My feelings on Facebook

[Jack Rascal]

Like buttons are ok though. Sometimes I wish there was a like button here, so I could show someone what I think without being the 15th person to quote them and since it would remove that feeling from others' minds you'd get a true figure of the support. Every post would be like a poll. But that of course would be bad since it would cut down on discussion.

That would be great. And since Escapist has a "no low content" rule, it would probably help if instead of "I agree", people would "like" a post instead. But it could be that it would hold discussion, or it is possible it would make it better, having people actually discussing more

OP: I don't particularly like Facebook, not anymore at least. I signed up years ago when I lived in a different country from most of my friends. I haven't really used it for years, I login maybe once a month and check what crap is cluttering up there. Made some people angry as well since I didn't feel like being friends with their dog. Yeah, I didn't sign up on Facebook to be friends with your dog.

 

[Xenowolf]

I just use it for contacting people (and occasionly posting links or replying to Facebook comments on Escapist articles), but what with Facebook's complete disrespect for user privacy (i.e. using cookies to track the browser history of its users), I have seiously been considering deleting my account on it lately.

Good luck with that. :-/ They make you jump through hoops to deactivate your account, then you have to wait two weeks to actually have them delete it.. and then, sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. It's a nightmare.

So I've heard from friends who tried to stop using it.

I don't use it and never have. I am far too paranoid to get involved with all that mess.

Really? Because this is actually my second FB account, as I deleted my first one ages ago because I never used it, and that was fine. I have heard, however, that Facebook actually keep your data after deleting your account even though its hidden to users, so yeah.

 

[Right Hook]

I don't have one, it used to seem pretty important to have one, sorta like you'd fall off the face of the earth without it but I didn't, I'm still here and a lot of people still love me, I am legend.

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I really only use it as a convenient tool to communicate with friends and keep up to date with certain events, like if one of my friends invites me to a sleepover or something.

I hate there are always whiny little attention-seekers posting depressive things like, ?God, I hate boys, you can never trust them!?, which gets, like, 32 likes for some reason. A lot of them I wonder why I even have them as friends, but I, perhaps stupidly, automatically friend those that I may even barely know, is a friend of a friend, or is somewhat familiar, like "like my friend's cousin I talked that one time a year ago".

 

[lobster1077]

I do have one, almost solely for the fact that my college throws up info on societies, events and such on there and no where else online. Guess UL are pinching their pennies.

 

[isometry]

Facebook doesn't match my interests at all. Even though some people I know (and respect) are on it, the things they use it for are nothing I have a desire to be involved in. Most were dragged into it by peer pressure, which I hope to avoid.

The only way I would willingly join a social network is if it were being run by a non-profit. The GNU social project looks promising.

 

[Private Custard]

"Just had a huge poo LOL"

Bob Bobbins likes this

My opinions on facebook. It's been six months since I told everyone to get fucked, then deleted my account.

I was having a bad day!

 

[Suicidejim]

I just use it as a convenient messaging tool to talk to friends and see how they're getting on (i.e. stalk the fuck out of them). I've pretty much stopped posting on it these days, and I only occasionally go through my newsfeed and comment on things.

Also, remembering birthdays.

 

[JCD2k4]

I don't use Facebook at all. Never have, never will. I don't have time to waste.

And yet here you are....

Yeah, it's one of life's biggest mysteries why I chose to waste my time here rather than elsewhere ...

Truth is that I don't like Facebook simply because everybody is trying to make me sign up there. And privacy concerns. And world peace, of course

 

[Yuno Gasai]

Also people judging you on how you spend your time - yet they spend all day on facebook -_-

That's probably my biggest pet peeve, not gonna lie. It tends to feel a lot like the pot calling the kettle black.

OT: Facebook doesn't bother me, although recently I see my newsfeed as being an extension of the Jeremy Kyle show. I mainly use it to share stuff with friends, to keep in touch with people who fail at checking their emails and to organize events. While there are other methods of doing all of those things, Facebook is the most convenient because it's the one my friends use.

 

[Parkway91]

I essentially just use it to organise band stuff and talk to 'real' friends.

 

[Crazy]

And finally, the 'Like' buttons. This might sound strange to many, as well as a petty issue to complain about considering everything else I have written, but I hate these buttons. Everywhere you go on the website, there are 'Like' buttons all over the place. I hate this just as much as I hate the Like/Dislike bars on YouTube because both of them are gimmicky and pointless to have. Why? Because they add nothing at all and quite frankly, they don't even mean anything, so why bother having these buttons? To know how many people like a certain thing? Why not just have the comments decide whether people like something or not? Or if you really want to find a way to rate something, how about a simple five star function so people can rate it out of 5 stars? YouTube should do this as well.

The like button shows which videos/comments/etc. are the most popular, including the ones good enough to get a like in the first place. If you think the like/dislike buttons are useless, then that's just silly. Sure, they're not needed, but they are nice to have. nad not just because they're shiny, either.

 

[Grog289]

I agree with most of your points OP, but keep in mind that most of your complaints aren't about facebook itself but rather about the users of facebook. Something like facebook that has a mass appeal and millions of users is bound to attract its fair share of douchebags. Really, it seems like your complaints are more against people in general, facebook is just the platform.

I recognize how evil facebook is, however I find it invaluable for keeping track of band tours and staying in contact with my friends who are scattered all over the globe.

 

[triggrhappy94]

I normally find it as just another medium for my friends and cute girls to ignore me through, at least when I go on to try to talk to people.
I normally don't bother with it. I go on maybe once a day for a second to see if I've gotten any new messages or alerts--It's normally just one alert telling me that someone posted in the Argonian cornerclub (fka The Argonian fanclub).

 

[putowtin]

I've said it before and I'll say it again
"Social networking sites are the death of social networking"

 

[DTH1337]

I've said it before and I'll say it again
"Social networking sites are the death of social networking"

Death of social networking? Perhaps so, though I'm more fearful of the impact that social networking websites have on society in general.

 

[Bvenged]

I used it as a substitute text messaging service since all of the friends whom I talk to have text-alerts on from the Facebook messenger. I use the website for less than 15 minutes a week.

I use twitter a bit more often, but only to follow what people in the games industry are up to, and Taco Bell UK (of course). I do not use it at all to promote the fact that I just "baked a cake" or "pissed in a toilet" like a lot of tweeters do.

Overall, social networking is overrated, and I'm not saying that to be hipster. It just is. Too much information being portrayed way too often. Makes identity theft a doddle.

[hypothetical situation] You're birthday is when? and this is your name, this is your favourite pet and you just popped into your Barclays branch to exchange currency for your holiday next week? Excellent. I'll just rob your house and breach your bank account then.

 

[MysticToast]

So these aren't your feelings on Facebook, but its users then?

 

[ChildishLegacy]

So these aren't your feelings on Facebook, but its users then?

But what is a social networking site without its users?
*Strokes beard and gazes into the night sky*

 

[MysticToast]

So these aren't your feelings on Facebook, but its users then?

But what is a social networking site without its users?
*Strokes beard and gazes into the night sky*

That's a good point, but I just like a little clarification in threads like these. I see people complain about sites like Facebook a lot, when they really mean they hate how the users use it.