3 ms·

How does everyone have so much trouble with Facebook and Twitter? I have both and have used both for years and I know that both require you to pick what you wan

How does everyone have so much trouble with Facebook and Twitter? I have both and have used both for years and I know that both require you to pick what you want to look at. I exhaust my Twitter feed in seconds and then have nothing to look at. Both my FB feed and my Twitter feed are more heartwarming, adorable, funny, or touching than angry or whatever. Maybe all of this is just a reflection of who you guys are. And I'm no stranger to controversy. Ban the bomb, no war, I've been there. Where I haven't been is Twitter/FB flamewars. And you know how? I unfollow as soon as I don't like. It's not the end of the world.

escaramujo 8y ago
Sounds like you just wanted to show us how great you are, even though it’s been demonstrated how these platforms do a lot of psychological tricks to hook you into flames and the like.
complector 8y ago
To borrow the catch phrase from XKCD, sometimes, it's just that: Someone is WRONG on the internet. But there's a sort of natural conductivity/inductivity to social networks, that varies as you chain together personalities, and the dumber you go, the more emotive things get. Ask any lawyer, picking a jury usually involves pulling the dumbest, most incompetent people, while polling for their gut alignment, relative to case at hand. These are the most emotional, and likely most easily driven to judgement. They also usually lack power in their daily lives, and are eager for some trigger time, so to speak. So, now, put that on the internet. Pack these people together in clusters relative to their home towns and high schools, and never let them escape each other. Preserve every last memory, especially the most embarrassing ones that their family members can command, to bring an obnoxious personality to heel, if possible. Take everyone with a shit job, with company and store policies design to screw the customer. Ever call center goon, every cellular and wireless store clerk gunning for contract sign ups. Ask them what's wrong with the world. Now, randomly distribute agit prop into a flashing marquee on their home page, to gin them up, as they start cruising for love interests, and the unattainable crushes that taunt them on a daily basis. Give them parking tickets, too many bills to pay. Make them late with the rent. Get them pregnant. Welcome to Facebook.
pjc50 8y ago
You're not popular enough. > unfollow In the nastier situations, it's not people who you follow that's the problem. It's the people who @ you from a constant stream of new accounts.
- scarejunba 8y ago
  You can block that on both platforms AFAIR.
- mark_l_watson 8y ago
  I was wondering about the @ thing. There is a strange account that keeps @ my account name and a few other people in my field whose names I recognize. I would like to be able to disable that.
- sjroot 8y ago
  Facebook should add a privacy setting that allows you to disable @mentions completely, or limit them to people you have added as a friend. I would not be surprised if this is already a feature.
  - josteink 8y ago
    It does.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  Famous people always get some harassment. We used to call it "hate mail", now it's "hate replies". It comes along with being well known. Also, you can turn off notifications for @ replies from people you don't follow if it's an issue.
losvedir 8y ago
Yeah, I tend to agree. At some level, I keep coming back to the fact that these are just websites. Like, you can turn off your computer and go for a walk or something. I don't use facebook or twitter, so I guess that colors my perception as to how trivial they are in the broader picture of life, but it also means I don't totally understand the issues that people who use the sites face.
- pjc50 8y ago
  They're where various sorts of "public life" happens. While you can be a journalist without being on twitter, it's cutting yourself off from that feeling of being informed. Much harder to get by if you're not on Facebook (one of my friends in the trade reports having over 3000 "friends" on Facebook; effectively that represents an externally managed contacts book). Then there's the problem that you don't have to be on either website for people to use it to campaign against you. From trivial tactics like getting you fired or SWATted to more egregious things like the Rohingya genocide.

escaramujo 8y ago

Sounds like you just wanted to show us how great you are, even though it’s been demonstrated how these platforms do a lot of psychological tricks to hook you into flames and the like.

complector 8y ago

To borrow the catch phrase from XKCD, sometimes, it's just that: Someone is WRONG on the internet. But there's a sort of natural conductivity/inductivity to social networks, that varies as you chain together personalities, and the dumber you go, the more emotive things get. Ask any lawyer, picking a jury usually involves pulling the dumbest, most incompetent people, while polling for their gut alignment, relative to case at hand. These are the most emotional, and likely most easily driven to judgement. They also usually lack power in their daily lives, and are eager for some trigger time, so to speak. So, now, put that on the internet. Pack these people together in clusters relative to their home towns and high schools, and never let them escape each other. Preserve every last memory, especially the most embarrassing ones that their family members can command, to bring an obnoxious personality to heel, if possible. Take everyone with a shit job, with company and store policies design to screw the customer. Ever call center goon, every cellular and wireless store clerk gunning for contract sign ups. Ask them what's wrong with the world. Now, randomly distribute agit prop into a flashing marquee on their home page, to gin them up, as they start cruising for love interests, and the unattainable crushes that taunt them on a daily basis. Give them parking tickets, too many bills to pay. Make them late with the rent. Get them pregnant. Welcome to Facebook.

pjc50 8y ago

You're not popular enough. > unfollow In the nastier situations, it's not people who you follow that's the problem. It's the people who @ you from a constant stream of new accounts.

scarejunba 8y ago
You can block that on both platforms AFAIR.
mark_l_watson 8y ago
I was wondering about the @ thing. There is a strange account that keeps @ my account name and a few other people in my field whose names I recognize. I would like to be able to disable that.
sjroot 8y ago
Facebook should add a privacy setting that allows you to disable @mentions completely, or limit them to people you have added as a friend. I would not be surprised if this is already a feature.
- josteink 8y ago
  It does.
malvosenior 8y ago
Famous people always get some harassment. We used to call it "hate mail", now it's "hate replies". It comes along with being well known. Also, you can turn off notifications for @ replies from people you don't follow if it's an issue.

losvedir 8y ago

Yeah, I tend to agree. At some level, I keep coming back to the fact that these are just websites. Like, you can turn off your computer and go for a walk or something. I don't use facebook or twitter, so I guess that colors my perception as to how trivial they are in the broader picture of life, but it also means I don't totally understand the issues that people who use the sites face.

pjc50 8y ago
They're where various sorts of "public life" happens. While you can be a journalist without being on twitter, it's cutting yourself off from that feeling of being informed. Much harder to get by if you're not on Facebook (one of my friends in the trade reports having over 3000 "friends" on Facebook; effectively that represents an externally managed contacts book). Then there's the problem that you don't have to be on either website for people to use it to campaign against you. From trivial tactics like getting you fired or SWATted to more egregious things like the Rohingya genocide.