I still keep my FB profile around but don’t post to it often. The main reason I have it is for chat. Show me an IM solution that I can use with my friends that isn’t Facebook or Google owned, and I will happily remove my Facebook account just as soon as I convince my friends to come over
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What about installing Slack? When hangouts go away, I’m probably gonna migrate my family to slack for our chat.
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I’m sad hangouts is going away but I’ve already migrated everyone to Skype.
With my parents it was like pulling teeth but everyones onboard now and I really like it.
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I find the News Feed almost useless. So much noise and endless scrolling to see something I care about, or that at least interests me or I feel is worth liking or sharing. I hate how the algorithm determines what shows up.
I do find Messenger, Groups, and Pages very useful. If it weren’t for that, I’d probably quit FB.
I joined to stay in the know with friends and family, but people don’t seem to use it that way as much anymore.
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I have two accounts… one for friends and family, and I am quick to dump the idiots who like to post political or other antagonistic memes. And one for groups I like following, so that it’s just common interest threads. It’s not hard to customize it so you enjoy it.
Security of course is a trade-off. I have to tell you, the only relevant ads I’ve ever seen come from Facebook, and I find them very useful. Nearby events they know I’m interested in, events this weekend my friends are interested in, uniquely specific items to buy that I am interested in. I’ve never clicked a Google ad, but I have gone to and bought many things due to FB ads.
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Zuck looks evil or at least soulless. He can keep his 'Lie’ra fake money too.
Haha he is like a total supervillain isn’t he?
He’s about one volcano lair and white cat short of it.
I think I’d feel a lot better about Facebook if he didn’t maintain total control over it.
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That would be a nice first step, but more would have to happen for me to not hate Facebook, of course.
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While it’s wonderfully reassuring that so many people (at least around here) see through the evil that is Facebook, I think there’s a real hypocrisy going on with regard to the other tech giants. It’s easy to call out Facebook with all their glaring malfeasance, Zuck’s bizarre persona, etc. and because the platform feels generally tired and isn’t really “fun” or offering a lot of people what they want anymore. But what about Instagram (loads of hate, but those wonderful ads!!), Youtube (instrumental in throwing elections in countries like Brazil and spreading radicalization/hate of all kinds), Amazon (treats its workers like sh*t), Twitter (open sewer, does little about fake news or hate speech), or Google (king of surveillance capitalism). Oh, but wait, they all provide us with things we still like…OK, gotcha.
Full disclosure, I still use all of these (except for Facebook/Instagram) so not trying be better-than-thou, just keeping it real. Skewer me if you must, but everything I’ve said has been pointed out numerous times (and then some) by Leo and probably 80% of the guests on TWiT.
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I think that the difference here, at least w/ Amazon and Google is that they provide a service. With Facebook/Instagram it’s like a self-serving constant cycle of garbage.
At least with Amazon they deliver me cheap goods to my door and with Google it’ll tell me when to leave on time and provide me perfect walking directions anywhere in the world. Facebook doesn’t give you anything except a feedback loop of bullshit.
ie, I’m okay with providing google my data because they provide me with services I use every single day to make my life easier.
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Well said, haha. And point taken (even though it supports my original point that we’re willing to overlook almost anything if it makes our lives more convenient). I just wish we’d look at the others with a more critical eye, stop minimizing/making excuses for their destructive behaviour, etc. Even more than that, I wish there was something we (those of us who care) could do besides individually boycotting and “writing our representatives” which just doesn’t seem to be cutting it.
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Oh I totally agree. We need real legislation here in the states. With Citizens United and Super PACs it just seems impossible at the moment. But we gotta keep pushing for it!
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I was reading c’t magazine at the weekend (call me old fashioned), and they had a study of fake news and social media penetration.
Interestingly in Germany only around 46% of people use social media.
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I just want to call out your measured response against all the other vitriol in this thread 
Its a cheeky dig of course, and there are many valid reasons not to use Facebook if you choose. But I’m always quick to point out that many, many more people use it daily without any negative experiences.
No doubt people need to call out these companies when they can do better. But I always feel an undercurrent of elitism in these anti-Facebook threads that seems unnecessary.
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Free speech doesn’t mean Facebook must run dishonest ads…
Certainly a private company should not be deciding what the public can see from its leaders. That’s why Facebook should, and does, allow candidates to say pretty much whatever they want in everyday posts. But with ads, Facebook is offering candidates a helping hand, not an even one. The site is accepting money to bump up posts in the feeds of carefully targeted groups of users. This is a recipe for deception and polarization — especially because incendiary topics are already known to garner more engagement, and then another visibility boost in turn.
These mechanics dismantle Mr. Zuckerberg’s protestations that his company must remain neutral: Facebook isn’t neutral right now. And whichever campaign is most willing to distort — so far this year, it is President Trump’s — will most reap the benefits of the site’s algorithmic biases.
It’s unsurprising that Facebook would rather not put itself in the position of telling Mr. T “no.” Conservatives are already nipping at its heels over nonexistent “censorship,” threatening to legislate limits on treasured legal protections. And while Facebook has proved it can police political ads for profanity, truthfulness is trickier to evaluate.
Still, television networks and newspapers alike have met this challenge. Calling a candidate “corrupt” is acceptable; circulating a widely debunked defamatory hoax shouldn’t be.
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Don’t ads have to reach a certain standard in the USA?
Over here they have to be truthful, you can’t be derogatory about a competitor and any claims made have to be accurate.
If you don’t, the ad will be rejected and if the ad is shown, the advertising agency can be fined, as can the platform, tv station, magazine, newspaper etc. for running the ad, if it can be proven that they knew the advert was false. Political advertising is actually held to an even higher standard than normal advertising. There are also strict limits on how much can be spent on advertising during a campaign - in the UK, the Brexit campaign fell foul of this a couple of times (lying on a bus advert and over spending), likewise in Germany the AFD were reprimanded, because they accepted campaign contributions from outside Germany - they had to pay the money back, once it was found out.
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I guess I’m the weird one here. I use Facebook every day. Messenger is heavily used for a chat between friends. Especially since our friends have both Android phones and iPhones. We’ve found its the best way to chat since iMessage is still the best for iPhone to iPhone conversation. Facebook posts happen every day.
I belong to multiple Facebook groups for our neighborhood since NextDoor is full of “I saw a dude walk by, I think he’s here to rob me.” type of posts. Also have a good conversations with friends I actually care about there.
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Yes they do! But not Facebook!
Scipio…i think you have missed the point of this thread?
Facebook is using you for its capital gains!
As long a you go along thinking nothing’s wrong here, you will never see the problems!
Your data is your property. Period, if anyone is to prosper from it it should be you, not the company who is hoarding it. Facebook has shown an unwilling to be fair about your data and they need to be severely penalized for this intrusion into our personal lives, just because we joined a online community doesn’t mean you agreed to give your life story to them for free and then have them resell it to the highest bidder for manipulation!
FACEBOOK IS EVIL!