PowerSwitch

UndercoverElephant · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 1:48 am Post subject: F*ck Facebook

Facebook is in terminal decline. I deleted (not just de-activated) my account a couple of days ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/pioneer-delete-facebook-addiction-social-life

Lurkalot · Joined: 08 Mar 2014 Posts: 263

I've got a Facebook account . I opened it because it seemed to be the done thing and everyone had one. It has been useful as free advertising for when I initially started working for myself but perhaps because I'm not constantly updating the page it has largely become irrelevant. I visit rarely nowadays and I think that's largely down to the dross people post on there . I'm really not interested in pictures of friends of friends pets or what they had for dinner or where they went on holiday or their particular gripe of the moment. I did join one group about van and tool theft but post after post of stolen tools and vans gets a bit depressing after a while.
However , my biggest gripe with Facebook is the very transient nature of the posts. Even if something interesting is posted I find it almost impossible to revisit that post the next day as I simply cannot find it. That's the principal reason I prefer forums , on some I can read threads that started a decade ago.
So yes I could happily do without.

adam2 · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 8:35 am Post subject:

Being a bit of an old dinosaur, I never had a facebook account.
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careful_eugene · Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 589 Location: Nottingham UK

clv101 · Site Admin Joined: 24 Nov 2005 Posts: 8693

Well done UE.

I'm not ready to drop Facebook, but I'd like to see major reform. Two areas:

Firstly I'd like to see a standard social network API developed such that I could take my social media account and migrate it to other platforms. Facebook, the company, would be one such platform but there could be other, compatible platforms. Think about how you can move bank accounts. You can bank with Barclays, HSBC, TSB etc with full compatibility. These different social media platforms could compete against each other offering better data security, less advertising, more control and customisation etc.

Secondly, less importantly, I'd like to see a paid membership model where for a few pounds a month one could buy a Facebook service with no advertising, no data sharing with 3rd parties and more options for customising your newsfeed.

Personally, I think the first change will happen, or Facebook will fall away into obscurity.
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Mr. Fox · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:28 am Post subject:

I understand that this week they ditched the (user generated) 'trending news' thing, replacing it with the sanitised output of ~80 selected MSM organs.

Further revelations came out this week over their disgraceful attitude to users privacy.

The only thing I find more shocking than FBs attitude toward users privacy is the users attitude toward their own privacy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juQcZO_WnsI Very Happy

emordnilap · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:48 pm Post subject:

UndercoverElephant · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 4:20 pm Post subject:

Little John · Joined: 08 Mar 2008 Posts: 8162 Location: UK

That would take legislation. Legislation like that will only happen if it is in the state's interest, However, since Facebook looks to be undergoing a process of co-option by the state, such legislation seems extremely unlikely to me. Facebook is becoming exactly what the state wants it to become. A sanitized, curated and controlled stream of information for the masses.

Next in line will be the outlawing of the domestic use of VPNs. So what isn't picked up by Facebook will be picked up by your ISP.

Lurkalot · Joined: 08 Mar 2014 Posts: 263

BritDownUnder · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:43 pm Post subject:

I am happy to admit using it. It can be of use particularly for buying second hand stuff locally and for various user groups regarding off the grid and gardening. I have not taken the time to use the search functions and storage functions that much and so get frustrated when I cannot find useful articles that I had read previously. It is, however, not as useful as this site for post peak oil advice.

My wife is a heavy user of social media.
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Lurkalot · Joined: 08 Mar 2014 Posts: 263

My wife showed me a post that had come up on her Facebook page when a friend had commented on it. It was the sort of post that crops up that irritates me because of the laziness of it. The post read , "need a gardener for cutting and weeding £8 per hour all tools supplied" . When I say laziness it's in the way the post is so ambiguous , no punctuation and completely unclear if the poster is looking for a gardener or is offering himself to work as a gardener. A simple "I" or "Do you" would have made it much clearer. As it was most people took it that he was looking for a gardener and wanting to pay £8 which is how my wife's friend commented by saying she knows someone ( myself ,but not named) who does a professional job but expect to pay twice that amount.

vtsnowedin · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 12:48 am Post subject:

Lurkalot · Joined: 08 Mar 2014 Posts: 263

My wife's friend's comment was directed towards the poster on Facebook and the implication was that he should expect to pay double ( or close to it) for the work he presumably wanted doing. I would expect to be paid twice the rate he quoted or to put it another way I charge somewhere between £15 and £17.50 per hour which means I wouldn't consider an offer of £8 per hour.

vtsnowedin · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:12 am Post subject:

I could have read it that way but was just being a bit thick in the head.