If you do, how do you feel when you read what's new over there? I mean, be honest. Is there a discrepancy between what you think you ought to feel and how you actually feel? I'm trying to understand my own experience, and I wonder if my feeling is entirely idiosyncratic.
December 12, 2022
Do you use Facebook?
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114 comments:
Except where absolutely necessary, I stopped using Facebook in 2016 when I got sick of seeing people who I had respect for in real life undermine that respect with their stupid mean-spirited politics.
What's different?
Left 4 or 5 years ago when I realized I needed to leave or I'd risk losing old friends from my HS years, including my best friend from then, over politics. Not because I'd make that decision but because I'd feel the need to respond to their postings.
Haven't missed it at all, and we continue to get together as a group about once a year with the ground rule that we don't talk politics.
Deleted my account in 2019. Felt a sense of physical relief within minutes. I do not miss it at all.
Facebook, also known as identitytheft.com, is where you go to give up your privacy for someone else's profit. If people were getting paid, I could almost understand. It's a bizarre arrangement.
I do not use Facebook or permit anyone else to us it on any of my devices.
John Henry
Facebook has devolved into a series of ads interspersed with Look At Me style posts. After Trump left, anyone with anything interesting to say revamped for other social media apps.
I check my account 1x/wk for mindless scrolling, messages and the upcoming birthdays, so I can swnd friends a physical card by USPS. Other than that, it's lost a reason to engage.
Oh, John Althouse Cohen's occasional movie posts are worth the read
.
Remember, Ms. Althouse, you can never leave, but you can check-out anytime...
You may have expected this, but I am on FB daily. I post links to videos of all sorts (usually just a song or something quick), memes, photos I've taken and recounting of adventures with my FWB and other assorted ladies.
I live in what was once a small town and many of my high school friends are still here and close. We may not see each other often but we are in touch daily at FB. I post my political stuff to like-minded people and don't dump on my friends and relatives who don't care for that stuff or my opinion of it. I enjoy the snippets of writing I do on FB as it keeps me in tune for my essays, books and letters. YMMV.
I also link to many groups such as Old Man Who Love Comics, Asshole Line Cooks and some local pages.
I am not aware of "what is new over there".
FB is asshoe tho and I have been on many suspensions and other penalties for some really inane reasons. Almost anything with Hitler or a swastika in it got me put in FB Jail.
I will have to check out what Ann is posting about later today.
Marcus B. THEOLDMAN
I don’t use it. I had an account very late around 2009, but never kept up with it much, and don’t remember people sharing many news articles or discussing politics, but I guess that came later.
The only change I’ve noticed in FB is that I’m getting friend requests again, sometimes half a dozen a day.
FB seems to have blocked that on my account for several years.
Never took part in it.
Not anymore. Used it until about late 2016, when my Progressive friends told me how much they despised me for who I voted for and wanted to end friendships. I found out a lot about people then. I am happier without the hate and division they spewed.
There's a reason it's called Fakebook. People posting fake glossy lives that make others feel inferior.
Never had an account. My sisters say, oh you are missing so much! Nah. I'm good.
Michael said...
Facebook has devolved into a series of ads interspersed with Look At Me style posts
to Me, the Entire Point of Facebook was to keep up with relatives/friends.
When i go to FB now i am presented with a list of posts that are ADS, from groups i don't know/care about
intermixed with those ads, will be MAYBE one or two posts from relatives/friends. It's NOT that my friends don't post, it's that the ADS have Priority. Which is Not The Way.
FB is shooting itself in the foot, and is not viable.
It like a dead mall over there and it's all just bunch of oldsters walking endless laps to get in our steps. I went from 875 "friends" in 2012 to about 30 or less in 2022. It turned itself into trash app. Especially with all the fraudulent advertising that they refuse to police. By way of examples a Gibson 335 semi-hollow body guitar for $89. Form follows function.
Account deleted around five years ago. Haven't missed a thing.
As my wise father used to say, "if the products is free, you are the product".
I've never been on Facebook, to the astonishment of some of my friends. My workplace (a state prosecutor's office) strongly recommended we not do social media at all. So I did not. I've never felt like I missed out on anything.
I am on Facebook. I joined when I joined a gym that used Facebook for various things. I’ve joined a few groups now in areas of interest. Just a couple friends actually post there, so socially it’s not a big thing for me.
Have to confess though that it can just suck me in with all the stuff not in my areas of interest, which are few and far between in my feed. The pets, the recipes, the ads. Even the tacky reels. I need an intervention. And a few more better things to do.
So, I guess there is a discrepancy between my ought and my actually.
I used to love Facebook as a way to connect with old friends. At some point public conversation became so overwrought that I just started self-censoring, and I think a lot of other people did, too. As a result, you can't really have an honest conversation, and all anyone posts is superficial stuff. I don't really mind seeing pictures of people dogs and kids, but it is a shame that no one really connects with other people there. On top of the superficial stuff from people you actually know, there is a ton of advertising and content from groups. I don't mind that stuff either, but it will always be secondary to content from people that I care about.
I used to love Facebook as a way to connect with old friends. At some point public conversation became so overwrought that I just started self-censoring, and I think a lot of other people did, too. As a result, you can't really have an honest conversation, and all anyone posts is superficial stuff. I don't really mind seeing pictures of people dogs and kids, but it is a shame that no one really connects with other people there. On top of the superficial stuff from people you actually know, there is a ton of advertising and content from groups. I don't mind that stuff either, but it will always be secondary to content from people that I care about.
I continue to use facebook because it is still the best place for me to keep tabs on distant friends. I blocked feeds from those who let politics infuse their posts so that I did not get riled. I already knew their positions, I love them anyway, but in person we would not talk politics, so don't want to do it on FB either. There are also groups that add value to my life based on shared connections and interest. There is currently no reasonable alternative that provides these connections. I mostly do not read the feeds it pushes on me. I quickly scan for friend posts, skipping over what I do not want. So, I feel... nothing?
Got off years ago. Kept getting stuff about people I never heard of, and started wondering where they were routing my stuff.
Disconnected. I used to have a real sense of connecting to other people I know but no longer.
Facebook was a lot of fun for Generation X when we all logged on in 2009. You found HS and College friends that you hadn’t talked to in 20 years. It was a reunification and a lot of fun.
Then came everyone posting their Superhero lives only. Our Generation Z kids became props. It turned into a fake shell of everyone’s pretend Leave it to Beaver life.
Then the cause du jour (I stand with) virtue signaling started. The French Flag, the Pride Flag…and then the Stay Home Save Lives…the profile photos with the masks… I Got Vaccinated… and it became political, and friendships and families divided as the country divided.
I logged of in Jan of 2021. It started to feel like “Fake”-book.
I use Facebook but only for promoting local events. I have friends and relatives from both wings. Anecdotally, only the right wingers complain of censorship.
I'm on it daily but for limited purposes. Hardly ever post except to check-in at the gym, post a run time, or holiday greetings. I'm a member of several historical railroad and railfan groups and I like checking out other member's posts, and do occasionally contribute. The gals who run the historical railway like to use social media for advertising so interact with their postings, as I do with the HOA's pages and my church's page.
I avoid posting anything remotely controversial or of a political nature though I have liked various party and politicians pages in the Meta-verse and I'm honest in my profile regarding my politics.
I had liked several media organizations in the Louisville area as a way to keep up with news but I've noted that over the last year or so the number of posts I see from them is down to almost nothing.
I deleted Facebook in 2012 after the sandy hook massacre. The invective and hatred for pro-2a people was so overwhelming (and the algorithm was intensifying it on purpose) I decided to have nothing at all to do with it, and deleting farcebook is unusual for people in my age group.
I wasn't missing it even before it was deleted. Zuckerborg is an evil prick.
At the end of the day, facebook is a surveillance app. It keeps tabs on you (like all apps do) but you also use it to keep tabs on people you know. The surveillance aspect is still built into the technology. That was my initial aversion to facebook in the beginning.
I have never had any social media accounts. My wife is on FB and she complains about all the friend requests from people who know me but not her.
And, I believe the date is correct to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANN !
I still use it, but it’s a lot less fun. I like seeing updates from my friends, but there’s less of that now and lots more ads. Also, they could lose the ridiculous pseudo Tik-Tok “Reels” and it would help.
Not sure how I'm supposed to unpack that. I tend to be more objective.
No. Not on facebook.
I use it to keep up with family and friends, and have met up with some old Army buddies that I reconnected with. I share my vacation pictures as well as sunrise pictures and whatever interesting birds or animals I may see. This morning, one of my cousins (age 90) posted a picture with her great-great-grandson and another one with five generations. Very cool! I avoid politics except with a few like-minded friends. If people post stuff I disagree with, I scroll on by because it’s not worth arguing with them. I’m in a few groups related to subjects that interest me. Overall, I enjoy Facebook.
I use it but I unfollowed the bores long ago.
My feed is mostly nostalgia and special interest, also local crime news that the paper doesn't deign to to cover.
Control, people.
I do still use it to keep up with relatives and old friends. Limited group of friends; never post anything remotely political. And - by the way, I sold all my Facebook (Meta) stock this year.
I was urged to join Facebook by my sister in law, in order to share family information. I signed up and immediately realized that the site was nothing more than an aggregator of my personal information to be used by the company for its own profits. I unsubscribed and have not missed it since. I do not like being the producer of someone else's profit without mutually agreeable recompense.
I quit Facebook 14-years ago because I kept getting Friend requests from people in my distant past that I had no interest in friending. IRL, I don't like to be rude, so I closed down the account so I wouldn't get the awkward second friend requests anymore.
We use it because we live miles away from immediate family and have reconnected with friends from years ago. I shake my head sometimes when some of them post mindless memes promoted by one particular side of the political spectrum, but I mostly choose not to engage because I value relationships more than I do political posturing. Also, being able to use the Messenger app to do video chats is priceless, though we could do so through SMS. For me, it still has value and so far, neither of us has had our account hacked.
I did get a nasty message from the FB police when I reposted a meme showing Her Majesty the queen looking at a Ferrari dipstick with a captain that asserted that she was a certified Ferrari mechanic. The notice came with a tart advisory about posting 'disinformation' and a warning that more instances of it could result in restrictions on my access, or loss of same. I responded that if FB had vetted it in the first place, it would never have come up. I said further that it looked like a case of entrapment, and I objected to their implication that I had shared misinformation, especially something so innocuous.
Still on it, like to connect with friends through it. Several ambush time outs, like posting a Hunter Biden pic.
It's basically the New York Times with kitty cat videos.
I have books for sale on Amazon, and I got on Facebook because I was told all aspiring authors must be there. I opened a Twitter account for the same reason (another story).
As to Facebook, it's hard to imagine having fewer book sales without it, but I've kept it up. To avoid alienating a rare potential reader, I originate no political posts, but I have succumbed to commenting on posts of others. As a result, I've been called racist, Nazi, etc., etc., etc. Apparently, I am those things because of my belief in natural rights as articulated in the Declaration of Independence.
Trying to engage on, for example, what policies a Nazi or a fascist might favor is seldom successful. Oh well.
I use Facebook.
But probably not in the same way that YOU use Facebook. I routinely ask friends, potential friends, potential love interests, potential employers ... if they use Facebook.
Then I avoid those people who say yes, because they don't understand what Facebook is nor how destructive Facebook is to a properly functioning society.
It's my idiot detector. And it's 100% accurate.
I use it for private groups related to my profession. Those work great. No ads. Posts appear in sequence and do not disappear unless a group administrator removes them for violating group rules. It regular Facebook doesn’t work that way. The algorithm determines what I see, soak often miss posts by friends and family. But I see lots of Friends clips and cute baby and cat videos
Nope. Not a FB user. Retired my Instagram account during the COVID madness when it wouldn’t quit pestering me for my birthday.
I take pictures for local high school sports and marching band. Without facebook, there would be no way to let people know about the photos I post on flickr when I am done editing them. There are HS Sports and Marching Band Booster Clubs that make it easier to get the word out.
Plus we had our 40th reunion this year and FB made it easy to connect to people and, again, get the word out. Where else can you go that has that a large enough group of people all in the same place that you can connect to when needed? And post everything you need to stay connected?
As for using it to yell about politics and religion and social issues. Never did it, never will do it.
It's a tool.
I used to do it much more but then, as someone above mentioned, came all the constant virtue signaling. I manage a couple of special-interest pages, and occasionally post a thing about what's going on in my life. I admit I have a weakness for those goofy click-bait things ("35 Awkward Family Photos!") because some of them are hilarious.
Do people get their news from Facebook? I've never seen it. But then, media pages are mostly stupid.
I can tell when I haven't been doing much because FB starts sending me emails telling me that someone posted a new picture or something. Same with LinkedIn.
Facebook had started to irritate me, and I wondered if large numbers of "friends" I never interacted with were somehow screwing up the results of the algorithm that builds the feed. So I did some very basic analysis of my 'friends' list using Microsoft Access, deleted a bit over a tenth of the list, and that fixed it. Deletions were based on interaction as a rough stand-in for common interests.
Note: They were not based on politics. I tend to mute anyone, left or right, who gets too sanctimonious or deranged over politics.
I think the Facebook algorithm relies too heavily on how much a post has been interacted with already in determining whether or not to serve it up in a feed. This can clutter feeds with repetitive selfies and posts that reflect common denominator interests by people with several thousand "friends". If one is not interested in these posts, they can be a real drag on one's feed, so it's helpful to eliminate these "friends".
The only thing I post on FB now is links from my blog, and that's the way it's been for years - not that I was ever a big user in the first place. I have long noticed what others have mentioned - the algorithm that privileges ads and whatever stupidity FB has decided I must see.
The only other use I have for it is related to travel. I use it to check on conditions and openings at national parks, museums, etc because that has become the main way these institutions update, and the quickest way to find out what's going on, etc. Instagram, too, but more FB. Don't know how long that will last....
I don't think it's so different from face to face contact. We don't have to be able to talk politics to have a meaningful relationship, do we? That said, much of the fun of Facebook died with the Trump era, but that's not any different from other areas of social life. I suspect Facebook reflects the weirdness all around us in these strange times while we watch our culture turning into something formerly substandard.
I only use Facebook to glance in at friends and family. I also post a few family updates of my own, along with the occasional uplifting or funny memes. I make very few "political" posts but limit it to principles---for example, quotes from Orwell on the value of free speech.
I never look at news and I gave up even dipping my toe into controversial areas because the reactions were immediate and explosive, no matter how gently I raised these subjects.
The martial arts school I both attend and instruct at uses Facebook for coordinating classes, events and testing, so I am obliged to use it or be completely out of the loop. Anyone looking at my profile would think I do nothing at all besides martial arts.
I had an FB account until the Autumn of 2020. I used it solely to post jokes and funny stories, completely apolitical. But my feed got clogged with political stuff as the election approached so I deleted the account. Twitter was more appropriate for what I was posting anyway.
After I read Althouse's post I recalled that I had another FB account that I had never used. So I logged into it this AM. It was nearly blank since I had never posted anything on it & I had no "friends."
It did have some "friend suggestions" for me, though. When I selected that tab it recommended three people I have never heard of, and one ex-coworker who died around 2012. The image it used to identify this potential "friend" was a scan of his obituary.
I guess Zuckerberg needs to work on Facebook's AI.
I have no FB or IG accounts. Freeman Hunt as an example notwithstanding, I’m certain that I’m far happier without it. There are better ways to communicate with family and actual friends.
- Krumhorn
No.
I'm on facebook. I don't use it very often. Sometimes I post pictures of things I baked, flowers I planted, etc. Maybe my daughter's wedding. Also there are a couple of groups I belong to (one of a group of cousins which is mostly genealogical, and one of my summer community). I never post anything political, once I saw the hostility that results, and I unfollow any friends (other than blood relatives) who post anything political, so that reduces the volume of posts I see.
I hadn't noticed anything new or different recently.
“I don't like to be rude”
—- Howard
Thx for the chuckle
Most of my old friends and family are in different parts of the country, and they almost all use FB to communicate about the events in their lives, and to post photos. So I can't keep up with them without spending a significant amount of time on the site. But scrolling through posts is increasingly onerous -- it seems more and more like a chore that has to be endured. That's mostly because every third post is an ad or paid promotion.
And the ads are disturbing -- not only are they "personalized" from topics I've mentioned in my own Facebook communications, they often seem based on websites I've visited on my home computer when I wasn't even signed in to Facebook. I don't know exactly how they track those visits, but they clearly are.
In some ways, Facebook seems like Google and all the other websites that seemed great when they started. At first, it was amazing that you were getting these cool services for free. Then, they gradually became bogged down with ads, promotional content, and various methods for stealing your personal information, to the point where they're getting more from you than you are from them. And you're supposed to ask yourself, "Sure, but what did you expect for free?"
I use it daily, mostly as a way to stay in touch with friends and acquaintances. I keep my posting on it limited to pet pictures, food pictures and stuff I find funny or interesting and thankfully most of the people I'm 'friends' with on facebook do the same. I learned back in the days of usenet and discussion boards that having a serious conversation about politics, religion or culture was damn near impossible on the internet so I don't even try. If I want to argue about those I save it for in person get togethers with friends. I'm fully aware that I'm trading personal information for a service but I decided a long time ago that it was worth it. When it stops being worth it, I'll stop using it.
I use FB for exchanging family photos and a few groups, like basset hounds. Once in a while I will post something political to see if I will be banned. Been "suspended" a couple of times. The only "Friends" requests I accept are from people I actually know.
I never used FB for personal use but about 12 years ago I had some marketing people suggest that I take an active FB presence for my business. I own a business services/management consulting firm. I couldn't get the marketing people to understand it wasn't retail but they kept pushing it. I tried it for a year. Waste of time.
My wife uses FB to see what family members are up to but does not post because she is worried about privacy.
On a somewhat related subject, about 4 years ago Google started changing how they show search results for businesses, which ended up forcing ad buys to get rankings instead of SEO driven search results. That's led to more Yellow Book listings and Yelp listings rather than a businesses (like a restaurant's) individual web site. It's very very unwieldy. Like most technologies, search as a way to identify vendors ended up ruined by either mega-corps or fraudulent scammers. You can see that with email, cell phones and now texting. Scammers and spammers take every method of communications over eventually. From junk mail to junk text in twenty years- progress?
If you've been off it for years, kinda hard to answer her question, vague as it is.
In my use, it's good for following various topics in groups, including those that post gigs or equipment FS.
I do hate how cumbersome it is to organize and save posts.
And..the messenger app stays off my phone since it is so intrusive.
You can get around the censorship of posts in private groups.
How does one "use" Facebook?
My experience sounds like most everyone's in this thread. Started in 2012; wasted way too much time looking at it for a few years; weaned myself back to limited check-ins; hated the non-stop animosity and arrogance of lefty 'friends'; and quit completely in Jan 2021 when FB booted the Prez.
I have an account but never use it. I quickly learned I'm too socially incompetent to comment there.
However, my husband has a busy account he's used for years. He has a large, extended family and many contacts from younger times. He wouldn't be able to keep in touch with that many people without FB. Also, he likes to engage in politics with friends who also want that. And he has an active business account. I haven't heard him mention anything newly egregious about FB.
No. Next question...
I am on Facebook, but I never post, I just use it to read news about relatives.
No, I never use Facebook. I have an account, probably set up for me by members of my family, but I haven't opened any Facebook page but once in the last 5 years, I only did then to see if I could get my account suspended.
I have used Facebook from the day I first encountered it. It seemed to be the best tool for keeping in touch with friends and family, to share and see what's new in their personal lives, and I have used it for that purpose to this day. Additionally, I have found it very useful for keeping up with groups of people with shared (non-political) interests.
I have found it quite disturbing how many of my friends and family insist on using it to hammer home their political agendas. However, given the good that it provides, I have successfully ignored that part of it, as walking away, like my wife did, means sacrificing too much that is good and difficult to replace.
I'm not sure what Ann is referring to by "what's new over there". As long as the primary value is still there, I will probably keep using it and ignore anything new I don't like.
No.
Never touched it.
My nieces & nephews, from big families, use it like a never-hung-up telephone.
So they tell me.
Have a group page for our non-profit music learning center and put announcements of events and then pics of them, and get a really healthy response, but I think practically none of our major donors are on FaceBook. Enjoy the group pages for the two small rural towns I live in between. On my own account muted everyone political, so just family and music stuff and rarely post anything. Compared to when I started, ten years or more ago (?) the personal page is way less fun, too full of ads, and feels like an alien intelligence that's not on my side ;-)
Never. Started sign up process right when it opened to the general public because a tech savy friend loved it. But had a typo in registering which i couldn't figure out how to correct, so never finished registering. Which later annoyed my mom, whom I came to see as the key demographic.
Do I use Facebook? No, nor did.
Facebook 1.0 seemed geared to narcissists. Facebook 2.0, Meta, as I understand it places its major virtue as detachment from reality.
Never had an account, even though family tried for years to get me to join. Being a private person by nature, the idea of Facebook repels me. Couldn't pay me to join.
I flirt with my prom date from 1974.
Ya' know........The one that told me to never kiss her again. True story.
Oh, and to identify the discrepancy I felt before fixing my feed:
"I think I am supposed to feel heart-warmed and connected, but I feel like a satellite that has broken out of orbit and is flying out into space."
I filter almost everything on Facebook and only get status updates from people about real people. People who won't shut up about politics get unfollowed. Posts are automatically filtered by Social Fixer plugin for the word "Trump."
I get no news from Facebook. Generally, I have turned off or blocked all targeted ads (and almost all ads of any kind) for the last 15 years. I don't see YouTube ads, either. I have no news feed because I don't like being fed information. I find that when I happen to watch broadcast TV (I don't own one) the ads are incredibly annoying, and I can't stand the interruption.
Set up a private group for my siblings when parents were still alive but needed care... later, during covid, Facebook reached into that group to correct us on our covid facts.. stopped using after that.
“I'm not sure what Ann is referring to by "what's new over there". “
I just meant checking your front page or your feed or whatever it’s called.
" People who won't shut up about politics get unfollowed."
See. Those are the ones I like to annoy the most.
If one was to make conclusions from these comments so far, it could be that almost none of Ann's readers use Facebook, either because they've abandoned it or never started.
Of course, that's a poor conclusion, because we're really seeing only those who are moved to comment, and those might be only the Facebook "dislikes" among Ann's readers. That fits with the assumption that it's mostly unhappy people who speak up about anything.
For the record, I use it still, mostly for personal info and fun stuff. Only occasionally do I respond to political posts, and almost never do I start one.
And I also wonder what Ann means by "new."
Carol said, "Control, people."
Yes! Another reason I didn't want to join. I feared I could get sucked into wasting time "spying" on people, even if I never posted anything.
Social media panders to our baser instincts and can be harmful to us. It's something Screwtape would have invented.
"Do you use Facebook?"
It's the other way around...
Just seems all "improvements" make it worse. There seem to be periodic ad placement quotas that end up making every other post an ad. The censors are morons, in responding to a post about The Talking Heads, I commented "Burning Down the House" which got flagged and eliminated for promoting violence. I tried appealing but, in true progressive form, there was no way to provide an explanation that this was a song title/lyric of the group discussed in the post. Morons. Mostly it's about modeling (primarily model airplanes), aviation in general, music (primarily Bluegrass), and family. My oldest son is a raging lefty (driven by his teacher wife) so I avoid political things.
Facebook user since 2009. I recognize the above comment experiences and got tired of all that. I have used the FB tools and have tailored my feeds to reflect only what and who I want to see. Yes, there are ads for things I've looked at on the Interwebs like lawnmowers, wheelchairs, and socks. To change the ads, I search Google for something innocuous and those ads appear within minutes. Birthdays? Who puts a real birthday on FB? Or any other true personal data? Leave it all blank. Don't like certain "friends?" Block them. There's a solution for everything. I've even had posts canceled/blocked/sanitized about a dozen times. I protested and only three blocks were upheld.
As to the home page feed, yes, there have been changes but nothing too drastic. I have several feed pages -- most recent, favorites, news, and groups. Sometimes the content overlap but that's OK. I only read or react to what I choose. That FB and advertisers collect and sell my preference data, so what? The supermarket does that every time I shop there. Out data is already out there. It's foolish to think we actually have privacy.
Honestly, I did not know I was supposed to feel anything about the home page. It is what it is, It's just social media. Use it as is or go elsewhere. Either way, stop complaining about stuff you cannot affect.
I use facebook to post historic and modern family pictures, pictures of old work colleagues, old memories, people I knew in high school, etc.
I don't discuss politics at all, ever.
I sadly forgive my friends and family their folly in discussing politics, because it's almost in vile terms which seems like getting falling down drunk at a family reunion. I can't help but wonder why they're not embarrassed by what other people must think, and how their behavior is profoundly affecting the overall social event.
Religion can be problematic, but my religious "friends" tend to mostly say hooray for their religion, rather than express their contempt for those who disagree. I'm not thrilled with that, but it's way better than the political stuff.
Not sure exactly what your asking. I like FB. It has been a great way to see what's going on with folks I've come to know over the years, near & far. I see what's animating them, what they're happy about, what makes them peeved. For myself, I use it somewhat like you use this blog as a public diary of things that pique my curiosity, stuff that amuses me and as a celebration of moments I want to remember in my family's life. I've always felt the conflict there has been greatly exaggerated. Like most social media, FB is what you decide to make it.
When I recently downsized from a 2/2 condo to a 1/1 apartment I had to divest myself of lots of stuff. I used FB Marketplace to sell or give it away and it worked great. I can't think of another forum that would have worked as well or better.
Marcus B. THEOLDMAN
Facebook is my happy place. I use Facebook to follow my interests - authors, mixed media artists, hobbies, history groups. Nothing political or depressing - which means no family or friends.
I stopped using Faceplant some years ago when I had to reset my password every two weeks. Only used itto stay in touch with high school and college friends anyway so no big loss since we didn’t communicate all that often. Been away for 5-6 years. Haven’t missed it a day.
Long long ago I removed Facebook from my phone. I access it from laptop computers now.
I use it to keep up with High School friends, mostly. Some of them have really drunk the KoolAid, in many directions, but these are old friends.
I have a FB account for myself and for Peschel Press (my self-publishing biz). I rarely check my personal page. I subscribe to various groups involved in writing and Agatha Christie, and get emails when someone posts there. Same with people in my personal account (although I can't remember how I did that bit).
Everytime I go there direct, I regret it. The profusion of ads is so dense that it distracts from the experience. And inevitably someone says something Howard-level stoopid and I bail.
Professor Ann, we are the same age. I use FB 99% for communication with my grown children, close friends, and a several hobby and veteran related groups.
I'm retired now, but when I was working I tried not to link with coworkers unless they became away from work friends.
I use Facebook a fair amount, but mostly to share news or connect with friends/family now that we're more isolated. To me, it's really like how I view small talk at a cocktail party. Useful socially, and occasionally interesting, but as I see it as more of a social ritual not as something deep, I hold it lightly.
I guess I'm supposed to be interested in posts from family and friends. Instead, I feel bored, which exhausts me. I don't know if my friends are more dull than others because the updates are so banal. I just checked my feed because of this blog post:
1. Friend gave husband a haircut
2. Friend posted meme about the Army/Navy game
3. Friend asks for home improvement advice
4. Friend posted meme about the holidays
5. Ad
6. Photos of a friend's weekend
7. Friend posted meme about winter
8. Friend posted meme about reindeer
9. Ad
10. Photos of friend's dogs
I didn't "like" any of these, but I wonder if I should? Are they feeling invisible or lonely and just want to be "seen"? Other than the advice, I can't understand why they are posting these things.
I use it to keep up with old workplace friends (I am 9 years retired) and let them know how different things are in Wyoming from "Back East". It also lets me delete people I have known for years who have severe TDS even after all these years!
I use FB for maintaining contact with old and distant friends. Never post anything political. They know my politics. I know theirs. Those who insist on posting politics - right or left - are unfriended and blocked. There are plenty of places to spew your political shit. Keep it off my feed.
I also use it to post pics of house/yard projects I'm working on. It's not to show off, but to keep me focused and on track.
Lastly, I use it for Marketplace. It's better than Craigslist.
For the last couple of years, I almost exclusively post and respond to posts about local music events (I perform as well and promote those gigs) with occasional cutesy content. That and posts about cycling. I notice more ads than I used to but at least most of them are music/equipment related, bike related, or other generic content like clothing ads. I do get the occasional righty content from providers I follow like City Journal. But I see much less political content than I used to, and I expect that's a combination of yours truly having stopped posting anything political, and for the most part those whom I've friended doing the same.
I'm just a few years behind Althouse and for sure it's viewed by my younger brewery & musician friends as a platform mainly for olds.
I still look at FB every day but almost never post or comment anymore. Anything even remotely political becomes so unpleasant I just ignore it. And yes the ads are awful. Although someone mentioned the clickbait lists, I fall for some of those too! Overall the site is more boring than it used to be, so predictable.
I became my most disappointed in my daughter over facebook. Normally a tremendously open minded person. But when I dared to say that maybe "punch a nazi today" was a pretty bad policy to have, she asked me to not respond to her posts because her clients might see it and be upset. I was so disappointed.
Suffice it to say, she has finally realized that her posting about ANYTHING political on her business site is a very bad thing.
But I never comment on anything of consequence on facebook, nothing. I look at family photos and birthdays. Other than that I go to the trouble to cancel all adds if I ever do look at it.
Mostly I expect to feel bored when I flip over to the ol' FB feed, and oddly enough, I feel bored when I actually get there. So no real disconnect between expectation and reality.
What's weird is I still find my self scrolling down, reading the ads and the updates and the sponsored content and viewing the clickbait videos and ignoring the friend requests and groups I "might" be interested in and the little story lines and the video feeds "selected" just for me.
It feels like a weird carnival midway to which I've been many, many times and which bores me because it's always the same rides and sugary sweets on offer.
I belong to a group that uses Facebook for news and announcements. For that it works although not very well. The price (Free!) is about right.
There was a time I would search Facebook for old friends (High School, College etc) -- Many had Facebook pages that hadn't been updated for years and none of them replied.
RIP Facebook. I hope the META thing works out.
No.
I use Facebook to talk to out-of-state friends/family and to look at the pictures people post to the collie groups I belong to. No politics. And that's it.
In the run-up to the 2016 election, I posted in a rant that I didn't care what you (in general) thought about the election, I didn't want to read about it because Facebook was where I went to get away from all that crap and if you (in general) felt the need to write about that sort of thing, well- sorry, but I'll be blocking you.
I ended up blocking a few people. Don't miss them.
It was pretty clear to me from the start that *you* are the product on Facebook, which I didn't care to be, so I was always inclined to resist. I joined about 15 years ago solely because somebody from my high school class set up a private page for our 40th reunion, which I still belong to but have rarely looked at in recent years. For the most part, I ruthlessly tried to shut down any other connections to the extent I could figure out how to do so. There was a brief period where I joined a couple of Chicago/South Side groups (that I probably still belong to) but, in addition to the foregoing, I gave up because it was such a time suck (as if the internet isn't already a time suck). With limited exceptions, my only "friends" are a couple dozen members of the high school group. I get various emails from Facebook that I just ignore.
--gpm
Never signed up. I was extremely suspicious of both their financial interest and the addictive nature of the thing. Proved correct on both counts.
Note that being right can be overrated.
>>And, I believe the date is correct to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANN !
Nah, a few weeks and a year end too early for Althouse. But you're only about a day or two late for me!
--gpm
I've been on FB for 14 years or so. I joined because my daughter convinced me easily that it was the best way to get photos of my grandchildren. Now I get streaming videos of their games, recitals, etc., as well. In fact, I get most photos of them by text now. It's been useful for keeping in touch with family that lives far away also. I'm in some private groups that I enjoy.
I just checked my friends list and well over half are relatives. I'd miss FB if it finally blows up. Functionality is worse the last few months.
FB for me is strictly social interaction between friends and "friends." I don't use it for news, other than perhaps to see which celebrity has died since as soon as that happens, people tend to post "Rest in peace, [dead celebrity]." Which I find odd since most have not taken the time while that celebrity was live to posy about things they did or said to evoke admiration.
FB is by far the most popular and most visited and used social media site. I use both to post links to my articles, and I get far more traction from FB. I know people say it's old news, but it seems to be the site regular people use.
I only joined about three years ago as I had a daughter set it up with mostly pictures of legacy cats, grandpuppies, grandkittens, and more recently grandchildren. I occasionally post a picture of a Emerald Coast sunrise or sunset. I do not seek lots of friends and don't add any that post a lot of stuff. It also allows me to see the FB page of my condo complex and several bicycling groups that talk about rail trails and such. I get no news or politics from FB and never indicate my positions on any topic that could lead to being canceled.
I have an account and never use it. Facebook is still the biggest social network. If I want to find someone, that's where I go. I use Twitter much more, but I find that the general public spurns it. It's too narrow to be a phone directory. That's what Facebook is to me. Not a place to post, not a place to listen, a place to find people I've lost touch with or want to know.
I've done FB 3 different times since 2010 and my perception is that it is nothing more than an advertising platform run by an idiot for other idiots. Users create content for "free" while simultaneously opening themselves to personal attacks, hackers and stalkers. How fun! 😉 in 2015 I decided to boycott fb...Zuck is human scum just like Gates. Give up your privacy and security for nothing good.
Wait. There's news on Facebook?
I only use it to follow people I am acquainted with. Oh, and to shop on Marketplace, as it has taken over from Craigslist.
I travel a lot - I'm in my RV right now - and I love how FB lets me keep in touch with everyone I've "friended". I post pics of deserts and mountains, they post pics of wherever they happen to be, and we all stay somewhat together.
But I only look at stuff from friends and family. I thought that was what it was for.
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