Facebook and other non-forum social media

[Tommy]

I want to keep this as clean as possible, but I want to start a discussion about Facebook and other social media outlets not related to forums like this.

I was talking to a colleague of mine this morning at work and we were talking about Facebook and how it's become such an immature outlet for so many people. I have some good friends on my account and some that I can't really contact any other way but Facebook. But honestly, the stuff that goes on there. Now I know some people have thinner skin than others, but if I see something I don't like, I just go ahead and move on. It's your right to feel how you feel after all.

But of course that right for you is sometimes waived by others because you get defriended for generally no purpose or over something in general you post, or the ridiculous "spring cleanup". I can totally understand wanting to limit your circles but unless that person actually did something to you in the meantime, why did you let them on your account in the first place? I don't accept friend requests from people I don't know or whom I'm not actually friends with. I do friend some internet friends if I am friends with you long enough on something else other than Facebook but I generally use good judgement on that part.

So, how do you guys feel about Facebook or even Twitter (which I've never used)? They certainly have their pros but also have their cons as well. As for myself, I do feel it's a good way to network with people that you wouldn't be able to just call up and invite to lunch, but mainly I feel it's a big waste of time and I don't know why so many people spend so much time on it. After you've seen the same ad for running down the next possible president, or how you feel about love, or about how you can't stand getting up in the morning because you didn't go to bed early. It's like...yeah, I get it. lol

[Tripredacus]

The most of my interactions on Facebook is I change my picture once a week and interact in a couple of group pages. I can get a sense of what is happening in my local community with the events portion. I don't go about and read much of what other people put on their pages. There are very few people who make good posts that are on the friend list and there is not so much "crazy talk" like I hear many people complain about. Nearly everyone on Facebook seems to be a "filthy internet casual" as can be evidenced by the rampant duplication of shares/posts, clickbait and out-right fake image macros and re-re-re-re-reposted memes.  The notion of having to prune the friend list doesn't make sense to me. Being removed from someone's list doesn't mean anything. And don't fall for Facebook's guilt-trip attempt to get you to post Happy Birthday on everyone's page.

[Tommy]

1 hour ago, Tripredacus said:

And don't fall for Facebook's guilt-trip attempt to get you to post Happy Birthday on everyone's page.

I've stopped doing that too. I mean, unless they're really close friends then I will but after a while, I can't keep up with that. I have more important things to deal with.

[5eraph]

I've never been one who games Facebook to collect a large number of friends.  It was the same when I used MySpace.  Never been on Twitter.

Guess there's not much good I can say about social media in general.  I'm a private person, and don't feel the need to share my opinions very often.  Anything negative I'd have to say about it doesn't really apply to the media itself, only to the usual list of shortcomings that masses of people have when given an open outlet to say anything they want.

Reminds me of high school.  Like-minded people with common interests or activities gather to talk about what matters to them.  Only on Facebook, it's monetized by ads.  Maybe I'm getting old, but my heart's just not in it.

Edited March 21, 2016 by 5eraph

[Tommy]

I'm semi-private. I don't share any details that I wouldn't want my own mother to know. But really, I miss the old Facebook, before it got so out of hand with the same garbage you see year after year. Basically my "newsfeed", if you can even call it that, is about 90% memes (funny, "insightful", and stupid), and the rest of the 10% is everything else. Honestly, I could go a week and not miss anything important. But what I truly hate about things like Facebook and Twitter is....

It's a vastly large and grossly under-moderated playground. Sure, you can report things to Facebook and they'll get to it when they get to it, but other than that, it's a big free-for-all. That's why I still prefer forums because even though you can still hide your identity, there's a lot more order here than there would be on social media.

[5eraph]

My newsfeed percentages are more like:

• 40% Funny, or trying to be
• 20% Political self-gratification
• 10% Pointless memes
• 10% Animals, mostly cat and dog videos
• 20% Other, mostly asinine BS

I think the proportions speak to a person's collection of friends more than Facebook itself.  There's a reason I don't send or accept friend requests from family.  They know more than I'd like about me already.

_____________
Really missing bbcode because I'm OCD.  However, loving that double-spaces between sentences are preserved now.  Learned typing on actual typewriters, where stuff like that matters.

Edited March 21, 2016 by 5eraph
because he can.

[jaclaz]

I have NO Facebook (let alone Twitter) accounts.
(there is a reason for it, BTW)

I have seen friends (real friends, that I know and believe are otherwise normally extremely nice chaps) have bitter arguments on it, particularly about the "give friendship"/"remove friendship" issue.
Luckily I saw it coming early enough to completely avoid touching the thing at all, I find much easier to say "I am not on Facebook" than to have to deal with either lots of posts/updates by people that - really - have nothing of worth to say, but still they do say their nothing several times each day  - or to unfriend people because too much is too much.

As I see it the whole Facebook issues are revolving around "other people's judgements" or "general consensus" or "popularity" people post (whatever crap they personally find interesting or fun) and expect that their "friends" will unconditionally approve that, and when this - for whatever reason - does not happen they feel frustrated or misunderstood.

It is not entirely unlike (if you pardon me the pun) the "like" mechanism here on the board, I chose (being admittedly an old grumpy bastard) to NEVER "like" any post, though there are often posts that would actually deserve to be liked, if you "like" that particlar one than the poster, after the (possibly) initial gratification will wonder why you don't "like" his/her next post, and meanwhile another member might start wondering why you "liked" that particular post and not his/her own one, initiating a sort of (IMHO senseless) kind of competition or research for appreciation.

jaclaz
 

[Tommy]

Definitely good insight, Jaclaz. And like you said, most people have nothing good to say. You're not missing much with Facebook. I see an abundance of dumb Minions memes that are getting very repulsive. (I never even watched their movies, so I can't say I hate them, but seeing them all the time is crazy). I do like posts sometimes, not often though. It has to be something I totally approve of, like your post actually, hehe. The only reason I joined facebook was because one of my friends kept sending me request after request and after a while, I just joined to shut them up. I guess I could've just blocked them but I believe I joined Facebook shortly before I registered here. But out of anything, I still prefer forums over social media. Mostly because like I said, forums are much more insightful, moderated, and organized. Facebook is merely a load of garbage posts, especially now with elections coming up. I won't unfriend you because of who you endorse or support because it's your right to support who you want, but it does get tiring to see all the time. But give it 10 more years and Facebook will probably end up just like MySpace, which I never used either. Everyday I'd like to just get rid of the darn thing but then I'd lose contact with some people that I wouldn't know how to contact again.

Plus, I'm just really sick and tired of memes in general. Most of the time they're just really stupid. Either I don't get them, or I do and still think they're idiotic. Most memes I feel just unleash your inner arrogance and smartalecness, but then that just falls under the under-moderated category. But in a technical sense of the term, I think people just have too much time on their hands and nothing else productive to do.

[jaclaz]

And now, risking to go off-topic, let's talk of Wi-Fi netiquette
http://www.troyhunt.com/2015/12/no-you-cant-join-my-wifi-network.html
(likely to be "next" point of discussion with friends)

jaclaz

[Tommy]

I agree! And honestly, why do you go to someone's house to use their wifi anyway? I don't even really like wifi very much. It's convenient and I do use it, but wired is just sooo much better, despite having to run cords.