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.
Don't make pointless bitchy comments.
Goodbye Facebook
71–80 of 111 posts
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#72Interesting that the comments so far (69) are mostly a comparison of value vs risk.
If you get enough value out of Facebook, it is worth the risk, otherwise it is quickly discarded.
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#73Zadie Smith is one of my favorite authors. She has a jaw-droppingly gorgeous prose style. It would be nice (for someone) to link to her article (so I will) that prompted this dude to delete his account. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/nov/25/generat...
Her insights and arguments really needs to be read by everyone of our generation in full, and I mean that in all sincerity. It articulates all the misgivings and worries I have about this phenomenon that has always left a slightly bad taste in my mouth and felt vaguely repellent.
In addendum: I pray for the day I can convert my thoughts into words as judiciously and compellingly, verily I would sell my soul for that knack.
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#74Does 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…
After letting a profile languish for some time, I got pulled onto Facebook by people who insisted upon messaging me via Facebook rather than via email.
I quit and deleted the account, however, when the demands of reciprocity got not only too time consuming, but too transparent and formulaic to participate in without feeling almost ridiculous.
It is tangentially related to a scene from Fight Club-
Narrator: When people think you're dying, they really, really listen to you, instead of just...
Marla Singer: - instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.
On Facebook, as with many social media sites (including Flickr), people "listen to you" to remind you that you should listen to them. They like your posts and comment on your pictures and send you happy birthdays all to ensure that you feel the obligation to do the same to them.
Life is full of that sort of reciprocity, but never could it be piled onto people with the easy lack of friction that Facebook affords.
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
The brilliance of Facebook is that it draws in lots of users. Their funnel is amazing. The app at the bottom of that funnel isn't that great, but manages to deliver value because of the huge userbase.
And this is also its weakness because if its only virtue is that it's "the cool place to hang out in cyberspace" then this is very vulnerable to changes in fashion (see MySpace/Second Life/LiveJournal/GeoCities).
Except at this point your parents are on Facebook. They were never on MySpace/Second Life/LiveJournal/GeoCities. While some of its value is "the cool place", it's also the place a lot of my family's social events (birthday parties, etc) are announced. If my 23 year old cousin switches to HotNewSocialSite, she'd still have to be on Facebook to find out about Granddad's 90th birthday get together simply because that's how the word gets out now, for better or worse.
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#76Wow ... that makes me want to sign up with Facebook just so I can join the "delete my account" club.
Thank you!
Why is it suddenly such a big thing to delete your Facebook account. Every week it seems like there's another one of these on the frontpage and that means people are voting them there. I'd really like to understand why that is? Everyone commenting here and on the blog post make out like it's such a huge deal.
Really? Is it? Imagine if I wrote up a big "I closed my MySpace account" post. I'd be laughed out of town. Why's closing a Facebook account such a big deal? Just because it has more users?
Good on the person for doing so, but do we all need to hold hands with them and pray? Because that what it seems like we're doing here.
Google's got just as much, probably more, info on you. Everyone uses Gmail (why, I don't know) but you don't see people writing up big "I closed my Gmail account here's why" posts. Why not? Why is everyone so comfortable with Google knowing everything about their lives in email format?
So I'm really curious: Why do these posts get voted up? Do people really think closing your Facebook account is THAT big of a deal?
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#77I don't believe that facebook is the technological fad that tech pundits want them to be. They have infected the infrastructure of the web in ways that livejournal and myspace never could.
I agree, but I would add that they're overhyped as well. I think Facebook's value is somewhere in the middle between current expectations / valuations and a fad. So yes it's big, it will continue to be big, but it's not and never will be Google big.
I could be completely wrong though considering the engineers who've left google for facebook, but then again, maybe that was just for a massive payout?
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#78I only post stuff to Facebook that I would tell any random stranger, like I had a good trip somewhere or I read a good book or I saw a movie. Even if I was convinced of the privacy of that site, I still want there to be a bit of mystery.
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#79There 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.
i haven't been in college for 10 years now and i still use facebook (and twitter, and livejournal) to broadcast party invites. there are about 5 people whom i like, and see in person regularly who do not get their news that way, and they get an email about those events.
funny enough, i never set facebook status updates or read anyone else's. i guess creating an event posts it in your stream, but the direct-invite and invited-by-friends feature is the extent of my use of facebook (people do message me on there and i reply via email).
my parties generally have a good mix of highschoolers to 60 somethings. i'll grant you that 2/3 of the sixty somethings are my neighbors and they get the email invite, but a lot of the 50-plus social crowd in portland, OR is on facebook.
the other benefit to using a tool like facebook to do (open) party invites is that people can invite their friends. most of my parties are open; i trust my friends' judgment not to bring/invite assholes. and it works out remarkably well. i've hosted thousands of people at around a hundred parties (some are smaller dinner parties, but still open invite) since i started this strategy, at least half of whom i did not know at all, and only 2 things have ever been broken/stolen. total value lost: $80. total connectedness gained & fun had? incalculable (but huge).
WORKSFORME, without being my only or even main method of socialization (which is decidedly in real life).
Re: Goodbye Facebook
#80What is starting to really irk me about Facebook is how birthdays are handled. It's like the site is basically one big happy birthday wish site. Each day it's somebody else's birthday and all their friends take turns trying to write a somewhat unique birthday wish, like: Friend #1: Happy Birthday! Friend #2: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DUDE!! Friend #3: happy b-day! Friend #4: Have a wonderful birthday! And it goes on and on down…
my solution: don't read other peoples' status updates, don't have your birthday posted publicly, don't get annoyed.