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

Off-Facebook Activity

facebook.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 146 posts

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#61

Post by jbaudanza »

Lately I've been thinking that the phrase "your data" is a deceptive use of language. It encourages the fantasy that you have some kind of ownership over the data that your actions produce. And that you have some natural right to control how it is used.

The reality is that once data leaves your device, it's not yours anymore. It will almost certainly be used to track and manipulate you. If someone is talking about giving you control over "your data", it should be a signal that they intend to do the opposite. (like the OP).

Maybe we need to give up this fantasy of "your data" before we can embrace technologies such as ad-blocking, encryption, and frankly abstaining from using abusive software.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#62

Post by pkilgore »

pyr0hu wrote: post #21
pictur wrote: post #15

Why do people keep using facebook? I don't want to see this shit anymore.

Keep in touch with family and friends. In my country (hungary) most people use Messenger to communicate. It'd take too much time and hassle to introduce new apps and platforms to my friends to keep in touch with them.

You'll discover the people that really care about you will find a way, and that you're largely better off without the people who dont.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#64

Post by newscracker »

As a good practice, does the user have to go to this page and “clear history” everyday, akin to brushing one’s teeth? Who’d even do that (not taking about brushing one’s teeth)?

Why not make it like a permanent toggle that says “never associate off-Facebook activity with my account (to advertise to me and sell me stuff I don’t need)”?

I don’t see anyone being creeped out or annoyed by “backpack ads” (as seen in that dramatization video of this feature) and still being ok with seeing continuous creepy and annoying ads for shoes or something else later.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#65

Post by edgarvaldes »

lunchables wrote: post #57
mattkevan wrote: post #12

Hmm, a clear history feature that does nothing of the sort. Sounds like Facebook! The product manager in charge said: “people were able to mentally connect that with how their browser controls work, where they can clear their history. We clearly state that … the information isn’t connected to your account.” [0] So, they deliberately designed it to make people think it works like a browser's clear history feature (whi…

Anyone still using Facebook at this point is insane or has some direct financial motivation to continue using it. I don't know what else people need to see to stop using it.

A better alternative to groups and planning for the non technical user?

I don't use Facebook as much, but I see the appeal.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#66

Post by beshrkayali »

In the video she said that the website sends data about you to Facebook. This is incorrect. Facebook is the one doing the collecting or the purchasing of your data from 3rd party collectors.

I try to post this on every Facebook related post: Leave Facebook. You'll thank yourself a year from now.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#67

Post by tsjq »

as a non-FB user, do these browser settings keep FB from tracking me?

block all 3rd party cookies, block all trackers, clear cookies on exit, uBlock Origin extension,

and blocking FB related sites in /etc/hosts file

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#68

Post by bravoetch »

tsjq wrote: post #67

as a non-FB user, do these browser settings keep FB from tracking me? block all 3rd party cookies, block all trackers, clear cookies on exit, uBlock Origin extension, and blocking FB related sites in /etc/hosts file

It's hard to know for sure, and I think you're doing most of what you could do. More layers would be using TOR browser, noscript, and using a VPN for Al connections on your phone and other devices.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#69

Post by Nextgrid »

pesenti wrote: post #2

This is the clear history feature that was announced a year ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16969325 . See also the engineering post that explains some of the challenges in implementing this: https://engineering.fb.com/data-infrastructure/off-facebook-...

If it’s challenging to make a feature treat users with respect then maybe you shouldn’t have built the feature in the first place?

It’s like designing a dangerous rollercoaster with no concern for safety, and then when people start dying complaining about how hard it was to make it safe.

Nasty, unethical, criminal and morally bankrupt company. There are no other words to describe it.

Re: Off-Facebook Activity

#70

Post by ilikehurdles »

Semaphor wrote: post #33
ilikehurdles wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's for kids to share memes under fake profiles and boomers to share fake news under real profiles. A hard cut from facebook is surprisingly easy. The biggest challenge is getting over the mentality of fear that it will somehow be challenging.

It’s to keep a loose connection with distant people and organize private events and find out about non-personal events and happenings. Just because the people you added on facebook filled it with bullshit, doesn’t mean it’s like that for everyone. I’d love to get away from them, but I have yet to find a workable alternative.

My connections I cared about simply switched to other forms of communication. Private events, I still find out about. People care about others attending their events (quelle surprise). I just now keep in touch with others in a more personal way instead.

"Non-personal events and happenings" are something whose value is worth thinking about. They were one of those things I'm very happy to have optimized away. If it's important, I'll find out about it. Rephrased, I will not make it my responsibility to find out about something you yourself didn't find important enough to tell me about. Reacting to a post is neither taking part in the event nor engaging with the people involved in it. It's this artificial, vicarious interaction that people convince themselves is a valuable addition to their life when in reality it's a fleeting sentence on an infinitely scrolling newsfeed. It replaced the tv show we'd have on in the background but never quite watch. Something mindless yet just engaging enough to take our focus away from doing absolutely nothing at all.

I used to spend my time on facebook finding out about these "non-personal events and happenings", like my cousin's husband's sister's graduation that I never would have attended or been invited to anyway, my aunt's trip to the beach, and some anniversary party a friend and her partner had. Was any of that important? The only difference between being on facebook and being off facebook, is that the former is full of one-way communication where I show minimal engagement with 90% of people's statuses, while the other is a two-way communication where I personally socialize with the 50% of those people who added value to my life. Magically, almost as if humans have evolved to be able to communicate in more ways than one with no effort, I still find out about the significant events.

In my newly-found free time I've become a board member of a large local non-profit, met more of my neighbors and a large chunk of my local government officials, and found time to regularly exercise hard and explore the outdoors.

Post reply on HN