4 ms·

>> fundamentally destructive product That's just, like, your opinion, a random HN reader. And the vast majority of FB users do not share it.

by m0zg 8y ago

51lver 8y ago
Ex FB user here checking in. FB free since `11. There's a ton of us.
- m0zg 8y ago
  Nevertheless, you are a small minority outside the HN bubble.
  - yuy910616 8y ago
    I agreed...I think net effect of FB on humanity is positive. We all live in the moment, and FB is having a bad moment right now. I mean...HN is pretty Toxic sometimes. HN is amazing sometimes. Is it good? Is it bad?
    - m0zg 8y ago
      I could argue HN is pretty bad for my productivity, and that of many others. :-) But sometimes I unearth the kinds of things here that save me months of work. As bad as SNR is here, it's worse elsewhere.
    - thanatropism 8y ago
      Have you ever been to the "job rumors" forums like econjobrumors and PSR? It's like HN on steroids. Polite because it's semiprofessional and everyone's pseudonymous but can get easily outed from details (I mean come on how many people have been in strategy consulting and done graduate work on symplectic manifolds?) but also everyone's mean and competitive. HN is less toxic than PSJR because the field it covers is much larger and positive-sum; academic job rumor forums are much more fish-eat-fish.
  - MeltySmelty 8y ago
    Haha, no. Keep telling yourself that, shill-boy.
- richardknop 8y ago
  Ex FB since many years ago checking in. Welcome to 0.01% club. Believe me, we are a tiny minority. Majority of people are happy with FB and continue being heavy users.
ForrestN 8y ago
If you do some quick research, you'll find that the harmful nature of Facebook is the subject of a vast public discourse in the United States and Europe. Lots of academics and public health professionals continue to research the negative consequences of facebook use. It's not an opinion, but I suppose it could still be considered a subject of some controversy. The best evidence I've seen, and that the commentators I trust have seen, is that Facebook is destructive to its users. Here is an excellent explanation of some of the most robust arguments against Facebook. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/21/17144748/case-against-facebook https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/21/17144748/c... Yglesias, a very smart writer focused on public policy, comes to the conclusion that it would be in the public's interest for Facebook to completely cease operations immediately.
- m0zg 8y ago
  Facebook's only real "fault" is that the "wrong" person got elected president in the US. The rest is just a politically motivated pile-on with tenuous evidence IMO, which wouldn't even be a subject of "vast public discourse" if someone else won. >> negative consequences of facebook use Do those "academics" also research the positive consequences as well? I'm in touch with my high school and university friends to this day thanks to FB products. I value those friendships highly, but I now live on the other side of the globe, and I can't physically be there myself. My parents (and my wife's parents) are active users of WhatsApp and Instagram. My brother (who's also on the other side of the globe) communicates with me mostly via FB Messenger. I'd say my mental well-being benefits significantly from less isolation. I'd also say there are millions of other people like me, who can still easily keep in touch in spite of vast distances separating them from relatives and old friends. Would alternatives exist if there was no FB? They likely would. But I don't have a problem with FB, as long as it's used moderately. I my view, however, it's a personal responsibility to moderate use. Part of being a functioning adult, so to speak.
  - ForrestN 8y ago
    I encourage you to read the essay, and then also imagine your last paragraph with "cigarettes" instead of "FB."

>> fundamentally destructive product That's just, like, your opinion, a random HN reader. And the vast majority of FB users do not share it.

by m0zg 8y ago

>> fundamentally destructive product That's just, like, your opinion, a random HN reader. And the vast majority of FB users do not share it.

51lver 8y ago

Ex FB user here checking in. FB free since `11. There's a ton of us.

m0zg 8y ago
Nevertheless, you are a small minority outside the HN bubble.
- yuy910616 8y ago
  I agreed...I think net effect of FB on humanity is positive. We all live in the moment, and FB is having a bad moment right now. I mean...HN is pretty Toxic sometimes. HN is amazing sometimes. Is it good? Is it bad?
  - m0zg 8y ago
    I could argue HN is pretty bad for my productivity, and that of many others. :-) But sometimes I unearth the kinds of things here that save me months of work. As bad as SNR is here, it's worse elsewhere.
  - thanatropism 8y ago
    Have you ever been to the "job rumors" forums like econjobrumors and PSR? It's like HN on steroids. Polite because it's semiprofessional and everyone's pseudonymous but can get easily outed from details (I mean come on how many people have been in strategy consulting and done graduate work on symplectic manifolds?) but also everyone's mean and competitive. HN is less toxic than PSJR because the field it covers is much larger and positive-sum; academic job rumor forums are much more fish-eat-fish.
- MeltySmelty 8y ago
  Haha, no. Keep telling yourself that, shill-boy.
richardknop 8y ago
Ex FB since many years ago checking in. Welcome to 0.01% club. Believe me, we are a tiny minority. Majority of people are happy with FB and continue being heavy users.

ForrestN 8y ago

If you do some quick research, you'll find that the harmful nature of Facebook is the subject of a vast public discourse in the United States and Europe. Lots of academics and public health professionals continue to research the negative consequences of facebook use. It's not an opinion, but I suppose it could still be considered a subject of some controversy. The best evidence I've seen, and that the commentators I trust have seen, is that Facebook is destructive to its users. Here is an excellent explanation of some of the most robust arguments against Facebook. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/21/17144748/case-against-facebook https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/21/17144748/c... Yglesias, a very smart writer focused on public policy, comes to the conclusion that it would be in the public's interest for Facebook to completely cease operations immediately.

m0zg 8y ago
Facebook's only real "fault" is that the "wrong" person got elected president in the US. The rest is just a politically motivated pile-on with tenuous evidence IMO, which wouldn't even be a subject of "vast public discourse" if someone else won. >> negative consequences of facebook use Do those "academics" also research the positive consequences as well? I'm in touch with my high school and university friends to this day thanks to FB products. I value those friendships highly, but I now live on the other side of the globe, and I can't physically be there myself. My parents (and my wife's parents) are active users of WhatsApp and Instagram. My brother (who's also on the other side of the globe) communicates with me mostly via FB Messenger. I'd say my mental well-being benefits significantly from less isolation. I'd also say there are millions of other people like me, who can still easily keep in touch in spite of vast distances separating them from relatives and old friends. Would alternatives exist if there was no FB? They likely would. But I don't have a problem with FB, as long as it's used moderately. I my view, however, it's a personal responsibility to moderate use. Part of being a functioning adult, so to speak.
- ForrestN 8y ago
  I encourage you to read the essay, and then also imagine your last paragraph with "cigarettes" instead of "FB."