4 ms·

Before I deleted my Facebook account the first time I had ~> 2,000 friends. These were all people who knew me or of me, mainly from my community. My wife has to

Before I deleted my Facebook account the first time I had ~> 2,000 friends. These were all people who knew me or of me, mainly from my community. My wife has topped out well above that. She still uses it. You might think going from 2000 friends to zero Facebook would be a big social change. It wasn't really. Beyond about 10 friends (well below whatshisnames number) Facebook didn't increase its social value to me. At 2,000 it was just a time waste. I don't really need to know what is happening in the lives of so many people. My real tribe isn't that big. Facebook didn't deepen my relationships either. It didn't enrich my life. I got back on about two years ago and added plenty of people. By then Facebook had become this kind of Twitter for idiots/drudge report/unmoderated Reddit/MySpace so I deleted it. I recently created an account (my third) and I think I have about 5 friends on there. I added them mainly because a real friend died. It's not a great experience. My feed is full of stuff friends liked and stuff I don't understand why Facebook thinks is relevant to me. Facebook's land grab worked. They're huge but their product makes me feel like I walked into a dirty gas station bathroom. Maybe I'm naive but couldn't a product that deepens relationships (quality not quantity) be a more stable long term business?

jfernandez 10y ago
I think this was a big premise of Path, but it didn't pan out to well (I guess technically it's "hasn't panned out" since it is still around). I agree it's likely a stronger product, but not a strong or even equal business.
danso 10y ago
What content are your 5 friends posting that you believe FB's newsfeed is leaving out? I've mostly limited my FB to my HS and college friends, and a few work friends. It's a nice nostalgic oasis from the things I see on Twitter, because on Twitter I follow just about anyone who is in the same field as me, whether or not I personally know them.
- ryanmarsh 10y ago
  It's not what's left out it's what's put in. Every time one of my ex-mil friends or family members likes some narrow minded but slightly amusing meme I don't need to be notified of it.
amaks 10y ago
That's because deepening relationships is not FB's goal. Maximizing profits on the other hand is, and that explains all the changes over the years it exists - social games (Zinga etc), "like farms", lack of piracy controls over stolen YT videos, etc.
bryanlarsen 10y ago
IMO the best way to deal with Facebook is to have lots of friends, mark them all as casual friends and check infrequently. That way you mostly get just important stuff like birth announcements. By marking friends as casual you tell Facebook that you only care about important stuff. Having lots of friends and checking infrequently ensures that the algorithm always has important stuff to show you.
- ryanmarsh 10y ago
  And that's where they lose me. It's my job to curate this thing? Meh.

jfernandez 10y ago

I think this was a big premise of Path, but it didn't pan out to well (I guess technically it's "hasn't panned out" since it is still around). I agree it's likely a stronger product, but not a strong or even equal business.

danso 10y ago

What content are your 5 friends posting that you believe FB's newsfeed is leaving out? I've mostly limited my FB to my HS and college friends, and a few work friends. It's a nice nostalgic oasis from the things I see on Twitter, because on Twitter I follow just about anyone who is in the same field as me, whether or not I personally know them.

ryanmarsh 10y ago
It's not what's left out it's what's put in. Every time one of my ex-mil friends or family members likes some narrow minded but slightly amusing meme I don't need to be notified of it.

amaks 10y ago

That's because deepening relationships is not FB's goal. Maximizing profits on the other hand is, and that explains all the changes over the years it exists - social games (Zinga etc), "like farms", lack of piracy controls over stolen YT videos, etc.

bryanlarsen 10y ago

IMO the best way to deal with Facebook is to have lots of friends, mark them all as casual friends and check infrequently. That way you mostly get just important stuff like birth announcements. By marking friends as casual you tell Facebook that you only care about important stuff. Having lots of friends and checking infrequently ensures that the algorithm always has important stuff to show you.

ryanmarsh 10y ago
And that's where they lose me. It's my job to curate this thing? Meh.