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The thing that so many people fail to realize is that the internet needs a totally different structure or service that operates on a totally different premise t

by wahsd 11y ago

The thing that so many people fail to realize is that the internet needs a totally different structure or service that operates on a totally different premise that retains data with their owner, their person. I relish seeing the day that Facebook is jettisoned for a system of distributed and individual ownership of profiles and data, like the internet should be. Humanity strayed at some point when the nefarious actors like Zuckerberg and his predecessors came in and started stealing your data, stealing your person, removing the information from you that your liberty and freedom is built on. You are not a free person when you are on the internet, your person is being smeared and skimmed everywhere you go and things against your choosing or even awareness are being done to your person and identity by people and for reasons you did not authorize. That's not liberty, that's not freedom.

austenallred 11y ago
You know no one forces you to use Facebook, right?
- aw3c2 11y ago
  Society kinda does. If all your peers use it to communicate, you would be a hermit if you did not participate.
  - michael_h 11y ago
    I don't participate and am not a hermit. When I want to communicate, I use the phone or SMS. If my peers want to contact me, they use the same. My wife has an account. Sometimes I'll scroll through it for a bit, just to see. It seems like people mostly use it as a semi-broadcast medium, rather than a communication mechanism amongst a tight group of peers. The less armchair punditry in my life the better. If people like it, that's great for them, but I can't do it. My wife attempted to use the messenger thing for a while, but it was such an unreliable software disaster-pile that she had to drop it.
    - aw3c2 11y ago
      Of course it depends, that's why I explicitly said "if all your peers use it".
      - michael_h 11y ago
        All my peers use it. Maybe if all your peers use it exclusively, then you'd be out of the loop, but I suspect that is very rarely the case.
  - Nadya 11y ago
    Still not forced to. I get along fine with the people I stay in touch with, and I've never had a FB.
    - wahsd 11y ago
      Ok, what happens when everyone is like "hell, facebook does it. We will also all do the same thing." Your point is simply not valid and should not be a choice someone has to make because one social network's goal is to dominate all of society.
- throwaway7767 11y ago
  > You know no one forces you to use Facebook, right? You know that even if you don't use facebook, they still collect data about you from other people, right?
- cousin_it 11y ago
  Do you think people should always walk away rather try to fix flaws (in governments, companies or relationships)? I think it's a tradeoff, and many people feel that fixing Facebook's policies is worthwhile.
  - austenallred 11y ago
    I'm by no means saying Facebook is perfect, but I take issue with the the "You are not a free person [because Facebook exists]" trope.
    - cousin_it 11y ago
      Yeah, it looks like we're in violent agreement.
- wahsd 11y ago
  That's not a valid argument and rather telling of your immaturity. As has been pointed out on many occasions in many different contexts, facebook has become the dominant social network. It's really not even a question of using it at all, especially when there are dependencies and compulsion to use it. So your choice of social self-exclusion or abdication of rights is a patently false one choice. In fact, many time you actually are forced to use Facebook if you want to participate in social things. It should not be a valid choice to have to make. It's kind of sad that something so simple has to be explained.
  - austenallred 11y ago
    It's valid to say, "I don't like Facebook's policies," "I don't like that Facebook is so embedded in society," or even "I don't like Facebook." But the notion you put forward that Zuckerberg started "stealing your person" or that "You are not free when you are on the Internet" is absurd. You are free. And you are not, as you suggest, being forced to take part. Facebook is a platform. A lot of people use it. It gathers the data that you put into it. Its existence doesn't hinder your freedom, unless you're misconstruing the definition of "freedom." Society has a lot of bullshit expectations, and there are many dominant opinions that cause circumstances I like, but none of those stop me from being "free."

by wahsd 11y ago

austenallred 11y ago

You know no one forces you to use Facebook, right?

aw3c2 11y ago
Society kinda does. If all your peers use it to communicate, you would be a hermit if you did not participate.
- michael_h 11y ago
  I don't participate and am not a hermit. When I want to communicate, I use the phone or SMS. If my peers want to contact me, they use the same. My wife has an account. Sometimes I'll scroll through it for a bit, just to see. It seems like people mostly use it as a semi-broadcast medium, rather than a communication mechanism amongst a tight group of peers. The less armchair punditry in my life the better. If people like it, that's great for them, but I can't do it. My wife attempted to use the messenger thing for a while, but it was such an unreliable software disaster-pile that she had to drop it.
  - aw3c2 11y ago
    Of course it depends, that's why I explicitly said "if all your peers use it".
    - michael_h 11y ago
      All my peers use it. Maybe if all your peers use it exclusively, then you'd be out of the loop, but I suspect that is very rarely the case.
- Nadya 11y ago
  Still not forced to. I get along fine with the people I stay in touch with, and I've never had a FB.
  - wahsd 11y ago
    Ok, what happens when everyone is like "hell, facebook does it. We will also all do the same thing." Your point is simply not valid and should not be a choice someone has to make because one social network's goal is to dominate all of society.
throwaway7767 11y ago
> You know no one forces you to use Facebook, right? You know that even if you don't use facebook, they still collect data about you from other people, right?
cousin_it 11y ago
Do you think people should always walk away rather try to fix flaws (in governments, companies or relationships)? I think it's a tradeoff, and many people feel that fixing Facebook's policies is worthwhile.
- austenallred 11y ago
  I'm by no means saying Facebook is perfect, but I take issue with the the "You are not a free person [because Facebook exists]" trope.
  - cousin_it 11y ago
    Yeah, it looks like we're in violent agreement.
wahsd 11y ago
That's not a valid argument and rather telling of your immaturity. As has been pointed out on many occasions in many different contexts, facebook has become the dominant social network. It's really not even a question of using it at all, especially when there are dependencies and compulsion to use it. So your choice of social self-exclusion or abdication of rights is a patently false one choice. In fact, many time you actually are forced to use Facebook if you want to participate in social things. It should not be a valid choice to have to make. It's kind of sad that something so simple has to be explained.
- austenallred 11y ago
  It's valid to say, "I don't like Facebook's policies," "I don't like that Facebook is so embedded in society," or even "I don't like Facebook." But the notion you put forward that Zuckerberg started "stealing your person" or that "You are not free when you are on the Internet" is absurd. You are free. And you are not, as you suggest, being forced to take part. Facebook is a platform. A lot of people use it. It gathers the data that you put into it. Its existence doesn't hinder your freedom, unless you're misconstruing the definition of "freedom." Society has a lot of bullshit expectations, and there are many dominant opinions that cause circumstances I like, but none of those stop me from being "free."