The Evil That is Facebook

[Ak5]

Someone who is good with drawing, care to draw Mark Zuckerberg a few horns and then call him Satan? Lmao. (This is actually sarcasm directed at this thread.)

 

[nerdygirl]

I'm always kind of baffled by the way people here react to facebook. Yes. People talk about themselves. I couldn't very well sign on and start talking about YOU, could I? Unless I was stalking you, that is, and well. We don't want that, do we?

Facebook can be kinda helpful for people who are suffering social anxiety. Remember when LoneKiller (I think that's who it was) asked why people don't just start random threads? It's a little weird for forum behavior, but it's how you communicate on facebook. You get on and post about pretty much anything on your mind. People don't always respond, but it still helps you learn to express yourself, and to do it without expectation. Without expectation, you begin to lose the fear of rejection. Squash the fear of rejection, and you have less cause to be afraid in social situations.

Yea, there isn't generally a ton of private messages going on. One person makes a post and somebody responds. Somebody else might respond to what the OP said, or to what the other person said. Then, somebody else comes along. Sometimes, there are arguments. Sometimes, you manage to make a new friend. This is a nice baby step for developing the skill to mingle at parties. The fact that this came up makes me wonder if y'all exchange a ton of private messages on this site. 'Cause I don't. I use the threads to communicate.

Yes, playing a game on there can help you to look like you're not quite as friendless as you are. I don't think this is especially "fake". If somebody always played basketball somewhere, and added somebody they play with, but they don't hang out any other time... I don't think that's "fake". Just don't overdo it. You're not trying to seem "popular"... just not "creepy". Also, I've turned a few game "friends" into real friends by doing the whole interacting on the wall thing. I mean, like, we text on our phones and everything.

For those of you who gripe about people being happy, yea. If you cannot handle somebody saying, "I had a great day", "Man, I love my girlfriend!", or "I just got a new job!" then seriously. Leave facebook alone. Nobody, not even you, have an entirely bad day, every single day of your life. And one thing I'm always hearing is, "Something really great happened today, but I don't have anybody to share it with." Well, they want to share it with somebody, too. This doesn't make them a bad person. It doesn't mean they're deliberately rubbing it in your face. It just means it would be inappropriate to shout, "Woohoooooo!" in their office.

Oh, and Arsenic Queen... you can hide things from your timeline. You can also choose which people see your posts.

 

[Sci-Fi]

I'm always kind of baffled by the way people here react to facebook. Yes. People talk about themselves. I couldn't very well sign on and start talking about YOU, could I? Unless I was stalking you, that is, and well. We don't want that, do we?

Yes. :/

jk

 

[Arsenic Queen]

Oh, and Arsenic Queen... you can hide things from your timeline. You can also choose which people see your posts.

For Timelines I made a series of tests with a friend, and while you can choose which friends see what, all outsiders can see everything they want. Even "friends only" content.

The whole idea of speaking without expectation - or without being careful who may be paying attention, seems similar to me than the people who make fools of themselves on TV in reality shows. Once the show is over you have a pocket of people who are never going to be able to find a normal job again. Some of them get lucky enough to get new contracts in the media. The others? ... I suggest you make your own research. It's not pretty.

I've been enjoying Facebook for quite a while. I even had a love r-ship nearly exclusively on it last year. But I won't trust blindly any business, be it as "friendly" as Facebook or Google, especially considering how unilateral they already are. See how difficult it is to communicate with the Facebook team when there's any bug, or how people are forced to accept new layouts as they come without having the option out. Unilaterality is the proper of most scams. Considering the number of personal informations going around on Facebook, it would be tempting to sell these informations to a third party. And there's not much people could do about it; most of it is already considered public property.

 

[AJR]

Perhaps things are bit off of the original intent of the thread I created. Yes I was quite unhappy that not one single person noticed I deleted my account, yet folks notice when jimbob has a beer at the local pub or when Jane goes to get a cup of coffee. Of course Im being jealous and petty. The real question here was is there something I could/should be doing to be more "successful" with Facebook. This isnt really about bashing facebook so much as trying to understand the phenomenon and how I could have used it better. I mean it isnt as if I posted like I do here, crying about my pathetic life, like most I put only the possitive but still failed making many a connection or reconnection.

 

[Sci-Fi]

Use it better? It's become less of a "social network" then what it started out as. Why worry about being successful on Facebook, it really isn't a popularity contest unless you want to make it into one. I laugh at all the people who have 100+ 300+ friends on their list. I mean come on, like they talk to all those people. I have under 20 people on my facebook page and I'm more than happy with that because they are people I do talk to on occasion and people who mean something to me. Well most of them any way.

People fret too much over Facebook.

 

[AvexD]

See, I never really care for facebook, in fact I just stopped going on there due to the fact, I got sick of reading what other people are doing. And for the most fact I hate having it be a popularity contest, to see how many friends you can get.
I prefer Deviant Art.

 

[nerdygirl]

Oh, and Arsenic Queen... you can hide things from your timeline. You can also choose which people see your posts.

For Timelines I made a series of tests with a friend, and while you can choose which friends see what, all outsiders can see everything they want. Even "friends only" content.

The whole idea of speaking without expectation - or without being careful who may be paying attention, seems similar to me than the people who make fools of themselves on TV in reality shows.

Hmmm. My friend and I didn't have any problems when we checked out our timelines. I dunno.

As far as people making fools of themselves... I never said to be a jerk or a dummy. Obviously, nobody should feel encouraged to go on facebook and behave like morons. Don't say anything you'll regret, and don't give out personal information.

My point was that for people who suffer so much social anxiety that they can't even say, "I love mint chocolate chip ice cream" in a room full of strangers... those people can use facebook as a means of practicing. A lot of people get these worries and expectations when they do speak up. "What if nobody agrees with me? What if people just ignore me? Those are both a form of rejection, waahhh!" Saying these rather bland statements on facebook might get responses, or might not. You start getting used to expressing stuff and not getting the response you're shooting for. Once you get comfortable facing that online, it's easier to face it in public.

 

[roguewave]

Facebook has helped me to keep in touch with acquaintances after, for example, the semester ends, and therefore gives me a chance to cultivate an actual friendship with that person long after we would have gone our separate ways.
It seems that Facebook is now a necessary step in the early stages of forming friendships (most of the time). This is why I went back after two glorious years of being FB free.
I am careful though, to not look through other peoples hundreds (thousands?!) of photos and social status updates because I would probably panic and delete my profile again.
It's a good tool but you have to use it with caution. Don't let it use you.

 

[Arsenic Queen]

Hmmm. My friend and I didn't have any problems when we checked out our timelines. I dunno.

As far as people making fools of themselves... I never said to be a jerk or a dummy. Obviously, nobody should feel encouraged to go on facebook and behave like morons. Don't say anything you'll regret, and don't give out personal information.

My point was that for people who suffer so much social anxiety that they can't even say, "I love mint chocolate chip ice cream" in a room full of strangers... those people can use facebook as a means of practicing. A lot of people get these worries and expectations when they do speak up. "What if nobody agrees with me? What if people just ignore me? Those are both a form of rejection, waahhh!" Saying these rather bland statements on facebook might get responses, or might not. You start getting used to expressing stuff and not getting the response you're shooting for. Once you get comfortable facing that online, it's easier to face it in public.

Sure, I have to agree with that. Like an easier ground to test your social skills. And you can hide behind any photo you want, so you can see how people will like/dislike you for your ideas too.

"Don't say anything you'll regret", you're right here too. But it's so easy to forget that when you're upset, want to vent, no one is there in real life but you have Facebook. Hopefully it's possible to erase posts; gotta think twice before sending a PM though.

Facebook has helped me to keep in touch with acquaintances after, for example, the semester ends, and therefore gives me a chance to cultivate an actual friendship with that person long after we would have gone our separate ways.
It seems that Facebook is now a necessary step in the early stages of forming friendships (most of the time). This is why I went back after two glorious years of being FB free.
I am careful though, to not look through other peoples hundreds (thousands?!) of photos and social status updates because I would probably panic and delete my profile again.
It's a good tool but you have to use it with caution. Don't let it use you.

I totally agree with you. "Don't let it use you", same goes for a lot of things, not just Facebook.

 

[blackdot]

Looks like Facebook is up to it again:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/tech/social-media/facebook-pandora/index.html

Facebook seems to want everyone to know exactly who you are and what you do.

 

[roguewave]

Looks like Facebook is up to it again:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/tech/social-media/facebook-pandora/index.html

Facebook seems to want everyone to know exactly who you are and what you do.

Does anyone understand what the benefits are to Facebook of making their users release as much personal info as possible?
The only thing I can think of is to better advertise to you. Is this really it? I don't get it.

 

[Ak5]

You guys think Facebook is making us lonely people sad? Think again, even people with friends are getting sad.

Study by Utah Valley University

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/01/feeling-sad-facebook-could-be-the-cause/

 

[nerdygirl]

I'm always kind of baffled by the way people here react to facebook. Yes. People talk about themselves. I couldn't very well sign on and start talking about YOU, could I? Unless I was stalking you, that is, and well. We don't want that, do we?

Yes. :/

jk

I've always liked Sci-Fi. I have collected quite a few Sci-Fi things. I'm often watching Sci-Fi, and I do it in various places... often tucked away in some dark corner. You might say I'm already a stalker.

 

[Minus]

Looks like Facebook is up to it again:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/tech/social-media/facebook-pandora/index.html

Facebook seems to want everyone to know exactly who you are and what you do.

A while back i bought a 64 MB SD card from Amazon. After the purchase i noticed there was a little button on Amazon where i could share this purchase on Facebook. Security experts warn against advertising your possessions on Facebook. While i doubt that possession of an outdated SD card is going to make me a prime target for a burglar i have to wonder about the whole concept.

Is the purchase of a dated SD card a brag worthy event or is it that people really want to know about it?

It sounds like that is expanding into everything with some of it being rather automatic.

 

[blackdot]

Yea, some of the stuff is just plain stupid. Sharing every little thing that happens in your life is just so mind boggling.
If I were to do that people all over the world would be shooting themselves from boredom.
There would be a constant stream of "He played a game of Solitaire." on the screen. *laughs*

 

[Minus]

Then is the end of the line to just install a key-logger on every PC and dump all the information to a central database? The businesses i visit would be glad for the plug and others may be glad to know that maybe i could use their services or products. Paint Shop Pro would like you to know that their program is so handy that i use it frequently. I am sure they would also like to sell me an update. Everyone wants to know that i have been using Excel more lately than i have been using OpenOffice. I must protest the idea that i am a lady gaga fan because i watched a lady gaga video the other day. I was just trying to figure out who she was.