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Another hit piece by NYTimes against Facebook. Personally, sharing good news across Facebook/Instagram and receiving acknowledgements has been a very satisfying

Another hit piece by NYTimes against Facebook. Personally, sharing good news across Facebook/Instagram and receiving acknowledgements has been a very satisfying experience for me. More than that, as a consumer of Facebook, I also really appreciate when my friends post their achievements/milestones as it lets me stay up to date with what is going on in their lives. Facebook allows you to scale the sharing of your happiness. And it allows you to keep updates on what is going on with the lives of others. You can still share the special joy in person with your close friends and family while using Facebook - it doesn't have to be an either/or condition.

yters 8y ago
I agree with this perspective. Personally, I've had to get off of Facebook. However, it is like any other technology. It can be used for good or for ill. Everything has its growing pains, and Facebooks' have been relatively benign compared to some other technologies we've invented.
dgzl 8y ago
Just curious, when did you join Facebook/social media? For myself and many other young people, social media began as online chatting through programs like AIM, MSN, YAHOO, or even in games like RuneScape, where we could meet new people or more commonly, talk and show off to our friends from school. Myspace felt like an absolute leap in online expression for us, and the idea of "Top Friends" had a real impact on our daily life at school. Facebook was a better application and provided a more sophisticated platform for communicating, however lacked the customizability of your profile. No longer were you operating a personal profile, rather with Facebook, you simply give them your data and they stick it in their template. And then parents started joining.
- swiley 8y ago
  My parents actually made me create a facebook account when I was 14. Before that I never actually used the internet for socializing, it was more a tool for fetching compilers and programming tutorials and occasionally doing research for school projects. For me at least the web was something you visited with a goal in mind, retrieved the information you wanted after a short search, and left. Perhaps that's typical of preteens.
  - dgzl 8y ago
    I think what you're experiencing is actually very atypical.
- product50 8y ago
  When you are in your late twenties/thirties, having your parents join Facebook is actually great. It allows someone like me, who doesn't actively keep in touch with them, to share my happenings with them as well as stay up to date with theirs. There is nothing I share that I won't want them to view. Agreed that when you are in your teens/early twenties, this is more of an issue which is why Snap etc. are more popular. But once users move to mid twenties/thirties, they go back to Facebook given the type of sharing it enables.
o10449366 8y ago
The Times new "Privacy Project" is nothing more than a thin veil for their agenda against Facebook. Read their article on "How The Times Thinks About Privacy"[0] and notice they don't actually take responsibility for the abundance of information they collect on their readers every single day and try and normalize it by saying "Everyone else does it, too!" They conveniently decline to disclose any information on how they use reader data, but make no mistake they're selling it off just like the very companies they're repeatedly targeting with their reporting. Their mission for the "Privacy Project" sounds great: "Over the coming months, The Privacy Project will feature reporters investigating how digital privacy is being compromised, Op-Ed editors bringing in outside voices to help foster debate and contextualize trade-offs, and Opinion writers calling for solutions." But then you realize that the best "pro" technology viewpoints they've managed to foster thus far are pieces like this: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/iphone-privacy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/iphone-privacy.ht... I get that HN doesn't like FB, but there is no "debate", and I wish the users of this site would be more critical of NYT pushing their agenda under the guise of "protecting privacy." [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/sulzberger-new-york-times-privacy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/sulzberger-new-yo...
- Nextgrid 8y ago
  On the other hand, not being tracked by the NYT is easy - just don't visit their website. As far as I know, unlike some other company (hint hint) they don't go around asking their users/subscribers to hand over their contacts list.
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    And even worse, Facebook asks your friends about your personal details. Things like "What high school did John attend." If for some crazy reason you haven't put every single detail about yourself on your profile.
fukbezos 8y ago
Facebook cannot continue playing dumb/innocent
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
Nextgrid 8y ago
Facebook has a vendetta against the world's privacy, so I really don't mind if someone else has a vendetta against them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, if you will. Now I just wish their next article will "reveal" that Instagram and WhatsApp are both owned by FB too. I feel like a lot of people are unaware of that fact - even those that are openly anti-FB but are happily running WA & IG.
0x54D5 8y ago
Maybe cause Facebook deserves it.
ve55 8y ago
At this point they just realize writing anything that roughly matches "Facebook is bad" is free clicks. It's a rare time when the NYT might have an enemy in common with so many people.
- o10449366 8y ago
  I don't doubt that their anti-FB articles are probably fairly popular, but I still haven't seen the evidence that the general public's opinion of FB has changed significantly. The overwhelming narrative presented on HN and by the media is that FB is dying, in turmoil, and people are leaving it in droves, but I haven't observed any of that behavior and their continued growth in numerous markets completely contradicts that story.
jasonlingx 8y ago
FB’s business model is essentially putting ads next to your family photos.
- Nextgrid 8y ago
  It would be a perfectly acceptable business model if it was just that.
- product50 8y ago
  So - why is that a problem?
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
aphextron 8y ago
>Personally, sharing good news across Facebook/Instagram and receiving acknowledgements has been a very satisfying experience for me. This is precisely the problem. They’re using that little dopamine hit to lure you into accepting the other awful things that make up 90% of what they do. Facebook is a drug dealer, and the most powerful one to ever exist at that. They sell dependence as empowerment. Dehumanization as connection. Social media is a cancer on the human soul.

yters 8y ago

I agree with this perspective. Personally, I've had to get off of Facebook. However, it is like any other technology. It can be used for good or for ill. Everything has its growing pains, and Facebooks' have been relatively benign compared to some other technologies we've invented.

dgzl 8y ago

Just curious, when did you join Facebook/social media? For myself and many other young people, social media began as online chatting through programs like AIM, MSN, YAHOO, or even in games like RuneScape, where we could meet new people or more commonly, talk and show off to our friends from school. Myspace felt like an absolute leap in online expression for us, and the idea of "Top Friends" had a real impact on our daily life at school. Facebook was a better application and provided a more sophisticated platform for communicating, however lacked the customizability of your profile. No longer were you operating a personal profile, rather with Facebook, you simply give them your data and they stick it in their template. And then parents started joining.

swiley 8y ago
My parents actually made me create a facebook account when I was 14. Before that I never actually used the internet for socializing, it was more a tool for fetching compilers and programming tutorials and occasionally doing research for school projects. For me at least the web was something you visited with a goal in mind, retrieved the information you wanted after a short search, and left. Perhaps that's typical of preteens.
- dgzl 8y ago
  I think what you're experiencing is actually very atypical.
product50 8y ago
When you are in your late twenties/thirties, having your parents join Facebook is actually great. It allows someone like me, who doesn't actively keep in touch with them, to share my happenings with them as well as stay up to date with theirs. There is nothing I share that I won't want them to view. Agreed that when you are in your teens/early twenties, this is more of an issue which is why Snap etc. are more popular. But once users move to mid twenties/thirties, they go back to Facebook given the type of sharing it enables.

o10449366 8y ago

The Times new "Privacy Project" is nothing more than a thin veil for their agenda against Facebook. Read their article on "How The Times Thinks About Privacy"[0] and notice they don't actually take responsibility for the abundance of information they collect on their readers every single day and try and normalize it by saying "Everyone else does it, too!" They conveniently decline to disclose any information on how they use reader data, but make no mistake they're selling it off just like the very companies they're repeatedly targeting with their reporting. Their mission for the "Privacy Project" sounds great: "Over the coming months, The Privacy Project will feature reporters investigating how digital privacy is being compromised, Op-Ed editors bringing in outside voices to help foster debate and contextualize trade-offs, and Opinion writers calling for solutions." But then you realize that the best "pro" technology viewpoints they've managed to foster thus far are pieces like this: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/iphone-privacy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/iphone-privacy.ht... I get that HN doesn't like FB, but there is no "debate", and I wish the users of this site would be more critical of NYT pushing their agenda under the guise of "protecting privacy." [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/sulzberger-new-york-times-privacy.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/opinion/sulzberger-new-yo...

Nextgrid 8y ago
On the other hand, not being tracked by the NYT is easy - just don't visit their website. As far as I know, unlike some other company (hint hint) they don't go around asking their users/subscribers to hand over their contacts list.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  And even worse, Facebook asks your friends about your personal details. Things like "What high school did John attend." If for some crazy reason you haven't put every single detail about yourself on your profile.

fukbezos 8y ago

Facebook cannot continue playing dumb/innocent

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

Nextgrid 8y ago

Facebook has a vendetta against the world's privacy, so I really don't mind if someone else has a vendetta against them. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, if you will. Now I just wish their next article will "reveal" that Instagram and WhatsApp are both owned by FB too. I feel like a lot of people are unaware of that fact - even those that are openly anti-FB but are happily running WA & IG.

0x54D5 8y ago

Maybe cause Facebook deserves it.

ve55 8y ago

At this point they just realize writing anything that roughly matches "Facebook is bad" is free clicks. It's a rare time when the NYT might have an enemy in common with so many people.

o10449366 8y ago
I don't doubt that their anti-FB articles are probably fairly popular, but I still haven't seen the evidence that the general public's opinion of FB has changed significantly. The overwhelming narrative presented on HN and by the media is that FB is dying, in turmoil, and people are leaving it in droves, but I haven't observed any of that behavior and their continued growth in numerous markets completely contradicts that story.

jasonlingx 8y ago

FB’s business model is essentially putting ads next to your family photos.

Nextgrid 8y ago
It would be a perfectly acceptable business model if it was just that.
product50 8y ago
So - why is that a problem?

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

aphextron 8y ago

>Personally, sharing good news across Facebook/Instagram and receiving acknowledgements has been a very satisfying experience for me. This is precisely the problem. They’re using that little dopamine hit to lure you into accepting the other awful things that make up 90% of what they do. Facebook is a drug dealer, and the most powerful one to ever exist at that. They sell dependence as empowerment. Dehumanization as connection. Social media is a cancer on the human soul.