Facebook and peer pressure

[Jerious1154]

Facebook is incredibly useful for the exact reason that you described - making plans. If you want to work out plans with a large group of people and you're not all in the same room together, Facebook is a huge help. Otherwise you'd have to send out individual texts, then figure out when people can meet, then text everyone again to propose a time etc. With Facebook you can just all talk it out. That's really the only reason I have one, everything else is pretty much just noise.

 

[Xcelsior]

I used to have facebook, but I too came to the realisation that its a pile of shit so got rid of it, completely. I do have many of my friends that keep telling me to get back on it, but I simply refuse. However, I guess I'm a little more lucky than you as when my friends organise stuff to do they'll either call me or send me a text about the event so I don't feel like I'm really missing out on much.
Also organise it on facebook when you're all there? bitches be crazy.

 

[Cheesus333]

I don't actually LIKE Facebook, at all. I don't like the way it allows people to abuse each other with little regard for consequence. I don't like the way it manipulates people into following trends and moving with the herd. And I don't like the way it's usurping normal human interaction.

...But that said, I check it regularly, because I know that (sadly) managing a social life without it would be very, very difficult - as you yourself have proven.

Sometimes it's easier to swim WITH the current, dude. Be a salmon if you will, but please don't complain when you find yourself back at the bottom of the river.

 

[Brutal Peanut]

As always with these seemingly endless streams of , "I hate Facebook" posts. I always comment the same. Facebook is a way for me to keep in touch with my family - since we don't see each other for months on end. Also a few friends that have scattered across the U.S. recently.

I don't play any of the games (I used to as a means of something to kill time, but fell out of playing them), and we put together family get-togethers by phone, and friends let me know they are coming into town by phone as well.

Anything posted on my Facebook is for my own amusement, that I enjoy, and want to probably see again the next time I log in. If they like it, then, that's great too; but I don't really care. It's just nice for my sister (of whom I haven't seen in months) to post a picture of her and her friends, and I can comment on it, if I choose to. Just the little things about facebook aren't so bad, as long as you don't get drawn into every application and game.

You are able to control what friends you have, and what gets posted, and if you don't like what someone else posted on your wall- you can delete it. It's not just a free-for-all page.

Even though I am aware people get way too into Facebook, and need a good smack.

So really, if you want to make a Facebook just to keep in touch with people, do it. Just have the plain page. Not a 'this-is-my-life' post, no real picture of you, no games, no applications, just keeping track of events those stubborn Facebook friends set up, and single comments.

Example Post: "Hey guys, lets all go to _______ this Friday night after work, at about 7?"
Your reply post: "Sounds good. I'll be there."
AND DONE! That's really all there is to it.

And if you really don't, and continue to harbor strong feelings against a website, then don't. Just make sure to give them a text before the weekend, or in the middle of the week; asking if they have any plans and to text you, or call you about it.

You'll have to keep on them until they get it.

 

[CCountZero]

Am I just being stubborn by refusing to sign up for Facebook, or are my friends just all complete Facebook obsessed pillocks?

Your friends should respect your decision not to partake in the FaceBook craze, pure and simple.

There's really not much else to say about it. Friends respect eachothers decisions, unless those decisions are made while drunk, stoned, or are just very, very, very stupid(*1).

To me, this sounds like they're bad friends.

It also needs to be said that people without FaceBook accounts have plenty of reasons for it, one of the most important of which is that you disavow any rights to the content you post on the site, meaning that your account and the contents of it is not deleteable, and that FaceBook reserves the right to pass this information on to third parties.

And as has been said before, some of us simply aren't closet exhibitionists.

Have you ever been the subject of peer pressure from your friends to do something you're really against?

In school, between the ages of 12 and 19, certainly. I'm not sure I'd define them as "friends" though. More like "classmates".

People generally do stupid things when they're that age, and getting on to physics at Uni with people past that age group has solved those problems.

But in any case, my friends respect my right to make decisions for myself. Doesn't mean they can't do stupid things, they just don't bother me with the details as I don't really want to know.



(*1): Stupid as in carjacking, arson, drugs, tatoos (while drunk), public nudity, cheating etc.

 

[CarbonEagle]

There are some good reasons not to get Facebook, while it is convenient its also a pain. Its like trying to use a cellphone that wont stop ringing even while your trying to talk on it. Its only useful if you want to spend an hour a day on it wading though all the stupid thoughts and app requests your friends sent you to find the one thing that you actually want to look at. Not everybody wants to play mafia wars, and they wont change their minds after the 500th request. I ended up quitting Facebook and have no regrets about it.

In short if you don't mind all your friends simultaneously mail-bombing you day and night there shouldn't be anything stopping you from getting Facebook

Also everyone who says it takes a few seconds to set up is only half right. It takes a few seconds to set up if you want it to be a titanic privacy invading pain. It takes a lot longer if you only want to to be a large non privacy invading pain.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I have tried to get into Facebook, but it kept on regecting my email address so if it doesn't want to work then it knows which orifices it can shove a pineapple into.
A damn shame to, considering I live in the country and all of my friends live over 10 miles away.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

There are some good reasons not to get Facebook, while it is convenient its also a pain. Its like trying to use a cellphone that wont stop ringing even while your trying to talk on it. Its only useful if you want to spend an hour a day on it wading though all the stupid thoughts and app requests your friends sent you to find the one thing that you actually want to look at. Not everybody wants to play mafia wars, and they wont change their minds after the 500th request. I ended up quitting Facebook and have no regrets about it.

In short if you don't mind all your friends simultaneously mail-bombing you day and night there shouldn't be anything stopping you from getting Facebook

Also everyone who says it takes a few seconds to set up is only half right. It takes a few seconds to set up if you want it to be a titanic privacy invading pain. It takes a lot longer if you only want to to be a large non privacy invading pain.

Just a couple of things here: 1, it is possible to block individual apps, so if you have a news feed full of requests for games you don't play, it's your own fault, and 2, the privacy settings are pretty simple. If they haven't changed it massively since I signed up, it takes you to the privacy settings page during account creation. Even if it doesn't, it's simple enough to set everything to friends only. This isn't an attack at you, I just see the first argument used pretty frequently, even though it's not that big of a deal, and I thought I'd cover the second one while I was busy correcting the first misconception.

 

[CrazyMedic]

do it but keep it private limit yourself to checking it like once or twice a day and only friend your friends AND NEVER PLAY THE GAMES *checks farmvill then mafia wars then farmville* kill me....

 

[Christopher Dudgeon]

Pillocks! Sorry but If I'm organizing a night out I would rather make sure everyone was invited before hand by SPEAKING to them rather than texts or IM.

Just my 2 cents

 

[WanderingBiscuits]

Both sides are at fault here. I think you are being a little stubborn bout facebook for no real reason, Its just for keeping in touch with friends and you can block anything that you deem to be annoying. So i don't see any reason why you could DESPISE it.

And on the other hand your friends really should keep ya up to date by text at least. i have friends not on facebook i keep in touch by text. its really not that hard i dont get what their problem is on that account.

 

[The Seldom Seen Kid]

I used to have Facebook, but then deleted it to prove a point to my friends at school. I mean, I see them 5 times a fuckin' week, what's so important they can't actually tell me in person.

The only thing they could possibly tell me on Facebook and not in person are the sorts of things I'm not interested in hearing at all.
"Oh, you like bacon. That's cool."

 

[Solemn Marth]

So, I ask you this. Am I just being stubborn by refusing to sign up for Facebook, or are my friends just all complete Facebook obsessed pillocks? And have you ever been the subject of peer pressure from your friends to do something you're really against?

I think that, no offense intended, you have friends that are so oblivious to other ways of communication that you should teach them a lesson in some clever way that even they will be able to understand.

If they can't manage to pick up a phone and let you know that they will be meeting up somewhere when you are obviously apart of their group, it's quite lame.
[HEADING=1]Sheesh people these days.[/HEADING]

Again no offense to you or your friends.

 

[nofear220]

But recently, when my friends have been arranging to go somewhere, they've been organising it over Facebook and never telling me about it. A prime example would be from several weeks ago we were planning a Halloween get together at TGI Fridays while we were all sitting next to each other. Then one girl in our group says "Can't we just organise it through Facebook? It would be so much easier."
While. We. Were. All. Next. To. Each other.

If its organized on a facebook event than people feel its more set in stone that 'thats the night its happening'.

Simple way to fix this problem you have:

--> Get facebook
--> Stop whining about it
--> You dont need to share more pics/info than you are comfortable with

 

[InnerRebellion]

I have one, but I don't use it much. I only use it to talk to friends who don't have access to a phone, and are too lazy to make an MSN/AIM/Skype.


And it's also how I find out who to hate for the week. (I hang out with only girls, and they expect me to go along with their views on people..)

 

[GenericAmerican]

I have one; is it important, no. Is it something I use every day, no. Is it something that I use every week, no. Is it something I use...one a month...no.

Just sign up so those (12 year olds) friends of yours can stop bitching about you not having one. If you don't use it, then so what? I don't ever use mine, in fact I am going to go check it now, probably have a million notifications and farm town requests.

I hate farmtown...South Park actually did a real good job describing facebook.

 

[Caliostro]

There's two different issues being mixed here.

So I have a strong opinion of Facebook, really strong. I think it's a horrid pile of shit and have refused to sign up for it, even though everyone and their bloody dog have a Facebook account.

No one cares. You're letting this cloud your judgement which leads to why you're at fault as well... more on this further down.

But recently, when my friends have been arranging to go somewhere, they've been organising it over Facebook and never telling me about it.

Ok, how are they not telling you about it? Are they refusing to tell you about it? Or simply decided they'd organize things through Facebook and you just refused to get the information yourself?

If the former, your friends are dicks, get new ones. If the latter, you're a hypocrite, your friends need to find a new friend to replace you.

And this is what it all comes down to. Your friends found it easier to organize things through Facebook. Apparently you're the only one without it. Signing up is free, and you're not forced to do anything other than what you want (hell, you don't even have to put your real name on it), so the only thing stopping you from just looking up what your friends are organizing is your personal distaste for the platform... So you wanna force everyone else to use another platform... Because you don't like that one...

If you're having issues understanding why you're at fault, consider a group of friends living together with you. Now consider you all get one of those cork board things, where you organize everything and leave messages to each other. Now imagine ONE person continously refuses to look at the cork board because he has a personal grudge against cork boards. Now imagine that person keeps complaining about how much everyone else sucks because they don't personally tell him everything, because he refuses to read the board. That is you right now.

In other words, either accept the consequences of your actions, or change your actions so you can live with their consequences.

 

[Wes1180]

I don't like it but I kinda need it for my course because we have a course group were tutorials for things and work etc may be put so I need to check it.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I for one hate facebook with the passion of thousand burning suns. I only have it to keep in contact with people. It can be good for organising things but aside from that the drawbacks are so numerous I personally would rather social networking wasn't around even though I know that wouldn't happen and if makes other people happy fair enough.

 

[Phoenix09215]

Well you realise you can just get facebook for the sake of orgainising stuff right? I mean, you don't need to add people you don't like and at least your not going to miss out on anything. However, the fact that your friends aren't letting you know because you don't have facebook is ridiculous.

The way I see it is your friends are being completely unreasonable... But can't you just make an account for the sake of finding out about stuff whats happening?? Personally I don't get the big deal about Facebook. Sure its full of idiots but its very handy for arranging things, keeping in touch with old friends and meeting new people...