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Thanks for doing it. If the whole community of hacker news decided to avoid shady companies like facebook we would probably be all better by now. As technology

by ffggvv 10y ago

Thanks for doing it. If the whole community of hacker news decided to avoid shady companies like facebook we would probably be all better by now. As technology enthusiasts, I think we have a lot of influence on our relatives/friends. To all reading, please consider deleting your account from shady companies. Handy links http://justdelete.me/ http://justdelete.me/

dx034 10y ago
Why is Facebook shady? They provide a free service and get paid by using your info to target ads. Of course they haven't been perfect, but it's hard/impossible to run a company of that size without ever doing sth controversial.
- ffggvv 10y ago
  https://stallman.org/facebook.html https://stallman.org/facebook.html
  - dx034 10y ago
    Most of that are valid business decisions. Just because you disagree doesn't mean that FB is shady. You're free not to use their service. Political censorship is often mentioned in these discussions, and it's exactly what I meant with controversial. I don't think there's a way to satisfy everyone. Telegram doesn't censor and they're known to be the favourite tool for many terrorists to communicate, which is something that would probably upset more FB users than censoring critical posts. The tax policy could be different, but Facebook is no other than most American companies. Other services will only have different policies if they are either not based in the U.S. or don't make enough money abroad to justify these constructs. It's the job of the Government to introduce more sensible tax laws, not using Facebook won't change anything.
  - overcast 10y ago
    What's the issue with using your "real name"? Honestly I think that should be the policy more places, so people aren't hiding behind their online personas.
    - ffggvv 10y ago
      To defend minorities. Image a group of transgenders on facebook that want to talk about they daily lives, social relations, etc. With pseudo-anonymous accounts they can do that freely, on facebook they risk to be vandalized, insulted, etc.
      - dopu 10y ago
        I generally agree with Stallman here, in that people should be allowed to use pseudonyms, but I often wonder if the pseudonymity that places like Twitter, reddit et al. provide just serves to facilitate widespread abuse and harassment. Online harassment is a pretty big problem, especially against women. [0] [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/08/online-harassment-of-women-at-risk-of-becoming-established-norm-study https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/08/online-...
        ffggvv 10y ago
        You can hide online. I'm more worried about offline abuse (losing job, being persecuted, being beaten, etc.). Yes online harassment is a BIG problem but forcing to reveal your identity may not be the best solution.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >Why is Facebook shady? They provide a free service and get paid by using your info to target ads. That's shady enough in my books. Charge for the damn service, instead of going into ever increasing depths to try to milk out ad money from the users (in deals that they are seldom if ever informed of).
valevk 10y ago
Funny that it's impossible to delete you HN account.
- ryandrake 10y ago
  Or scrub your HN post history of old content. Even Facebook lets you go back and (one by one, painfully) delete all your old content all the way back to day one. Of course they're probably soft-deleting everything, but they provide the ability. Funny irony that Facebook gives me slightly more control over my content than HN!
  - ffggvv 10y ago
    Can you use a fake account on facebook? Does HN actively collect private information of you from around the web?
    - ryandrake 10y ago
      Nope, I'm not trying to compare the privacy ethics of each site (that would be a pretty lopsided comparison). Just pointing out a conspicuously missing feature.
  - MichaelGG 10y ago
    Pretty sure you can email HN and they'll do it.

by ffggvv 10y ago

dx034 10y ago

Why is Facebook shady? They provide a free service and get paid by using your info to target ads. Of course they haven't been perfect, but it's hard/impossible to run a company of that size without ever doing sth controversial.

ffggvv 10y ago
https://stallman.org/facebook.html https://stallman.org/facebook.html
- dx034 10y ago
  Most of that are valid business decisions. Just because you disagree doesn't mean that FB is shady. You're free not to use their service. Political censorship is often mentioned in these discussions, and it's exactly what I meant with controversial. I don't think there's a way to satisfy everyone. Telegram doesn't censor and they're known to be the favourite tool for many terrorists to communicate, which is something that would probably upset more FB users than censoring critical posts. The tax policy could be different, but Facebook is no other than most American companies. Other services will only have different policies if they are either not based in the U.S. or don't make enough money abroad to justify these constructs. It's the job of the Government to introduce more sensible tax laws, not using Facebook won't change anything.
- overcast 10y ago
  What's the issue with using your "real name"? Honestly I think that should be the policy more places, so people aren't hiding behind their online personas.
  - ffggvv 10y ago
    To defend minorities. Image a group of transgenders on facebook that want to talk about they daily lives, social relations, etc. With pseudo-anonymous accounts they can do that freely, on facebook they risk to be vandalized, insulted, etc.
    - dopu 10y ago
      I generally agree with Stallman here, in that people should be allowed to use pseudonyms, but I often wonder if the pseudonymity that places like Twitter, reddit et al. provide just serves to facilitate widespread abuse and harassment. Online harassment is a pretty big problem, especially against women. [0] [0]: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/08/online-harassment-of-women-at-risk-of-becoming-established-norm-study https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/08/online-...
      - ffggvv 10y ago
        You can hide online. I'm more worried about offline abuse (losing job, being persecuted, being beaten, etc.). Yes online harassment is a BIG problem but forcing to reveal your identity may not be the best solution.
coldtea 10y ago
>Why is Facebook shady? They provide a free service and get paid by using your info to target ads. That's shady enough in my books. Charge for the damn service, instead of going into ever increasing depths to try to milk out ad money from the users (in deals that they are seldom if ever informed of).

valevk 10y ago

Funny that it's impossible to delete you HN account.

ryandrake 10y ago
Or scrub your HN post history of old content. Even Facebook lets you go back and (one by one, painfully) delete all your old content all the way back to day one. Of course they're probably soft-deleting everything, but they provide the ability. Funny irony that Facebook gives me slightly more control over my content than HN!
- ffggvv 10y ago
  Can you use a fake account on facebook? Does HN actively collect private information of you from around the web?
  - ryandrake 10y ago
    Nope, I'm not trying to compare the privacy ethics of each site (that would be a pretty lopsided comparison). Just pointing out a conspicuously missing feature.
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  Pretty sure you can email HN and they'll do it.