Goodbye Facebook • Hacker News Board

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#51

Post by philwelch » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:07 PM UTC

jbondeson wrote: post #46

rewind wrote: 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 do…

Personally, it gets tiresome to have the exact same conversation, individually, with a dozen different friends. There's no "soul", for me, in repeating virtually the same scripted interaction over and over again when I can just inform everyone all at once and get it over with.

If I'm talking to you, I want to have a conversation that actually pertains to our unique set of mutual interests. I honestly think of things during the day that I know one particular friend of mine would be interested in discussing, and I remember to discuss it with them later. And it's easier, not harder, to have those kinds of personal talks when I don't have to waste time on scripted boilerplate about what just happened in my life.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#52

Post by Wilduck » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:09 PM UTC

motters wrote: post #13

There is perhaps some chance that I could be wrong due to the substantial inertia which Facebook has now accumulated, but I expect that it's just another fad which seems to be peaking if my spider-senses are correct. Facebook is not a particularly brilliant application and the amount of value it delivers is also not that great. If you're a Facebook user or addict, just pause for a moment and ask yourself how much act…

I don't know how recently you've been a college student, but Facebook still offers a large ammount of value to that demographic. I would hate to make 100+ phone calls to invite people to a party, or to spend the money/time making and posting flyers.

Sure I'd jump ship if another platform provided more value, but that's (somewhat) different then a fad.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#53

Post by Sandman » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:15 PM UTC

sudont wrote: post #41

kunjaan wrote: 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…

Ok, I don't have a Facebook account nor have I ever had one. I never felt that I need it. My friends (those that I truly consider to be my friends) have my phone number and they can call me any time, either to ask me to meet them in person, discuss something they want to discuss with me, or just chat. So, what, I'm forcing my poor friends to, heaven forbid, go through all that trouble of dialing my number just to get in touch with me when I should, like any other sensible person, save them the horror of pressing a couple of keys and create a Facebook account? Even though I neither want nor need one?

I don't need Facebook. I frequently meet with my friends. We go to football matches, concerts, or just to a bar to have a glass of beer or two. Even if we don't meet in person we can chat over phone or through msn, skype etc.

So, sorry, no, I don't buy into this 'you're anti-social because you're not on Facebook' BS.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#54

Post by jbondeson » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:23 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #51

jbondeson wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 do…

Personally, it gets tiresome to have the exact same conversation, individually, with a dozen different friends. There's no "soul", for me, in repeating virtually the same scripted interaction over and over again when I can just inform everyone all at once and get it over with. If I'm talking to you, I want to have a conversation that actually pertains to our unique set of mutual interests. I honestly think of things…

If you're repeating the exact same thing to a dozen different friends I'm going to assume that you (or they) are not engaged by the news -- which is what I call "life trivia."

Most of what I see on twitter is this trivia, "I refinished my floors," "I bought an iPad." Would you normally go out of your way to talk about this to anyone who didn't ask "What did you do this weekend?" Probably not, so why do you feel the need to broadcast it to the world via Twitter/Facebook/?

Now take something you have a passion for. I personally am an avid homebrewer and love to talk about beer. I'll talk to a half dozen different friends about the latest batch of beer I made and have completely different conversations and get insights into what they like. I have friends that are huge into climbing, now I have no big interest in it myself, but their passion draws me into the conversations and over the past decade I've learned more about climbing than I ever would have if it were just some posts.

It takes an amazing writer to really evoke the emotions that most of our daily conversations have, and let's face it, the world isn't exactly filled with amazing writers.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#55

Post by philwelch » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:25 PM UTC

jbondeson wrote: post #54

philwelch wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, it gets tiresome to have the exact same conversation, individually, with a dozen different friends. There's no "soul", for me, in repeating virtually the same scripted interaction over and over again when I can just inform everyone all at once and get it over with. If I'm talking to you, I want to have a conversation that actually pertains to our unique set of mutual interests. I honestly think of things…

If you're repeating the exact same thing to a dozen different friends I'm going to assume that you (or they) are not engaged by the news -- which is what I call "life trivia." Most of what I see on twitter is this trivia, "I refinished my floors," "I bought an iPad." Would you normally go out of your way to talk about this to anyone who didn't ask "What did you do this weekend?" Probably not, so why do you feel the n…

From personal experience, "I just graduated, got a new job, and moved to Seattle" and "my mom died" both count as "life trivia". Haven't really heard anyone come up with a new take on either of those subjects yet.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#56

Post by trustfundbaby » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:27 PM UTC

yuvadam wrote: post #11

This is a very important article. An eye opener. My takeaway is this - Facebook is the first web application that showed us how easy it is to connect to the people we love, as well as those we know, but do not care about. Facebook is the mere beginning of the way we will communicate in the future. It has its gripes, and people are starting to get bored with it ("ok so I friended her, now what?"). Nothing happens on F…

> Facebook is the mere beginning of the way we will communicate in the future

I think this is key. Just like iirc led to im and online forums led to reddit/hacker news, facebook will lead to something else ... That is what interests me.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#57

Post by pohl » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:28 PM UTC

srbloom wrote: post #49

qjz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Don't make assertions without support.

The same admonishion should apply to sudont's assertions upthread. We shouldn't take it as a given that friends will resent you for having to compose an email or use IM.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#58

Post by trustfundbaby » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:34 PM UTC

rewind wrote: 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…

You are absolutely right ... Facebook has broadened my social circle in ways that would have been impossible just 6 years ago ...

Sure I don't call all 600 people on my friends list every week or have deep profound conversations with them all the time, but now I know enough about so many people in so many different places. People I could never have met ordinarily.

And I met them through other friends so that gives us enough familiarity that I could go to a new city of a friend on facebook and think nothing about asking them to come have a beer with me or send them a note asking about things to do in their city or what not. It could become a stronger friendship or they could have no personality, but its the possibility of friendship that fascinates me.

We're still working out the kinks with new forms of online communication (twitter/blogging/facebook) etc, but once we do, I have no doubt that we will see that they are net positives for us as a species.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#59

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:35 PM UTC

srbloom wrote: post #49

qjz wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Don't make assertions without support.

You want support? :

The world got along fine until facebook came out all of less than 10 years ago.

Since then lots of people have joined it and lots of people have left again, but arguably lots more have joined than have left.

Just like there is no obligation to join there is no obligation to leave and those that leave should not be made to feel guilty 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. "

If your social circle is defined by facebook then pity to you, there are many more established means of communicating with other people including but not limited to:

  - personal contact in real life (visiting)
  - the telephone
  - letter writing
  - email
  - sign language
  - the telegraph system
  - telex
  - flickr
  - youtube
  - fax
  - smoke signals
  - carrier pigeons
  - various instant messaging systems
  - sms 
  - twitter

And on and on, and quite a few of those didn't exist 30 years ago either.

Not using facebook does not force anybody 'out of their way' in order to communicate with you, the volume will drop a bit but those that want to communicate with you will always find a way at no great inconvenience to them, after all if the 'price' of facebook is low enough for you it is too high for me because I'm not an avid user of facebook.

That cuts both ways and the onus is not on the non-users to provide ease of access to the users of a certain medium.

Typically protocol negotiations will settle when a common medium has been found, and facebook is only one of many possibles.

Fortunately there is some freedom of choice left in this life and whether or not you choose to use a certain communications medium is one of the things we're still free to choose.

Just because something is a hype does not make it mandatory.

Re: Goodbye Facebook

#60

Post by trotsky » Tue, Jan 18, 2011, 5:50 PM UTC

nervechannel wrote: post #47

simias wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The protagonist gets rich.