Live data from Hacker News

Goodbye Facebook

theaboutness.com

41–50 of 111 posts

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#41
post #32

Does anyone else avoid Facebook because they themselves suck as person? I don't use FB because the activities on it are things I am better off not doing. I felt strange doing anything on it because I felt people were judging me. It was like I had developed this persona of an educated and successful and fun person when I was on it because I hadn't made any new "friends" since beginning grad school and I was so stresse…

Ok, so I did the same thing as you (delete facebook), but you're wrong in thinking that you're not anti-social by avoiding Facebook.

Antisocial behavior is defined as "behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society"

Because literally everyone else in your social circle is on Facebook, you're actually forcing them to go out of their way to interact with you, something that fits the definition to a T. Facebook is the preferred method of communication for most people, and if you're ignoring this and forcing people to conform, they'll resent it. Every interaction with you, therefore, has to be on your terms, instead of the agreed-upon social norms (therefore, not considering others).

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#42
post #32

Does anyone else avoid Facebook because they themselves suck as person? I don't use FB because the activities on it are things I am better off not doing. I felt strange doing anything on it because I felt people were judging me. It was like I had developed this persona of an educated and successful and fun person when I was on it because I hadn't made any new "friends" since beginning grad school and I was so stresse…

i think you'll find more success with Facebook-like thinks if you Think about it less, by which i mean don't strategize or mull over it. try acting from your instincts on what feels right in your core. you'll find yourself taking more honest actions and appreciating how you spend your time, rather than consuming your mind with judgements on yourself and others. "wasting time" sounds to me like a product of taking actions without consulting your gut, like you're chained to your mind instead of your whole being. the fact that wasting time is so much in your vocabulary is like a secon meta level of focusing too much on your mind and strategizing instead of doing.

i haven't yet figured out the right words, but there's something important i'm trying to communicate. feedback welcome.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#43
post #27

I don't know. The author seems to think we'll become Zuckerberg's zombie army due to extended Facebook use. So was the same true of the time UseNet? MSN Messenger? And all those others when they were highly popular? Weren't we trapped in their creators' worlds? With before, when new tech comes along, with an interface, or "world" we prefer to use, then we'll move on. We'll interface with people on the web in a differ…

Usenet is at least a decentralized thing owned by nobody and governed by a mixture of elected representatives and popular vote. Or was, back in the day. Therefore, usenet users weren't anybody's zombie army.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#44
Few people seem to entertain options between Facebook addiction and account deletion. I have a simple practical use for it: easy access to acquaintances. Here's a recent story I can share.

I was on vacation in DC with friends, and I walked right past a girl I was certain was a friend of mine from college. I found her number on Facebook, sent her a text, and found out that it was her. We met up for drinks the next evening. Do we chat regularly as a result of having met up? No, but we enjoyed reminiscing and sharing our stories.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#45
post #41
post #32

Does anyone else avoid Facebook because they themselves suck as person? I don't use FB because the activities on it are things I am better off not doing. I felt strange doing anything on it because I felt people were judging me. It was like I had developed this persona of an educated and successful and fun person when I was on it because I hadn't made any new "friends" since beginning grad school and I was so stresse…

Ok, so I did the same thing as you (delete facebook), but you're wrong in thinking that you're not anti-social by avoiding Facebook. Antisocial behavior is defined as " behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society " Because literally everyone else in your social circle is on Facebook, you're actually forcing them to go out of their way to interact with you, something that fits th…

There's a difference between being antisocial and anti-Facebook. Don't conflate the two.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#46
post #19

I find it humorous that there is such a need to DEFINE Facebook. It's different things to different people. We really don't need one definition of what it is or a nice tidy list of the ways people use it, what the benefits are, what the drawbacks are, etc. Every time I read about somebody complaining about Facebook, I usually just end up thinking "I don't use it (exactly) that way, so this doesn't (completely) apply…

Oddly enough I have the exact opposite take on it. My wife and I both don't have Facebook accounts, and while most of my friends also do not have accounts, many of my wife's friends do. These friends live in the same state as us, and while we don't live in the same city we still manage to get together frequently. In the last few years we have noticed quite the trend: everyone of these people on Facebook would do a double-take whenever we didn't hear about some large event in their life. They assume that because it was on their Wall, that everyone knew about it. They didn't think to _call_ all their friends to talk about the great news, they simply threw it up on their Wall without thought.

No longer do you have to think about your friends as individuals and how you're going to break news to them, or how they are going to react -- now you can simply throw up a general message and lose the individuality in a flood of responses.

The depersonalization of communication has been exacerbated by a number of different technologies (such as email), however Facebook has allowed us to perfect the art communication without soul.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#47
post #34

SPOILER ALERTS please.

Do you want spoiler alerts on history books as well? :)

I went to an article on Facebook which starts off by explicitly discussing the portrayal of events in a movie I haven't seen yet (and intend to).

How's that not a spoiler?

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#48
I tweeted the fact that my blog about quitting Facebook has been published. So meta that it hurts.

This article amounts to a wisp of air amongst a wind of change. It's a tad late, but better late than never. Some users of Facebook will never quit. It's a realization that permeated Facebook's offices for a long time and these are the users that just don't care period. With blinders on, they will obey the rules, and let their online privacy erode.

What's more important, and the conversation that we should be having: where to go next? What's our collective need that an online network can fulfill ? Maybe it's not online and in fact, going backwards is the new cool. Who knows?

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#49
post #45
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so I did the same thing as you (delete facebook), but you're wrong in thinking that you're not anti-social by avoiding Facebook. Antisocial behavior is defined as " behaviour that lacks consideration for others and that may cause damage to society " Because literally everyone else in your social circle is on Facebook, you're actually forcing them to go out of their way to interact with you, something that fits th…

There's a difference between being antisocial and anti-Facebook. Don't conflate the two.

Don't make assertions without support.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#50
post #32

Does anyone else avoid Facebook because they themselves suck as person? I don't use FB because the activities on it are things I am better off not doing. I felt strange doing anything on it because I felt people were judging me. It was like I had developed this persona of an educated and successful and fun person when I was on it because I hadn't made any new "friends" since beginning grad school and I was so stresse…

There is a difference between antisocial and asocial, it is the difference between being hostile or antagonistic to others as opposed to simply ignoring or ahunning them.

Equally, people confuse being insecure and attention-seeking with being sociable or worse, popular.

Post reply on HN