OT: I have a Facebook account, and I just tweak the privacy settings. At the end of the day, it just contains public ally available information anyway, so there's no loss to me having it.
Should I open a Facebook account?
- Thread starter DoctorObviously
- Start date
I still haven't started a facebook either, but only because I haven't had a compelling reason. If something out there requires you have a facebook and you like whatever that is enough to set one up, then do it. I live in Portland, Oregon though, where being unique has totally collapsed in on itself. I've had more than person tell me how cool they think it is that I don't have any tatoos or a facebook, which I think almost inadvertently makes me a hipster somehow.
Facebook is no good for making friends. It's great for keeping the same friends and forming tight-knit circles, but making new ones? No. How can it be? You only talk to people you've added. The equivalent in real life would be like voluntarily blanking out everyone who you don't already know, so anyone you see on the street or on the bus has a giant black box censoring them. Sure it can be a way of forming stronger relationships with friends, but at the same time creates stronger barriers between you and "them", the "others".
Click the gear, got account settings, then click the "Download a copy of your facebook data" button on the general page (it's in small print near the bottom). It'll spend a few minutes compiling it all into a zip file at their end, then you'll be able to download a file you can open in your browser.Ravage said:
Enjoy. I recommend everyone on facebook do this and spread the word..
FB is good for looking up the people you went to school with, and seeing how successful they seem to be compared to yourself.
Facebook is questionable at best, but at the same time so widely used that sometimes people may feel disconnected from others if they're not on it.
The truth about Facebook is that not many people really have anything interesting to say. This isn't really a knock on people, but more so a reference to the fact that it sort of just becomes a thing you look at, and update almost because you internally train yourself to do so. You're going to likely see a lot of people simply posting messages such as "I went to the mall today!" or photos of their lunch.
If you're going into Facebook expecting to become closer to friends you already have, I would argue it isn't going to be very likely. However, it can be effective for meeting new people at times. However, it's effective in the same capacity that this forum would be - joining social groups on a specific topic, and just talking about it with people.
There isn't really any downside to having an account, so it may be worth making one to try it out. What you get out of social networks mostly depends on your own personal experience and what you use it for. My only real advice is if you do make one avoid complaining about your job, as some workplaces have a habit of looking up that stuff. I know somebody who got fired over Facebook comments. Don't post anything you wouldn't want the person you're speaking about seeing, essentially.
Twitter is a bit more popular at the moment, and potentially easier to keep track of for the record.
The truth about Facebook is that not many people really have anything interesting to say. This isn't really a knock on people, but more so a reference to the fact that it sort of just becomes a thing you look at, and update almost because you internally train yourself to do so. You're going to likely see a lot of people simply posting messages such as "I went to the mall today!" or photos of their lunch.
If you're going into Facebook expecting to become closer to friends you already have, I would argue it isn't going to be very likely. However, it can be effective for meeting new people at times. However, it's effective in the same capacity that this forum would be - joining social groups on a specific topic, and just talking about it with people.
There isn't really any downside to having an account, so it may be worth making one to try it out. What you get out of social networks mostly depends on your own personal experience and what you use it for. My only real advice is if you do make one avoid complaining about your job, as some workplaces have a habit of looking up that stuff. I know somebody who got fired over Facebook comments. Don't post anything you wouldn't want the person you're speaking about seeing, essentially.
Twitter is a bit more popular at the moment, and potentially easier to keep track of for the record.
The only way I find facebook remotely tolerable is by virtue of disabling nearly all of its features, by which point standard methods of keeping in touch with others work just as well, without the creepy level of information gathering.
I can only recommend you don't do it. Any social network takes a little piece of your soul. Twitter is the worst with FB a close second. You will develop a compulsion to check it regularly, and you'll be rewarded with invitations to play "Zombie Gangster Fruit Pirate" Zynga games, have picture after picture of "Life is special, cherish every moment" inspirational bullshit, banal tidbits from people you used to know (like "I can't sleep" or "This is my dog") and to top it off, they will sell your information to advertisers any which way he can.
The reason twitter is worse is because of the bullshit way it encourages people to "communicate", with hastags, @ symbols and utter garbage. I love my brother, but Twitter turned him into a prick.
If you've avoided them to date, you'll be just fine without. They bring very little to your life. If you want to see what some bands/celebs are up to, might be worth having just for that purpose I guess.
The reason twitter is worse is because of the bullshit way it encourages people to "communicate", with hastags, @ symbols and utter garbage. I love my brother, but Twitter turned him into a prick.
If you've avoided them to date, you'll be just fine without. They bring very little to your life. If you want to see what some bands/celebs are up to, might be worth having just for that purpose I guess.
Definition of SOCIAL MEDIABanicRhys said:
: forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (as videos)
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20media
I don't come here to social network or to microblog. I may share information, ideas, and personal messages but only in the interest of a conversation. Is a phone call or texting social media? Cus all I'm doing here is having a conversation.
So I ask again, and try to answer the question this time, are you saying that anonymously throwing comments on the internet is the same as social media?
Yep.Sarge034 said:
(I'll begrudgingly elaborate to avoid an infraction) You're not anonymous, you're Sarge034, it may not be your primary identity but it is your identity while you're a part of the Escapist community.
Social networking isn't just creating friends, it's about categorising any individual through socialisation, regardless of your opinion of them. For instance, you've probably categorised me into the "people I disagree with" section of your social network.
Incorrect. You are not part of my social network, so there is that... But I can't agree with your definition of social media because I think how you word it also includes texts and phone calls. I don't consider those social media and I don't consider this social networking.BanicRhys said:
It seems obvious that this is social media.Sarge034 said:
We are socialising through a medium. Therefore the content of that use of that medium are social media.
Letters are also social media. As are phones.
really, the only thing that isn't is a face-to-face interaction, because the communication is unfiltered through any medium of communication.