Tumblr has a pretty good platform/interface. I haven't joined that site either but I do like reading people's contributions there, on the whole, the people posting there seem to be less vacant/vapid. My problem with most social networking sites is that people feel the need these days to chronicle every moment of their lives, however mundane for the rest of us, it's almost as if they feel they don't exist unless they get a photo of every zepto-second of life. I can scarcely think of anything more tacky than someone giving a thumbs up in a pic at the 911 Memorial, although about 6 months ago, there was picture on the internet of a young lad doing a Selfie in front of his Grandmother's coffin, I mean talk about bad-taste, but this is the age in which we currently live.
Oh yeah. I do remember a few of the pages that I had liked mentioning that soon from now, their likers were not going to be able to see their content due to the fact that they were changing the like system, which meant that certain posts were not gong to be seen according to likes. I had never heard anything more backwards in my life. I can only imagine the amount of 'friend's' posts that I had missed, not that I am sorry or regretful about that? My account has been deactivated for quite some time now.
I cannot stand when people post every mundane detail of their life, or every pseudo intellectual thought they have on facebook. I would rather people just post pictures on Facebook. Also annoying when people throw their political views in your face on facebook. It's not necessary to post stuff like that at every waking moment. Gets highly annoying after a while.
I can attest to being one of those people who used to post a lot of political stuff on Facebook. It is important stuff that shouldn't and cannot be ignored, but sadly it goes ignored anyway. I think that it is because I came across as preachy and it can get exhausting for people who are not like me - and by that I mean people who like to be mostly frivolous and not go deeper - to always see posts about looking deeper into things about our world and society. But even if I was still using facebook, the people who do not like what I post can always do one thing, and that is unfriend me. I have had enough folks in my life who are not on the same wavelength as me as it is; if people cannot handle my personality or the things that are important to me, then they don't belong on my FB friends list or in my life as far as I am concerned. One of the hardest things to do in life is find other people who you can relate to. FB tends to further point out just how different you are from your peers, which can be a negative experience.
I think it's okay to post SOME political related stuff on Facebook. From time to time, I do. But if you do it repeatedly people start to get annoyed and I can understand that. Political issues are definitely important but I don't think Facebook is the most appropriate forum for them.
Well you are entitled to your point of view, but I feel like Facebook can potentially be a great place to post political views, and inform those who have no clue about what is going on in the world - the important stuff - about what is going on in the world. Pointing out media manipulation that demonizes certain races is important, especially when you have friends posting stuff like, 'Muslims need to go back to Pakistan,' because the Daily Mirror is attempting to demonize Muslims/people of colour once again, without telling the real or whole story. Who is to say what should and shouldn't be discussed on FB? I get that it can be a little tiresome because politics and deeper issues can be exhausting, especially for those who are not as passionate about them as I may be. But then these people shouldn't be on my friends list if they cannot keep up or handle my personality. Political issues and talking about them are a big part of my personality. I have strong views and I like to share them. I have told people a number of times that they are free to unfriend me. Absolutely no skin off of my nose. None of them are paying my light bill lol.
Can't people inform themselves though? Why do they need you preaching to them on facebook? I don't find it all that persuasive. If you are so passionate about politics you should get involved in causes you believe in instead of annoying people with political posts on your wall. Most of them probably couldn't care less and you are unlikely to change any minds.
Nobody said that people could not inform themselves. People can, but If someone likes to post about a certain topic that they are passionate about - but doesn't feel the inclination to get into on a grander scale - then the people on that person's friends list cannot say a single word about it. Is the Facebook profile theirs??? People are such entitled brats sometimes lol. 'Oh, you posting about what you are passionate about annoys me and or makes me uncomfortable so tone it down or stop.' Uh, no I won't. It is my Facebook profile and if you don't like what I post - or I annoy you, then why should I have to change what I am doing to please others, especially when what I am doing is making me happy and far from hurts others??? Fuck off of my profile page then, init? It really is that simple. How you feel about what other people do or say has more to do with YOU than them. Maybe you need to look within and see why you are so burned by people talking about politics. Deal with it. Your annoyance, which means that it is your problem to deal with. Maybe it makes you feel inferior that you don't know some of the stuff that you see, maybe it makes you feel like you are powerless to do anything about some of the world's issues, maybe you get annoyed because the people who make those posts are only doing it to appear superior and or smarter than everyone else, and that rubs you the wrong way. But that's up to you. Don't expect me to conform and silence myself just because you are annoyed. I will express myself until the cows come home. A lot of people do not want to inform themselves also. They are largely stuck in their racist 'patriotic' ways, and cannot wait for the next wave of brainwashing from newspapers like The Daily Mail. If I see someone wrongfully laying into Muslims because that is what the media has brainwashed them into doing, then I am going to correct them with facts. I don't care if people's minds are changed or not, even though many have been opened in the past. If the information is in people's minds, then you never know how it could be useful in the future. They are free to unfriend me if they don't like my personality, of which talking about the stuff that goes on in the world is a big part of it. But people who feel threatened by me talking about politics generally are not going to silence me in any way. My Facebook, my statuses. Don't like it, get the hell off of my page. It is a great way to weed out the closed-minded and the people who just do not want to face certain things about life. The biggest prison is a prison for your mind. The fear of what other people think. Perhaps that is why the world is in the state that it is in, because people condition people pleasers, instead of encouraging people to do what makes them happy. Instead it is, 'do what makes me happy, and all will be fine.'
I do not think that people will get tired of facebook because it is our new source of updates about our friends, relatives and even the environment around us because even news online are having facebook accounts and can post news articles. Perhaps, if people get tired of it, it is only about the user interface, which I believe facebook can change from time to time. There is nothing wrong with FACEBOOK because its use is so many because of the many different online application that goes with it. In fact, facebook was instrumental in the recent revolution that swept the arab region. The only thing wrong is when people start to abuse the power of facebook.
Good Luck with that line of thinking, let me know how that works out for you. Good Luck giving up all your information and privacy for free, let me know how this works out also.
I have noticed that fewer and fewer people these days actually take the time to fill out their profiles - like what TV shows, movies, music, sports they like, which I think is a good thing. Both Google and Facebook pass information back and forth the kinds of things that you type into the Google search box. Then they can give you targeted advertisments, which all seems a little sly and iffy to me. Our information is essentially being sold for free. If you go straight from Facebook to Google, they have a tracking cookie which allows Facebook to know what you are typing into Google.
I do not need to know what someone is having for dinner or how much the vet charged for their dog to be neutered. TMI. I understand the base concept of the thing, but other than looking at a couple of pictures a relative of mine took while on vaction I rarely even peruse the thing anymore.
Tumblr is witohut a doubt my favorite social media website at the moment. It - for lack of a better term - easily shits all over Facebook and Twitter. It is funnier, more informative when it comes to social issues, unlike with Facebook where it seems that users are butt hurt when you post about political/social issues. It is not as vain as Twitter and Facebook either. It all around owns every other social networking website.
I kind of agree with you. It's the way that social media is taking us but I still hark back to the good old days of more basic connectivity. I recently did a Facebook detox, avoiding the screen trawl approach for about 3 weeks. And surprise, surprise, I didn't really miss anything! Anyone that had anything for me in particular would send me a private message, and even though people were tagging me in pictures and the like, I started to ignore looking at those as well. It was amazingly refreshing to take a step back and declutter from other people's noise and living others' lives vicariously.
What is the screen trawl approach?? I can only guess that you mean you refrained from trawling through your timeline? You don't miss anything. You can't miss what you don't know exists, right? If you don't know that it is there then you can't really miss it. Of course, if you are scrolling through. I had decided to stay away from facebook a couple of years ago, but after being reunited with a friend - who recently forgot my birthday - I just deactivated the account. He didn't interact with my on there anyway. and I'm done with him, more or less, so there was no need for me to leave the account open for anybody other than that, as far as 'friends' were concerned.
I feel the same. I have "friends" on facebook who I haven't had any contact with in over 3 years. So it can be nice, if I ever want to revive and old friendship, but I think you are right about people losing touch with actually having social contact with people. And it goes beyond Facebook. When we go out to eat as a family, we often look around the restaurant and count how many couples and families are not even interacting with each other. It makes me sad to see parents on their phones while the kids writhe around in boredom and count the holes in the ceiling. I understand that occasionally you have things going on that need attention. But my objective observation has been that 95% of the time, people are texting/surfing the web/playing a game, rather than having meaningful interactions with their loved ones who are sitting two feet away from them.
I joined a couple years after it started and it was very good. Now it has become complicated, too many money making schemes and people I don't know wanting to friend me. Timelines are out of control and pictures posted left and right. When I log in I don't even see my home page I see people I don't know taking pictures of themselves and getting stupid comments like "cute" or "nice". It is really aggravating. And there are too many dimensions to it now.
I don't like Facebook or Youtube comments because people say things that they would never say to another human being face to face. For example, I got verbally ripped apart simply for liking a painting that someone else didn't like. In real life, people don't curse out strangers at art galleries for having a difference of opinion. The internet gives people the fake courage to be total jackasses to strangers.
Some might say that the internet is actually a good outlet for the everyday person's rage. I have never looked at it that way before, but I would rather someone spew profanities at me over the internet, rather than stab me because life fucking sucks and they are angry about it. Youtube comments are amongst the most heated. I ignore anyone who calls me names, and only respond to those who talk to me like they actually want to debate. Anyone else isn't worth my time.
I became sick of Facebook a long time ago, I just can't take the moaning and complaining that people do in their statuses anymore, plus there are too many perverts and scammers on there for my liking. Having said that, I still use Facebook, but only to promote my articles and sites, I don't reply to people's comments or interact with many people anymore.
