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Facebook is not a blogging platform. It isn't promising a long-term store of curated searchable data. It's an endlessly scrolling feed of what's going on now, p

by cbeach 11y ago

Facebook is not a blogging platform. It isn't promising a long-term store of curated searchable data. It's an endlessly scrolling feed of what's going on now, plus an events tool and photos etc. When did it ever promise anything more?

PavlovsCat 11y ago
Well, it is a long-term store of searchable data, just not for the people who actually put it there or care what their friends said or did. But more to your point: so it doesn't break a completely meaningless promise such as this one: > Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them. Great promise. I have a hard time coming up with anything, from cooking food to murdering people in the streets, that doesn't fit this definition if you just squint hard enough. I judge Facebook by how it improves or impoverishes the world and the web, not by whether it keeps promises that are so vague one could apply them to just about anything, and which I would say are also lies by omission (which may be par of the course for marketing, but that doesn't change what it is). I don't see anything in their FAQ about "dumb fucks" trusting anyone, either. You cannot "control what you see from individual people" as you claimed. You can click "see less stuff like this", sure, but what is "like this"? Nobody knows, nobody cares, just some fuzzy thing or other. That's not "control". And even if you follow people/groups that never post stuff you don't like, it's still a tumblr-like "feed", and that has nothing to do with using the "tool" wrong, that's using it exactly right, seeing random stuff and feeding algorithms with your likes and shares. It extracts value from people, it keeps the data, and gives very little back to them; again, par of the course, again, doesn't change what it is.
- cbeach 11y ago
  You have an incredible sense of entitlement when it comes to a website that is provided free of charge (with fairly well-targeted and unobtrusive advertising) for you and your friends to use. If you think the site is not sophisticated enough for your tastes, don't use it. But if you don't use it and your friends do, then you may miss out on social connection. Because that's what the site is for. Facebook gives a lot to its users, and all for free. The complexity of building a site that serves 1.5bn users is astonishing, and with live notifications too. It's just brilliant. But if you're too sophisticated for it then don't use it. Makes no difference to me.
  - PavlovsCat 11y ago
    > But if you don't use it and your friends do, then you may miss out on social connection. Which makes the whole "free of charge and voluntary" thing kind of moot. If it sucks up people, it better not suck, or at least connect with things like diaspora etc. (which also lack these features, but at least wouldn't fight you tooth and nail if you tried to implement them). If that is incredibly entitled, well, I guess I am then. > The complexity of building a site that serves 1.5bn users is astonishing As for me is the desire to even do that. I think true genius is found in protocols, not applications and silos. The internet was invented to withstand nuclear strikes, and the return to centralization seems to be solely for the purpose of spooks shoveling eyeballs into the jaws of advertisers. I can't admire the technical proficiency if I disagree with the spirit and goal of it so deeply.
    - cbeach 11y ago
      If you want to be sociable, it's your responsibility to socialise where your friends socialise. It's not the bar's fault, or the sports club's fault, or Facebook's fault, if your friends choose to go there but you don't. The situation is only "involuntary" in that the choices of your friends aren't under your own control. But thanks to Facebook the situation -is- free of charge. True genius might lie in protocols. But it's up to your friends if they prefer communicating you via protocols or via a friendly website with a good mobile app.

by cbeach 11y ago

PavlovsCat 11y ago

Well, it is a long-term store of searchable data, just not for the people who actually put it there or care what their friends said or did. But more to your point: so it doesn't break a completely meaningless promise such as this one: > Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them. Great promise. I have a hard time coming up with anything, from cooking food to murdering people in the streets, that doesn't fit this definition if you just squint hard enough. I judge Facebook by how it improves or impoverishes the world and the web, not by whether it keeps promises that are so vague one could apply them to just about anything, and which I would say are also lies by omission (which may be par of the course for marketing, but that doesn't change what it is). I don't see anything in their FAQ about "dumb fucks" trusting anyone, either. You cannot "control what you see from individual people" as you claimed. You can click "see less stuff like this", sure, but what is "like this"? Nobody knows, nobody cares, just some fuzzy thing or other. That's not "control". And even if you follow people/groups that never post stuff you don't like, it's still a tumblr-like "feed", and that has nothing to do with using the "tool" wrong, that's using it exactly right, seeing random stuff and feeding algorithms with your likes and shares. It extracts value from people, it keeps the data, and gives very little back to them; again, par of the course, again, doesn't change what it is.

cbeach 11y ago
You have an incredible sense of entitlement when it comes to a website that is provided free of charge (with fairly well-targeted and unobtrusive advertising) for you and your friends to use. If you think the site is not sophisticated enough for your tastes, don't use it. But if you don't use it and your friends do, then you may miss out on social connection. Because that's what the site is for. Facebook gives a lot to its users, and all for free. The complexity of building a site that serves 1.5bn users is astonishing, and with live notifications too. It's just brilliant. But if you're too sophisticated for it then don't use it. Makes no difference to me.
- PavlovsCat 11y ago
  > But if you don't use it and your friends do, then you may miss out on social connection. Which makes the whole "free of charge and voluntary" thing kind of moot. If it sucks up people, it better not suck, or at least connect with things like diaspora etc. (which also lack these features, but at least wouldn't fight you tooth and nail if you tried to implement them). If that is incredibly entitled, well, I guess I am then. > The complexity of building a site that serves 1.5bn users is astonishing As for me is the desire to even do that. I think true genius is found in protocols, not applications and silos. The internet was invented to withstand nuclear strikes, and the return to centralization seems to be solely for the purpose of spooks shoveling eyeballs into the jaws of advertisers. I can't admire the technical proficiency if I disagree with the spirit and goal of it so deeply.
  - cbeach 11y ago
    If you want to be sociable, it's your responsibility to socialise where your friends socialise. It's not the bar's fault, or the sports club's fault, or Facebook's fault, if your friends choose to go there but you don't. The situation is only "involuntary" in that the choices of your friends aren't under your own control. But thanks to Facebook the situation -is- free of charge. True genius might lie in protocols. But it's up to your friends if they prefer communicating you via protocols or via a friendly website with a good mobile app.