A Few Reasons Why I Dislike Facebook for Discussion

[Troy]

[Troy]

I actually stumbled across this on Facebook.  One of the things I used to enjoy about this discussion forum, when there was more participation was having my opinions challenged or challenging those of others.  Actually it is not a matter of having more people, but having the right people.  Not everyone can have their opinions or world views challenged without getting bend out of shape and taking it personally.

 

The problem with Facebook is that it strokes the ego and fosters a false sense of self-worth.  Also what appears on your wall is designed to display what Facebook believes you will want to see. As a result, diversity of opinion is loss and the site becomes one big echo chamber of the same ideas. There isn't even a dislike button. 

 

Having your casual musings reinforced, with a click of a like button, is very addictive, having it done scores of times is an opiate. 

 

I remember the first year my birthday came after joining Facebook, scores of people wished me happy birthday.  I was quite pleased and happy about it.  I thanked everyone individually for being so thoughtful.  By the second year it was several hundred folks, by then I noticed Facebook prompts you to wish folks a happen birthday.  Again, it is still a nice gesture, but requires no more effort than clicking the like button.

 

By the 3rd year, it was well over a thousand happy birthdays and Facebook now prompts you to buy gift for folks with the convenient advertisement, for flowers or gift cards. I've never received a gift, but at this point I've removed my birthday date, so any one who wishes me a happy birthday is someone that actually remembers it. 

 

I'd rather get one sincere birthday than 1,000 provided by a Facebook prompt.

 

 

[Cynique]

Really on point, Troy.  I do my arguing on FaceBook now since all my sparring partners on this site have faded away.  But am I fulfilled by this? Not really.  My opponents on FaceBook are no match for the folks I used to engage on this forum. Actually. I, myself, am  gradually congealing into a state of inertia. Very few things inspire my passion or my convictions any more. The world is gonna do what it do and all I can do is watch.  Which is what I do.

[Cynique]

In another post, Troy, you implied that a person's FaceBook profile wasn't a reliable indication of who they were. Maybe not. But,  from what I've observed, people supply very little info in their profiles; just where they're from, their marital status, their schooling and their profession, none of which provides deep insight into who someone really is.

 

Now that I am losing interest in the mecca of internet socializing with its steady input from religious zealots, Obama groupies, wanna-be deejays along with the picture galleries of doting parents, pet owners and foodie bores, plus the daily entries into the FaceBook journals of self-absorbed folks, I've decided that what initially drew me to FaceBook was the amusing things that could be discerned about "friends" who post there, enabled by the lack of accountibility cyberspace allows. What they are enthusiastic about, what annoucements they made, what TV shows and movies and celebs they liked, who they disagreed with, their narcississtic selfies, were all very revealing to a perceptive person who could deduce a lot by reading between the lines. FaceBook is a gigantic analyist's couch. 

 

I daresay, anybody who followed me on FaceBook  without consulting my sparse profile, could conclude simply from reading my posts, that I am an opinionated, argumentive, passive-aggressive skeptic who posts pictures of herself,-  ostensibly to illustrate a point. 

[Troy]

Cynique, I was not clear.   When I referenced "profile" I was really talking about of all one's contributions to Facebook, their posts, likes, group membership as well as the demographic information (age, marital status, education, profession, etc) they share.

 

To further clarify, I think Facebook has a much better understanding of who were are that any person who has read everything you have ever posted on Facebook.  You see, in addition to knowing what you have written, Facebook has the far more valuable information of what you ACTUAL DO on the platform, what you spend time reading, how long you spend on the platform and increasingly where you are physically when you do it.  

 

Again, I argue that a person can never know someone based up what they read on Facebook.  I'd also argue than Facebook can't either, but they certainly have a MUCH better grasp of who you really are than any person can--and I'm sure much more than you would want revealed or made pubic.

 

People so freely give up their privacy because they REALLY don't understand what is going on.  Our government has abdicated their responsibility here, but the government serves due to the largess of corporations, so I guess they are doing what they are supposed to be doing...

[Cynique]

 I repeat, Troy.  "I daresay, anybody who followed me on FaceBook without consulting my sparse profile, could conclude simply from reading my posts, that I am an opinionated, argumentive, passive-aggressive skeptic who posts pictures of herself,- ostensibly to illustrate a point."   ...pretty much.   

 

OK, so what will Facebook do with all of this superflous information it has about me?  Will it impact on me in the real world???