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Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

nytimes.com

41–50 of 65 posts

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#41
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it. I don't use it. It doesn't prevent them from using me anyway though. They're happy asking my friends for their contacts list (so they can get my phone number) and setting cookies through their "Like" buttons embedded everywhere without ever asking for my permission. The only way to stop that company is to kill it, and these "ridiculous" pieces might very well be the only so…

So use an ad blocker. It's about thirty seconds to set up, and very user-friendly. Even with the default lists, they do a great job. The reason I take issue is the word you used above: "attack". I think its use is telling. The New York Times has broken newsworthy information that was against Facebook, which I think is their job and a good thing to do. Newspapers, however, aren't really supposed to "attack" things. Th…

> So use an ad blocker. It's about thirty seconds to set up, and very user-friendly. Even with the default lists, they do a great job.

Have you ever tried to set up ad/tracker blocking for a non-tech person? If it actually protects their privacy, then it's also a huge pain in the ass that randomly breaks things and requires constant attention. DNS- or IP-level blocking works best, but requires constant maintenance. Then there are the various caches. What breaks when you block "*.googleapis.com"? Then there's the question of which user-hostile JavaScript APIs you try to block. WebGL? WebUSB? And from whom? It's endless war.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#42
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So use an ad blocker. It's about thirty seconds to set up, and very user-friendly. Even with the default lists, they do a great job. The reason I take issue is the word you used above: "attack". I think its use is telling. The New York Times has broken newsworthy information that was against Facebook, which I think is their job and a good thing to do. Newspapers, however, aren't really supposed to "attack" things. Th…

So following your logic the solution to knife crime would be to tell everyone to wear armor instead of putting the criminals in jail? > Newspapers, however, aren't really supposed to "attack" things I would consider it an attack if they were publishing lies. But I don't see any lies here - Facebook has dug their own grave and is now rightfully getting what they deserve.

Is Facebook comitting a crime? Not sure i understand your analogy.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#43
post #23

Facebook is enhancing my family’s joy. My family is spread across the world. Because of Facebook, I know what my sister in law is up to, and have things to talk about with her when I see her. I know what my nieces do over the summer at the cabin, and have a connection to them. These hit pieces are ridiculous. If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it.

> If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it. I don't use it. It doesn't prevent them from using me anyway though. They're happy asking my friends for their contacts list (so they can get my phone number) and setting cookies through their "Like" buttons embedded everywhere without ever asking for my permission. The only way to stop that company is to kill it, and these "ridiculous" pieces might very well be the only so…

In what way are you being used by FB in ways that it affect you physically. Sounds like its more in principle you are complaining?

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#44
post #23

Facebook is enhancing my family’s joy. My family is spread across the world. Because of Facebook, I know what my sister in law is up to, and have things to talk about with her when I see her. I know what my nieces do over the summer at the cabin, and have a connection to them. These hit pieces are ridiculous. If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it.

Wouldn't it have been more fun to talk to them on the phone about that stuff?

That's what I do. I find it much better to not knowing everything about my family and friends all the time. So I talk over phone and we talk for hours. After ending the call I feel happy. I never feel like that using social media. When we meet physically, there are so much to talk about and share.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So following your logic the solution to knife crime would be to tell everyone to wear armor instead of putting the criminals in jail? > Newspapers, however, aren't really supposed to "attack" things I would consider it an attack if they were publishing lies. But I don't see any lies here - Facebook has dug their own grave and is now rightfully getting what they deserve.

Is Facebook comitting a crime? Not sure i understand your analogy.

Facebook is actually trying to fight a fine from Belgium's privacy regulator, so they definitely committed a crime, at least there: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/15/belgium-f...

My analogy was that it shouldn't be up to me to defend myself from someone else's nefarious actions. I should not have to install ad blockers to avoid getting stalked by Facebook.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Facebook comitting a crime? Not sure i understand your analogy.

Facebook is actually trying to fight a fine from Belgium's privacy regulator, so they definitely committed a crime, at least there: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/15/belgium-f... My analogy was that it shouldn't be up to me to defend myself from someone else's nefarious actions. I should not have to install ad blockers to avoid getting stalked by Facebook.

But you havent explained the crime yet.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#47

Is 'Like' incl. 'Upvotes' etc. the most impactful feature on the web i.e in terms of influencing human behaviour? Since 'Like' and its likes(pun intended) releases dopamine & the incentive keeps one addicted; it became the foundation of these social networks. Unlike actual real relationships, positive feedback from these social networks gives instant gratification without strings attached(at-least seems like that), m…

Upvotes or likes per-se aren't a bad idea, they can be used to reward what the community defines as good behaviour and filter out bad content (clickbait, etc). It seems to work pretty well on HN or Reddit for example. The problem arises when there is no longer a clear definition of what should warrant a like, so the number looses its utility as a quality metric, and from there everything breaks loose especially if th…

> It seems to work pretty well on HN or Reddit

Perhaps it is because of the downvotes?

>Facebook didn't have likes in the beginning and it didn't prevent them from growing.

Yes I agree, they have been growing steadily after introducing 'Like', guess we'll never know how much impact 'Like' would have made if Facebook didn't introduce them and if other social networks social networks had them.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#48
post #23

Facebook is enhancing my family’s joy. My family is spread across the world. Because of Facebook, I know what my sister in law is up to, and have things to talk about with her when I see her. I know what my nieces do over the summer at the cabin, and have a connection to them. These hit pieces are ridiculous. If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it.

At what cost?

$0.00?

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#49
post #23

Facebook is enhancing my family’s joy. My family is spread across the world. Because of Facebook, I know what my sister in law is up to, and have things to talk about with her when I see her. I know what my nieces do over the summer at the cabin, and have a connection to them. These hit pieces are ridiculous. If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it.

> If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it. I don't use it. It doesn't prevent them from using me anyway though. They're happy asking my friends for their contacts list (so they can get my phone number) and setting cookies through their "Like" buttons embedded everywhere without ever asking for my permission. The only way to stop that company is to kill it, and these "ridiculous" pieces might very well be the only so…

So you blame fb, instead of your friends, for your friends handing over your phone number to an advertising company? It might make sense to stop giving your phone number out to your friends.

At some point, lets say you have 100 friends, and ONE gives out your number. That's it, its out there. Your phone number is either de facto public information, or you cant really give it out to anybody, except maybe banks for verification.

Re: Facebook Is Stealing Your Family’s Joy

#50
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you don’t like Facebook, don’t use it. I don't use it. It doesn't prevent them from using me anyway though. They're happy asking my friends for their contacts list (so they can get my phone number) and setting cookies through their "Like" buttons embedded everywhere without ever asking for my permission. The only way to stop that company is to kill it, and these "ridiculous" pieces might very well be the only so…

So you blame fb, instead of your friends, for your friends handing over your phone number to an advertising company? It might make sense to stop giving your phone number out to your friends. At some point, lets say you have 100 friends, and ONE gives out your number. That's it, its out there. Your phone number is either de facto public information, or you cant really give it out to anybody, except maybe banks for ver…

Facebook doesn't limit itself to phone numbers. They're just a convenient data point to pin everything else they've gathered to your name.

And the thing people take offense in isn't the phone number directory... It's everything else that they not only know about, but also sell to unrelated third parties.

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