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I would bet this has nothing to do with Facebook itself. Look at the other things people hate: Airlines, insurance, the cable and fone companies. Like it or not

I would bet this has nothing to do with Facebook itself. Look at the other things people hate: Airlines, insurance, the cable and fone companies. Like it or not these companies are infrastructure, basically things people are forced to use to function well in society. This breeds resentment, people hate the things they have to do whether that hatred is fair or not. I don't like phones, and I hate that I have to pay to have a phone to maintain a large chunk of social interaction (there are alternatives, but they suck). This means I am far more demanding of what I want from the phone company, and far less tolerant when they do things I dislike. Yet I keep giving them money. Facebook reaching this point means that facebook will be harder to unseat, due to it having "but whatcha gonna do about it" status, not easier because people hate them.

TheSOB88 16y ago
The reason people hate what I'll call "utilities" - insurance, cable, phone - is because they're crap services. They're all either monopolies or oligopolies (small number of competitors that collude to a degree), so they can stay crappy without fear of economic resistance. So in a way it's due to societal expectations, but not directly. I don't think people would hate an insurance company that they thought treated them fairly.
- orangecat 16y ago
  I don't think people would hate an insurance company that they thought treated them fairly. Exactly. USAA is awesome.
- sophacles 16y ago
  I like my insurance company, as far as insurance goes, my agent is pretty cool and whatnot. In the end tho, I would still rather not pay for most of the insurance I have.
gsk 16y ago
>function well in society You are giving undeserved credit to Facebook by equating it to infrastructure. If facebook disappears tomorrow, people may miss it but they are not going to stop functioning well in society.
- kscaldef 16y ago
  I'm not entirely convinced. I have a number of actual, real-life friends who I communicate with almost exclusively via Facebook. I don't know their email address, and in some cases I don't know their phone numbers. If Facebook went poof tomorrow, I would be able to get new contact information via other mutual friends, but it would be a major pain.
  - whakojacko 16y ago
    Exactly. Not to mention planning events and sharing pictures (the second one being significantly less important, but still useful). Sure there are alternatives, but they are far less convenient for everyone involved.
- sophacles 16y ago
  Not really my point... sort of the inverse actually. If I disappear from Facebook tomorrow, people may miss me, but even those that do know how to contact me won't think to contact me in a special way for many cases.
GBKS 16y ago
Just compare Twitter and Facebook and how different the public perception and tone of media coverage of those two services are. I don't think it can be solely attributed to a dependency problem.
- sophacles 16y ago
  90% of people who I know who are not tech workers don't even know what twitter is. On the other hand, they use facebook daily. They also hate facebook.
  - GBKS 16y ago
    I was just talking about how the two brands are perceived and how differently they go about privacy.
    - sophacles 16y ago
      Sure I get that, but to be a "most hated company", it first must be a "well used company" which facebook is, and twitter is not.
- whatusername 16y ago
  My mum and probably > than 90% of the people I know use facebook. My tech friends and random celebrities I follow use twitter. Facebook is the thing that everyone has to use to stay in touch with people - that is overwhelmed by crap like farmville spam. Twitter is that weird thing that makes no sense.
tansey 16y ago
If this were true, people would also hate Google. Certainly search is at least as necessary as a social network. However, most people love Google.
- bjtitus 16y ago
  I disagree with this. Yes, search might be necessary, but there are plenty of other options and it isn't as if there is anything stopping you from using another. (Bing has many of the same features as Google now) Facebook is different because they are locking you in (perhaps inadvertently) by having all of your real life friends already in the network. People feel forced because it's the only network that is nearly ubiquitous.

TheSOB88 16y ago

The reason people hate what I'll call "utilities" - insurance, cable, phone - is because they're crap services. They're all either monopolies or oligopolies (small number of competitors that collude to a degree), so they can stay crappy without fear of economic resistance. So in a way it's due to societal expectations, but not directly. I don't think people would hate an insurance company that they thought treated them fairly.

orangecat 16y ago
I don't think people would hate an insurance company that they thought treated them fairly. Exactly. USAA is awesome.
sophacles 16y ago
I like my insurance company, as far as insurance goes, my agent is pretty cool and whatnot. In the end tho, I would still rather not pay for most of the insurance I have.

gsk 16y ago

>function well in society You are giving undeserved credit to Facebook by equating it to infrastructure. If facebook disappears tomorrow, people may miss it but they are not going to stop functioning well in society.

kscaldef 16y ago
I'm not entirely convinced. I have a number of actual, real-life friends who I communicate with almost exclusively via Facebook. I don't know their email address, and in some cases I don't know their phone numbers. If Facebook went poof tomorrow, I would be able to get new contact information via other mutual friends, but it would be a major pain.
- whakojacko 16y ago
  Exactly. Not to mention planning events and sharing pictures (the second one being significantly less important, but still useful). Sure there are alternatives, but they are far less convenient for everyone involved.
sophacles 16y ago
Not really my point... sort of the inverse actually. If I disappear from Facebook tomorrow, people may miss me, but even those that do know how to contact me won't think to contact me in a special way for many cases.

GBKS 16y ago

Just compare Twitter and Facebook and how different the public perception and tone of media coverage of those two services are. I don't think it can be solely attributed to a dependency problem.

sophacles 16y ago
90% of people who I know who are not tech workers don't even know what twitter is. On the other hand, they use facebook daily. They also hate facebook.
- GBKS 16y ago
  I was just talking about how the two brands are perceived and how differently they go about privacy.
  - sophacles 16y ago
    Sure I get that, but to be a "most hated company", it first must be a "well used company" which facebook is, and twitter is not.
whatusername 16y ago
My mum and probably > than 90% of the people I know use facebook. My tech friends and random celebrities I follow use twitter. Facebook is the thing that everyone has to use to stay in touch with people - that is overwhelmed by crap like farmville spam. Twitter is that weird thing that makes no sense.

tansey 16y ago

If this were true, people would also hate Google. Certainly search is at least as necessary as a social network. However, most people love Google.

bjtitus 16y ago
I disagree with this. Yes, search might be necessary, but there are plenty of other options and it isn't as if there is anything stopping you from using another. (Bing has many of the same features as Google now) Facebook is different because they are locking you in (perhaps inadvertently) by having all of your real life friends already in the network. People feel forced because it's the only network that is nearly ubiquitous.