4 ms·

Consider not using Facebook at all. It has zero value for the user, it only has value for Facebook.

PhasmaFelis 9y ago
Facebook has enormous value for the user. They didn't get this popular by accident. They provide a wonderful service, and they chain it to acceptance of their awful terms. Imagining that your use case is the only use case is the great bane of geeks and developers. If you want to help build a world without awful tech companies, you need to stop doing that.
- turc1656 9y ago
  I have to agree with Marenkay. I left Facebook a long time ago and haven't missed it on bit. There was some minimal value, I suppose, in being able to have anyone contact me if they didn't have my email. And possibly organize invites for events. All of this is, of course, possible without Facebook, they just made it easier. However, the real issue is the secret cost of Facebook far outweighs any benefit the user derives. Also, the reason Facebook is popular is not because it adds extraordinary value for the user, it's because it caters to things like curiosity, narcissism, and ego that reside in all of us. It's feeding those things that keep the user hooked and coming back. Not "value". The extraordinary value you speak of is what the shareholders have.
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    Again, your use case is not the only use case. Facebook doesn't provide value for you, and that's perfectly reasonable. But at this point you're basically a guy who doesn't care for falafel standing outside a packed falafel restaurant trying to figure out what character flaw drives people to eat there, since obviously they can't just like falafel. I don't use Facebook much, in part because of how awful its policies are, but when I do use it, it remains a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with friends. At this point someone always declares that it's actually just narcissism, because email and IM exist and nobody actually needs Facebook, which is a lot like someone 20 years ago declaring that this email thing is just a fad because we already have phones and mail.
    - marenkay 9y ago
      > it remains a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with friends ... that is exactly what I question about FB. Their notion of friendship is merely on a level of "people you met at least once".
- marenkay 9y ago
  Just honestly make a list of things you get out of FB that you did not have before and actually enrich your life.

Facebook has enormous value for the user. They didn't get this popular by accident. They provide a wonderful service, and they chain it to acceptance of their awful terms. Imagining that your use case is the only use case is the great bane of geeks and developers. If you want to help build a world without awful tech companies, you need to stop doing that.

turc1656 9y ago
I have to agree with Marenkay. I left Facebook a long time ago and haven't missed it on bit. There was some minimal value, I suppose, in being able to have anyone contact me if they didn't have my email. And possibly organize invites for events. All of this is, of course, possible without Facebook, they just made it easier. However, the real issue is the secret cost of Facebook far outweighs any benefit the user derives. Also, the reason Facebook is popular is not because it adds extraordinary value for the user, it's because it caters to things like curiosity, narcissism, and ego that reside in all of us. It's feeding those things that keep the user hooked and coming back. Not "value". The extraordinary value you speak of is what the shareholders have.
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  Again, your use case is not the only use case. Facebook doesn't provide value for you, and that's perfectly reasonable. But at this point you're basically a guy who doesn't care for falafel standing outside a packed falafel restaurant trying to figure out what character flaw drives people to eat there, since obviously they can't just like falafel. I don't use Facebook much, in part because of how awful its policies are, but when I do use it, it remains a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with friends. At this point someone always declares that it's actually just narcissism, because email and IM exist and nobody actually needs Facebook, which is a lot like someone 20 years ago declaring that this email thing is just a fad because we already have phones and mail.
  - marenkay 9y ago
    > it remains a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with friends ... that is exactly what I question about FB. Their notion of friendship is merely on a level of "people you met at least once".
marenkay 9y ago
Just honestly make a list of things you get out of FB that you did not have before and actually enrich your life.