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> "Noone can easily find you unless you give them that number" Yeah well, finding anyone is not a flaw; it's a one of Facebooks killer features, without which

> "Noone can easily find you unless you give them that number" Yeah well, finding anyone is not a flaw; it's a one of Facebooks killer features, without which it would not have become the de facto global registry of single individuals. > "The only advantage services like WhatsApp and Facebook have that it is really cheap" I believe this is a gross misunderstanding of the utility of social networks compared to older systems like telephony. But granted, the brave new world comes with a number of problems as well.

orbifold 9y ago
Actually the real name requirement and the fact that anyone could easily find me is what kept me off Facebook, so I don't consider it a killer feature at all. If you know my real name it is easy enough to find me with some additional information on google and get a work email + current office phone number, I don't feel like sharing more than that with random strangers anyways.
- stareatgoats 9y ago
  Yes, it's a sentiment you share with many here on HN, I'm sure. But Facebook doesn't address our needs primarily; it addresses the networking needs of the average person, which may add up to half the global population or more by the time they are done. Who can at any time reach out to another average person on the other side of the globe, be it acquaintance or stranger, and discuss matters of mutual interest, without jumping though hoops or even knowing how to google, and (because of the real name policy) be reasonably safe from harassment. But hey, to each his or her own.
  - alexandercrohde 9y ago
    >> But hey, to each his or her own. Then build a system that supports both. Let people opt-in to a lookup directory (phone-book), but make it anonymous by default.
alexandercrohde 9y ago
I'd be content to have a feature where I give the network a salted hash of my name (i'll hash it myself on my own machine), as a lookup. This way I can be discovered by only people who I want to discover me (I give the salt to my email contacts, put it on my blog, or use no-salt if I want).

orbifold 9y ago

Actually the real name requirement and the fact that anyone could easily find me is what kept me off Facebook, so I don't consider it a killer feature at all. If you know my real name it is easy enough to find me with some additional information on google and get a work email + current office phone number, I don't feel like sharing more than that with random strangers anyways.

stareatgoats 9y ago
Yes, it's a sentiment you share with many here on HN, I'm sure. But Facebook doesn't address our needs primarily; it addresses the networking needs of the average person, which may add up to half the global population or more by the time they are done. Who can at any time reach out to another average person on the other side of the globe, be it acquaintance or stranger, and discuss matters of mutual interest, without jumping though hoops or even knowing how to google, and (because of the real name policy) be reasonably safe from harassment. But hey, to each his or her own.
- alexandercrohde 9y ago
  >> But hey, to each his or her own. Then build a system that supports both. Let people opt-in to a lookup directory (phone-book), but make it anonymous by default.

alexandercrohde 9y ago

I'd be content to have a feature where I give the network a salted hash of my name (i'll hash it myself on my own machine), as a lookup. This way I can be discovered by only people who I want to discover me (I give the salt to my email contacts, put it on my blog, or use no-salt if I want).