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Facebook arguably has a monopoly position in the way that your local mall, movie theatre or newspaper does not. If I don't like the Times, I can read the Guard

Facebook arguably has a monopoly position in the way that your local mall, movie theatre or newspaper does not. If I don't like the Times, I can read the Guardian instead. If I don't like what's on at one cinema, I can go to another (granted this may be harder in a small town with only one). Of course I can close my facebook account and move to diaspora, but then I'd lose everything from keeping in touch with my friends' latest accomplishments to the schedule of my local hiking club. I already find if I'm away hiking for a weekend without internet access and couldn't be bothered to catch up on facebook on Monday morning because there's already a pile of e-mails to deal with, at coffee break it's like I've missed some important social information that everyone else knows, because team member A has done something and posted about it on facebook and everyone else has been liking and commenting on it, and everyone expects you to be up to date with this. Without a facebook account you may as well wear a badge that says "antisocial". I personally think governments should regulate media outlets in proportion to their influence on people's lives. FB is the new IE.

amscanne 10y ago
TIL that I wear an antisocial badge. It's perfectly possible to be happy and healthy without a Facebook account. You might lose out on one particular kind of "social" connection, but that doesn't mean you lose actual social connections. You just catch up with people in person, via telephone, via email, via chat, or a million other ways. Personally, I don't really find the "social" information Facebook has to offer all that valuable. It's just a stream of trivia from extended not-really-friends.
- visarga 10y ago
  The parent poster just said that he felt like he missed on some important communication that he was expected to have been aware of. It's not possible to be happy without FB, it's not possible to be happy with FB either.
  - wonder_er 10y ago
    It is so possible to be happy without FB. Just decide your life is fine, despite the occasional time lags in you discovering certain information. FWIW, I deleted my FB account months ago, and my quality of life has gone up. If someone expects me to be available via FB, I give them my email address.
    - red_admiral 10y ago
      Like not replying to urgent work e-mails at weekends, I wish I could do that too.
wonder_er 10y ago
>I personally think governments should regulate media outlets in proportion to their influence on people's lives. FB is the new IE. IE went into a decades-long decline, because superior products came to market. No regulation required. Who regulates the governments in proportion to their influence on people's lives? I wish my government didn't bomb other countries. Can I stop paying taxes, so I can stop supporting the murder of people around the world? You're asking an organization that backs its wishes with the threat of violence and jail to regulate an organization that lets you keep up with your friends hiking accomplishments. Facebook could be irrelevant in five years. The laws you're asking to be implemented would be in place for another 100. Are you sure this is a good idea?
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > IE went into a decades-long decline, because superior products came to market, because superior products came to market. No regulation required. The decline followed behavioral changes in response to regulatory action and ongoing litigation (even it began before the resolution of the litigation), so I'm not sure you can concluded from it that regulation was unnecessary to the outcome.

amscanne 10y ago

TIL that I wear an antisocial badge. It's perfectly possible to be happy and healthy without a Facebook account. You might lose out on one particular kind of "social" connection, but that doesn't mean you lose actual social connections. You just catch up with people in person, via telephone, via email, via chat, or a million other ways. Personally, I don't really find the "social" information Facebook has to offer all that valuable. It's just a stream of trivia from extended not-really-friends.

visarga 10y ago
The parent poster just said that he felt like he missed on some important communication that he was expected to have been aware of. It's not possible to be happy without FB, it's not possible to be happy with FB either.
- wonder_er 10y ago
  It is so possible to be happy without FB. Just decide your life is fine, despite the occasional time lags in you discovering certain information. FWIW, I deleted my FB account months ago, and my quality of life has gone up. If someone expects me to be available via FB, I give them my email address.
  - red_admiral 10y ago
    Like not replying to urgent work e-mails at weekends, I wish I could do that too.

wonder_er 10y ago

>I personally think governments should regulate media outlets in proportion to their influence on people's lives. FB is the new IE. IE went into a decades-long decline, because superior products came to market. No regulation required. Who regulates the governments in proportion to their influence on people's lives? I wish my government didn't bomb other countries. Can I stop paying taxes, so I can stop supporting the murder of people around the world? You're asking an organization that backs its wishes with the threat of violence and jail to regulate an organization that lets you keep up with your friends hiking accomplishments. Facebook could be irrelevant in five years. The laws you're asking to be implemented would be in place for another 100. Are you sure this is a good idea?

dragonwriter 10y ago
> IE went into a decades-long decline, because superior products came to market, because superior products came to market. No regulation required. The decline followed behavioral changes in response to regulatory action and ongoing litigation (even it began before the resolution of the litigation), so I'm not sure you can concluded from it that regulation was unnecessary to the outcome.