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Agree. I'll add my $0.02 because I know FB engineers read HN, and also to provide material to n-gate :) Everybody uses FB differently. Some people use it to sh

Agree. I'll add my $0.02 because I know FB engineers read HN, and also to provide material to n-gate :) Everybody uses FB differently. Some people use it to share and read news. Others as an "aggregator" for different services (Insta, Twitter...). Others for groups. Or chats. Or to connect with businesses. I use it exclusively to share posts and pics with friends. However, after years and years of using the "hide all content from (domain)" feature, the algorithm hasn't yet learned that I want to read zero news in Facebook. If I could block domains inside FB I'll be the happiest -- actually, let me whitelist a few pic sharing sites and block the rest of the web. For me, FB is not RSS. But, for some people, it is. I love Facebook. I will not "quit". People who do that, I understand. But it lets me connect with people that I have no other way of communicating with. Wrapping up, I'm sure that Facebook has identified 5-6 clear use cases of its platform. Why isn't the news feed tailored for them? I simply do not understand it. Give more of what I want, or my engagement will drop. Give me my friends posts, and a few ads in between, and I'll be a happy Facebook user, surely it can't be that hard?

save_ferris 9y ago
> But it lets me connect with people that I have no other way of communicating with. This is such an unfortunate and all-too-common mindset in our world. Of course there are other ways to connect with people. They may not be as simple to use. It blows my mind how much people talk about how tech can do amazing, world-changing things while simultaneously telling themselves that alternative methods of online communication simply aren't possible. > Give more of what I want, or my engagement will drop. Think about what you're asking from Facebook's perspective. You're threatening to reduce engagement if you don't receive a feature that almost guarantees a reduction in engagement across the entire platform because everyone will have more control to filter what they see. How does that make business sense to them?
- sushisource 9y ago
  That's a really uncharitable interpretation of the other comment. That's the way that commenter likes to connect with people he might otherwise not engage with. Sure, he could call them, or whatever you're thinking of - but probably, he just wouldn't. Facebook makes it easy enough that he can keep in touch with these people that otherwise might be too much effort. Call that lazy, or whatever, but I think it's an extremely reasonable admission. Not everyone has the inclination to pour tons and tons of effort into maintaining a large social network purely through offline means.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  A good friend from grad school (UK) emailed me last week. He had quit Facebook. I immediately responded and the interaction was much more meaningful than passive info sharing over Facebook. It was great to catch up, and get a more personalized and open message. That being said it takes a lot more effort. Chances are it'll limit the number of people we keep in touch with. But that's probably not so bad, as it'll force us to focus on the people we care about most.
DashRattlesnake 9y ago
> Everybody uses FB differently. Some people use it to share and read news. Others as an "aggregator" for different services (Insta, Twitter...). Others for groups. Or chats. Or to connect with businesses. I use it exclusively to share posts and pics with friends. > Wrapping up, I'm sure that Facebook has identified 5-6 clear use cases of its platform. Why isn't the news feed tailored for them? I simply do not understand it. Give more of what I want, or my engagement will drop. Give me my friends posts, and a few ads in between, and I'll be a happy Facebook user, surely it can't be that hard? You're approaching this wrong. You're not Facebook's customer, you're it's product. They don't care how you want to use it, they only care about what will keep you on it and seeing what they want you to see. They're not going to optimize their website to fit your preferences. They want to maximize their value metrics, not yours.

save_ferris 9y ago

> But it lets me connect with people that I have no other way of communicating with. This is such an unfortunate and all-too-common mindset in our world. Of course there are other ways to connect with people. They may not be as simple to use. It blows my mind how much people talk about how tech can do amazing, world-changing things while simultaneously telling themselves that alternative methods of online communication simply aren't possible. > Give more of what I want, or my engagement will drop. Think about what you're asking from Facebook's perspective. You're threatening to reduce engagement if you don't receive a feature that almost guarantees a reduction in engagement across the entire platform because everyone will have more control to filter what they see. How does that make business sense to them?

sushisource 9y ago
That's a really uncharitable interpretation of the other comment. That's the way that commenter likes to connect with people he might otherwise not engage with. Sure, he could call them, or whatever you're thinking of - but probably, he just wouldn't. Facebook makes it easy enough that he can keep in touch with these people that otherwise might be too much effort. Call that lazy, or whatever, but I think it's an extremely reasonable admission. Not everyone has the inclination to pour tons and tons of effort into maintaining a large social network purely through offline means.
hkmurakami 9y ago
A good friend from grad school (UK) emailed me last week. He had quit Facebook. I immediately responded and the interaction was much more meaningful than passive info sharing over Facebook. It was great to catch up, and get a more personalized and open message. That being said it takes a lot more effort. Chances are it'll limit the number of people we keep in touch with. But that's probably not so bad, as it'll force us to focus on the people we care about most.

DashRattlesnake 9y ago

> Everybody uses FB differently. Some people use it to share and read news. Others as an "aggregator" for different services (Insta, Twitter...). Others for groups. Or chats. Or to connect with businesses. I use it exclusively to share posts and pics with friends. > Wrapping up, I'm sure that Facebook has identified 5-6 clear use cases of its platform. Why isn't the news feed tailored for them? I simply do not understand it. Give more of what I want, or my engagement will drop. Give me my friends posts, and a few ads in between, and I'll be a happy Facebook user, surely it can't be that hard? You're approaching this wrong. You're not Facebook's customer, you're it's product. They don't care how you want to use it, they only care about what will keep you on it and seeing what they want you to see. They're not going to optimize their website to fit your preferences. They want to maximize their value metrics, not yours.