete the Facebook app from your phone; then 4. Delete the Facebook Messenger, Instagram, et cetera apps from your phone; and finally…

The biggest issue for me is Messenger. There's a few people I only communicate with on it, and I'd hate to lose that, even though it's not frequent communication. Otherwise, I've had mine deactivated (so I could keep messenger) for going on a month now, and don't miss it apart from some updates for groups I'm in.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#47

Post by danso »

jamesrcole wrote: post #33
EliRivers wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"the subtleties of language matter", yet you're the one interpreting language like a robot with a dictionary.

Under the everyday notion of forcing someone to do something, Facebook is not forcing people to friend others. The definition I cited was for illustration. Since when does backing up you point with a definition mean you're being slavishly robotic? Since you're trying to imply my usage of the term is narrow and unrealistic, what's the different notion of "forcing" someone to do something that would make it true that F…

I can't read the commenter's state of mind, but the word "forced" seems to be used colloquially/artfully, to portray what they personally and subjectively experience with Facebook, and not meant necessarily as an objective description of Facebook's feature/UI/UX.

From a Facebook designer's point of view, the UI/UX most surely is intended to be "encouraging". But it may also be the case that for some users, the social dynamic may feel particularly oppressive.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#48

Post by m0llusk »

This is really stuck up and unrealistic. People need connection and Facebook provides that. Provide an alternative or suck it up. Positive and negative causes both feed off of what Facebook has to offer. Being high and mighty isn't going to be enough to fix what is wrong here.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#49

Post by JumpCrisscross »

dorchadas wrote: post #46
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #35

Going cold turkey is never easy. If you're having trouble withdrawing, consider what I did over the past few years: 1. Turn off notifications for the Facebook app on your phone; next 2. Turn off notifications for the Facebook Messenger, Instagram, et cetera apps on your phone; then 3. Delete the Facebook app from your phone; then 4. Delete the Facebook Messenger, Instagram, et cetera apps from your phone; and finally…

The biggest issue for me is Messenger. There's a few people I only communicate with on it, and I'd hate to lose that, even though it's not frequent communication. Otherwise, I've had mine deactivated (so I could keep messenger) for going on a month now, and don't miss it apart from some updates for groups I'm in.

> The biggest issue for me is Messenger

It was for me, too. That said, if you simply ignore Facebook Messages and periodically drop in with "didn't see this until just now; shoot me an e-mail or text next time," everything you want to see eventually makes it over.

Re: The Time Has Come to Finally Delete Facebook

#50

Post by ibash »

dorchadas wrote: post #46
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #35

Going cold turkey is never easy. If you're having trouble withdrawing, consider what I did over the past few years: 1. Turn off notifications for the Facebook app on your phone; next 2. Turn off notifications for the Facebook Messenger, Instagram, et cetera apps on your phone; then 3. Delete the Facebook app from your phone; then 4. Delete the Facebook Messenger, Instagram, et cetera apps from your phone; and finally…

The biggest issue for me is Messenger. There's a few people I only communicate with on it, and I'd hate to lose that, even though it's not frequent communication. Otherwise, I've had mine deactivated (so I could keep messenger) for going on a month now, and don't miss it apart from some updates for groups I'm in.

I recently sent the message “hi I’m deleting my facebook so text me instead at ” to everyone I communicated with in the last few months. Turned out to be only a handful of folks.

Take the plunge! The water’s great!

Post reply on HN