Five Years Without Facebook

That's not what I use Facebook for though. Facebook is used to teach the knuckle-dragging racist *******s, that I went to High School with, how the real world thinks and act's and that their racist bubble is shrinking daily. I fact check their bullshit political posts and hopefull teach one person the truth. If I want to talk with real friends, that's G+ since it allows me to segregate, with Circles, close friends vs racist ******* old friends. Facebook is just too unruly to use it as an everyday driver.
 
Sociopath, here. That is, according to your definition.

Never had FB, or any of the other platforms, and don't need it. I own my own business, and do my deal face to face. It's easy to be whoever/whatever you want to be behind a screen, much more difficult in person. The rest of FB (and the other "social" networks) are noise. When I find a contractor who only communicates with FB I pass on to someone else who values the interactions that make good business relationships.

If you want social interaction, go outside and find some. Computers are barriers to true communication. For those who keep saying, "But, communities!" I will wager you have not idea who most of the people are who live in your neighborhood. But you have 542 "friends" online. Wow, your definition of community does not match mine.

Rant over. Now, get off my lawn.
 
Shawn, great read thank you! I quit FB 3 years ago. I prefer 'face to face' contact myself. I do however appreciate how dynamic FB is to the modern experience. I think Mark Zuckerberg is a fellow who really wants to help the technology story go in the right direction...My 2 main reasons for quitting were the admitted manipulation of news feeds to observe users emotional reactions and 2nd would be that I feel the site promotes narcissistic behavior...I signed up in '08 and 6 years was enough...Now I'm more fascinated with how Facebook works from a technical standpoint...See Wedge Switch. Pretty sure they use a fair amount of GPUs and FPGAs for their compute and machine learning...I think only Google can claim to move more data at a faster rate in terms of the network.
 
To me, Facebook is a giant data mining tool. Once it's properly leveraged with AI technology, its global reach will be both amazing and terrifying.
I mainly use it for the Messenger and to check friends' holiday photos. But I will never install an app on it because of the amount of access they need to what should be more secure information (personal and friends' photos, preferences and contact details). Not that it matters, as FB has probably sold it all a million times over. I have also disabled FB notifications on my phone because I don't need to know where you are eating or which amazing/cute proverb you have just found or because you are feeling depressed and need 50 Likes to magically cheer you up.
 
Me using Face****. Never going to happen. Never doing business with entities who only communicate through anti-social networking. Mgwerner +1 mate!

Cancer of modern, anti-social, society. Furthermore Zuckerberg (or whatever his name is) and rest of his cronies are responsible for thousands of deaths/suicides because of deviants which using this platform - revenge porn, shaming, bullying, terrorists and whatever scumbag and villainy there is.
 
I really like FB. I have 27 friends. I don't add friends just cause. If a friend never comments or likes or doesn't wish me a Happy B'day I drop them. FB can give me a good insight into people by what they post. PM's are always great and where else can I hang out with friends from 50+ years ago. Like anything else...FB is what you make it
 
That's not what I use Facebook for though. Facebook is used to teach the knuckle-dragging racist *******s, that I went to High School with, how the real world thinks and act's and that their racist bubble is shrinking daily. I fact check their bullshit political posts and hopefull teach one person the truth. If I want to talk with real friends, that's G+ since it allows me to segregate, with Circles, close friends vs racist ******* old friends. Facebook is just too unruly to use it as an everyday driver.
Balderdash...you an angry person
 
Facebook is like a glass of water. You can make a storm out of it. Or just drink it. Or choose another glass of water.
 
Don't know what's up with everyone, because I have been with them since 2007 and since it's 2017 that's 10 years and boy have they let me know about that! I have so many groups on there already so all have so many members in there. Yes there is a Windows Tablet Group too. FB great place to meet women on there too for dates and such. I have no issues+ with being on FB. Google Plus I am not really keen of so not on that one as much as FB. I guess to each there own here..
 
1920's: I am not getting a car, what does a person need that for?
1940's: I am not getting a home phone - what does a person need that for?
1980's: I am not getting a fax machine - what does a person need that for?
1990's: I am not getting a pager - what does a person need that for?
2000's: I am not getting an internet connection - what does a person need that for?
2000's: I am not getting an email account - what does a person need that for?
2000's : I am not getting a cell phone - what does a person need that for?
2005+: I am not getting a texting phone - what does a person need that for?
2010+: I am not getting a smartphone - what does a person need that for?
2015+ I am not getting a facebook account - what does a person need that for?

Point: get what you what, just because you don't need it doesn't mean your situation applies to everyone else. This does not make you stupid or silly. If you want to use something use it, if you don't don't. This applies to facebook, iphones, toyotas or whatever.
 
1920's: I am not getting a car, what does a person need that for?
1940's: I am not getting a home phone - what does a person need that for?
1980's: I am not getting a fax machine - what does a person need that for?
1990's: I am not getting a pager - what does a person need that for?
2000's: I am not getting an internet connection - what does a person need that for?
2000's: I am not getting an email account - what does a person need that for?
2000's : I am not getting a cell phone - what does a person need that for?
2005+: I am not getting a texting phone - what does a person need that for?
2010+: I am not getting a smartphone - what does a person need that for?
2015+ I am not getting a facebook account - what does a person need that for?

Point: get what you what, just because you don't need it doesn't mean your situation applies to everyone else. This does not make you stupid or silly. If you want to use something use it, if you don't don't. This applies to facebook, iphones, toyotas or whatever.
I cannot imagine anyone, or more than one out of 10,000 people ever saying any of those. And yuck, putting Facebook in the same level/example as a car, or email.
 
FB is what you make it. What FB does as a company is criminal. I use it. I like keeping in touch with old friends, there is no other way
 
2007 to 2017 was my 10 years with Facebook. Now still on FB 2018.. I hardly on there though. I run groups and etc. Lots of friends. Even one from HS days.. I think we all here have our habits. Some are into sports some are not and some play golf and some do not, some play tennis so you see FB might not be for some. We're all into Techspot here so think of this place as another FB without the drama!
 
I left Facebook at the beginning of 2017. The political BS and spying were just too much.

I'm tempted to return for the simple reason of keeping up with a group of IT guys that share information and job opportunities, otherwise I have no reason to use the platform. Havent done so yet. I also feel that, if your friends refuse to talk to you except over facebook, they are not friends. I had a large group of friends that I dropped all contact with because they refuse to use texting or calling, convinced they are that facebook messenger is the only way to talk to people.

And I'll certainly never put that garbage on my phone. Ol' Zucky wont get that from me.
 
I have never had a Facebook account, nor will I ever join.
I tell my friends if I ever join, then the world will end.
So I'm doing my part to save the world.
 
It's all a bit needy and attention seeking for me, and the people that use it.

I don't need plastic friends either. Real ones are those who are there when you need them, or they need you and are able to be instantly contactable in a variety of ways.

If you had an emergency, you would call them wouldn't you?
 
It's two years since I quit facebook. Without it I have a real problem with getting to know in time about cultural and political events - fb became the main tool for that, a monopoly.
And I'm certain that when I decide to go back to freelancing I will need to create an account. The networking also happens mostly on fb.

But for me it's still more pros than cons of quitting. Now I'm afraid of spending too much time on thematic forums like this one ;)

BTW this thread looks like an AA meeting, it's meaningful.
 
FB is a tool, you use it as you want. It doesn't control you. Some use it to communicate when friends (real friends) and family. No one Needs facebook, but it can be pretty convenient if there's a great distance you and your family/friends. It's not an evil platform. You can't be shocked that they want to advertise, it's where all sites are headed (if not already).

For better or for worse, Facebook has changed how we communicate as a society.

And no other site had a hand in it? (not in any order)iirc, icq, myspace, aol, prodigy, twitter, instagram, reddit, 4chan, etc... Everything tries to bring some advancement in some way, ultimately to make a profit.

Read the article again and replace FB with alcohol. For better or for worse, Alcohol has changed how we communicate as a society. It really just sounds as though you were addicted or brainwashed to using FB too much. Taking a break was a good idea, but to think what occurred in your life wasn't going to happen until you left FB is ridiculous.

Use it, don't use it... disable notifications all all types. If it was an emergency they'd call you.
 
I don't like Facebook anymore than the rest of you, but it's an important method of learning about events. Like, if Metallica is going to be in town, I'd like to receive a notification about it at least.

It’s also a way for friends to reach me in the rare case my phone is out of action. Granted, that has only occurred twice, 2013 and 2016. In other words, it's a back up tool. Sometimes you also have new friends or colleagues who might not have asked for a phone number yet, but need to message you about a project or something.

I also see it as an important way to reach out to brands. After SXSW last year, I rated the hotels and venues that panels were located at. You'd be surprised at how frequently they reach back out and resolve issues. If you are a brand without a social media presence, you're obviously not digital native.
 
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I think I quit Facebook years ago, but did Facebook really let me go. I thought I had quit and about a year later someone asked why I stopped replying there and found out that my page was still ongoing. Reactivated my account and found that the page was indeed still happening. Tried to shut down page and quit Facebook again.

If I recall correctly, Facebook owns and controls all and my wants are not it's concerns. That is why I left Facebook. But so many companies are just as bad now.

So does Google, so does Tech Spot. There is no such thing as privacy and in the small disclaimers / legal pages that you do not read, you sign your data away.

There is one downside of Facebook. The big shitty WALL that has so much junk and fake*news etc...
 
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