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As someone without a Facebook account, it's awkward to read these articles that assume inevitably of Facebook's influence. You can quit. We can quit. Sometime

As someone without a Facebook account, it's awkward to read these articles that assume inevitably of Facebook's influence. You can quit. We can quit. Sometimes I run into a group that I want to be more involved with that organizes on Facebook. When I mention I want to be involved but am not on Facebook, there is usually sympathy and a response that there are others interested in the group which are not on Facebook, either. Many organizations are multi-platform to be inclusive, and more organizations if more people spoke up to request a non-Facebook option.

bsder 7y ago
> You can quit. We can quit. No, you can't. And that's the problem. If any of your friends take pictures and tag you, Facebook now has data on YOU. And it starts building a profile around that. You didn't consent to it; you can't see it; you can't delete it.
- badfrog 7y ago
  > If any of your friends take pictures and tag you, Facebook now has data on YOU. And it starts building a profile around that. There are two large areas of criticism about Facebook: 1) Business ethics / privacy 2) Psychological effects on users Your comment is about #1, but the person you're replying to seems primarily concerned with #2.
stevetursi 7y ago
Hello, my name is Steve and I'm addicted to Facebook. It has been 3 months since I deactivated my account. Kidding aside (I'm not really kidding) In my last year using facebook, I was aware of all the privacy shenanigans, and I saw news articles every day about things like cambridge analytica. None of that mattered. But the thing that actually got me to deactivate my account was realizing that it was all performant. I couldn't keep myself from signaling in every post and comment I made - and I would recognize my own signaling and it drove me crazy. Conveniently, I started a new job in February and couldn't bear being distracted all the time by whatever nonsense was happening there. Do I miss it? I miss seeing the posts by about 1% (literally) of my facebook friends. Every time something neat or interesting happens I think about posting it on facebook, but I don't. And I do think it has made a big difference at work.
- lowdose 7y ago
  Welcome to HN!
- patrick5415 7y ago
  I deleted my Facebook about 5 years ago but hung on to my Instagram. I was never very active, but about a year ago I noticed a similar trend to the behavior you describe: I’d post something and wait with bated breath to see how many likes it got. Didn’t like how that made me feel, so IG got deleted too.
  - frosted-flakes 7y ago
    I find that this behaviour happens to me everywhere, even on HN. Often, I'll spend ten minutes writing a comment, only to realise that I'm only replying because I want the attention, and that what I have to say really doesn't add anything to what's already there. That's when I end up backing out and erasing away what I wrote. (I almost did that now, but I decided to post anyway.) And when I do end up posting, it's impossible for me to not check for replies or upvotes. I wish HN had a way to hide my karma score from the header.
    - ma2rten 7y ago
      I don't really have anything to add, but if you could give me an upvote that would be great.
supercanuck 7y ago
I always find it surprising I keep needing to point this out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19913036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19913036
B-Con 7y ago
> You can quit. We can quit. > Sometimes I run into a group that I want to be more involved with that organizes on Facebook. When I mention I want to be involved but am not on Facebook, there is usually sympathy and a response that there are others interested in the group which are not on Facebook, either. Many organizations are multi-platform to be inclusive, and more organizations if more people spoke up to request a non-Facebook option. I have not found this to be the case for casual (eg, meetup of strangers) or small (< 20) groups. They pick one coordination method and it's take it or leave it. Non-FB solutions have a strong drawback of some sort (lack of adoption, complexity of use, etc). Facebook groups and events are just super easy to set up and blast out. I've been unable to avoid FB's groups and messaging. Adoption is just too high and so many people just can't be bothered to use something else.
panarky 7y ago
As someone who doesn't smoke, it's awkward to read these articles that assume inevitably of tobacco's influence. You can quit. We can quit. Sometimes I run into a group of smokers that I want to be more involved with. When I mention I want to be involved but not breathe pollution, there is usually sympathy and a response that there are others interested in quitting smoking, too. Many organizations are smoke-free, and more organizations would be if more people spoke up to request a non-smoking option.
- throw20102010 7y ago
  Snarky, but poignant. However, note that there are many government funded programs to help people quit smoking if they want. The government doesn't ban smoking, but it does tax it to encourage healthier behavior. There is no such funding to help people get rid of social media, and there are no such taxes to push people towards other options.
  - MikusR 7y ago
    They tax it to get money from addicts.
- 1123581321 7y ago
  Please don’t make posts like this. Additionally, what you describe in your parody is actually how tolerance for state public smoking bans became large enough to make it viable.
code_duck 7y ago
The unfortunate thing is that Facebook uses their outsized, monopolistic assets to purchase competitors. So, at this point if you want to avoid Facebook, you must essentially avoid all popular social networking online. In my line of business, attempting to market without using Instagram is like tying a slab of concrete to my leg.

bsder 7y ago

> You can quit. We can quit. No, you can't. And that's the problem. If any of your friends take pictures and tag you, Facebook now has data on YOU. And it starts building a profile around that. You didn't consent to it; you can't see it; you can't delete it.

badfrog 7y ago
> If any of your friends take pictures and tag you, Facebook now has data on YOU. And it starts building a profile around that. There are two large areas of criticism about Facebook: 1) Business ethics / privacy 2) Psychological effects on users Your comment is about #1, but the person you're replying to seems primarily concerned with #2.

stevetursi 7y ago

Hello, my name is Steve and I'm addicted to Facebook. It has been 3 months since I deactivated my account. Kidding aside (I'm not really kidding) In my last year using facebook, I was aware of all the privacy shenanigans, and I saw news articles every day about things like cambridge analytica. None of that mattered. But the thing that actually got me to deactivate my account was realizing that it was all performant. I couldn't keep myself from signaling in every post and comment I made - and I would recognize my own signaling and it drove me crazy. Conveniently, I started a new job in February and couldn't bear being distracted all the time by whatever nonsense was happening there. Do I miss it? I miss seeing the posts by about 1% (literally) of my facebook friends. Every time something neat or interesting happens I think about posting it on facebook, but I don't. And I do think it has made a big difference at work.

lowdose 7y ago
Welcome to HN!
patrick5415 7y ago
I deleted my Facebook about 5 years ago but hung on to my Instagram. I was never very active, but about a year ago I noticed a similar trend to the behavior you describe: I’d post something and wait with bated breath to see how many likes it got. Didn’t like how that made me feel, so IG got deleted too.
- frosted-flakes 7y ago
  I find that this behaviour happens to me everywhere, even on HN. Often, I'll spend ten minutes writing a comment, only to realise that I'm only replying because I want the attention, and that what I have to say really doesn't add anything to what's already there. That's when I end up backing out and erasing away what I wrote. (I almost did that now, but I decided to post anyway.) And when I do end up posting, it's impossible for me to not check for replies or upvotes. I wish HN had a way to hide my karma score from the header.
  - ma2rten 7y ago
    I don't really have anything to add, but if you could give me an upvote that would be great.

supercanuck 7y ago

I always find it surprising I keep needing to point this out https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19913036 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19913036

B-Con 7y ago

> You can quit. We can quit. > Sometimes I run into a group that I want to be more involved with that organizes on Facebook. When I mention I want to be involved but am not on Facebook, there is usually sympathy and a response that there are others interested in the group which are not on Facebook, either. Many organizations are multi-platform to be inclusive, and more organizations if more people spoke up to request a non-Facebook option. I have not found this to be the case for casual (eg, meetup of strangers) or small (< 20) groups. They pick one coordination method and it's take it or leave it. Non-FB solutions have a strong drawback of some sort (lack of adoption, complexity of use, etc). Facebook groups and events are just super easy to set up and blast out. I've been unable to avoid FB's groups and messaging. Adoption is just too high and so many people just can't be bothered to use something else.

panarky 7y ago

As someone who doesn't smoke, it's awkward to read these articles that assume inevitably of tobacco's influence. You can quit. We can quit. Sometimes I run into a group of smokers that I want to be more involved with. When I mention I want to be involved but not breathe pollution, there is usually sympathy and a response that there are others interested in quitting smoking, too. Many organizations are smoke-free, and more organizations would be if more people spoke up to request a non-smoking option.

throw20102010 7y ago
Snarky, but poignant. However, note that there are many government funded programs to help people quit smoking if they want. The government doesn't ban smoking, but it does tax it to encourage healthier behavior. There is no such funding to help people get rid of social media, and there are no such taxes to push people towards other options.
- MikusR 7y ago
  They tax it to get money from addicts.
1123581321 7y ago
Please don’t make posts like this. Additionally, what you describe in your parody is actually how tolerance for state public smoking bans became large enough to make it viable.

code_duck 7y ago

The unfortunate thing is that Facebook uses their outsized, monopolistic assets to purchase competitors. So, at this point if you want to avoid Facebook, you must essentially avoid all popular social networking online. In my line of business, attempting to market without using Instagram is like tying a slab of concrete to my leg.