4 ms·

Citation needed? Most people I know happily use it to communicate and post funny (or at least trying to be funny) posts, or are older people who post lots of fa

Citation needed? Most people I know happily use it to communicate and post funny (or at least trying to be funny) posts, or are older people who post lots of family pictures. The views of people on Hackernews don't seem very representative of those of the general population, maybe because hating on Facebook is an excellent excuse for people to feel superior to the general population. "I know better than those ignorant proles, I wish they'd do what I think is best for them instead of what they want to do."

WanderPanda 7y ago
You nail it
50656E6973 7y ago
>hating on Facebook is an excellent excuse for people to feel superior to the general population. "I know better than those ignorant proles, I wish they'd do what I think is best for them instead of what they want to do." Ironic; that's the same ethos being espoused and implemented by those who run Facebook.
- Jonanin 7y ago
  Do you have any examples of that ethos being "espoused" by Facebook?
  - bubble_talk 7y ago
    "Remember, what Facebook is doing has never been done before. There are going to be mistakes." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19321420 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19321420
  - 50656E6973 7y ago
    Its inherent in the business model: profiting off making people think, do, and buy things they otherwise would not have. Ever since the news feed ceased to be chronological, FB has become increasingly forceful with their filtering and sorting of people's minds primarily in accordance with what increases FB's profits.
cj 7y ago
Since you disagree with the parent and are claiming the opposite as him (also without a citation), I decided to Google around for some actual data. Here are some findings from a NBC/WSJ poll [0]... > 57 percent of Americans say they agree with the statement that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter do more to divide the country > Fifty-five percent believe social media does more to spread lies and falsehoods, versus 31 percent who say it does more to spread news and information > Sixty-one percent think social media does more to spread unfair attacks and rumors against public figures and corporations, compared with 32 percent who say it does more to hold those public figures and corporations accountable. > 82 percent say social media sites do more to waste people’s time, versus 15 percent who say they do more to use Americans’ time well. > 60 percent saying they don’t trust the company at all to protect personal information > 36 percent of adults view Facebook positively, while 33 percent see it negatively. And Twitter’s rating is 24 percent positive, 27 percent negative. [0] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5794861-19093-NBCWSJ-March-Poll-4-5-19-Release.html https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5794861-19093-NBCWSJ...
- logicchains 7y ago
  > 36 percent of adults view Facebook positively, while 33 percent see it negatively. And Twitter’s rating is 24 percent positive, 27 percent negative. Am I correct in reading here that more adults view Facebook positively than negatively? Interestingly, it also shows 68% of respondents agreed with "The federal government should not break these companies up because competition should be left to the free market without government choosing winners and losers", vs only 28% disagreeing, and for all such breakup questions asked there was 59% that totally agree with not breaking up, vs 30% that agree with breaking up. This is a clear majority in favour of not breaking them up, whereas the majority on HN seem to favour breaking thhem up.
  - cj 7y ago
    I primarily responded because I disagree with your opinion: > The views of people on Hackernews don't seem very representative of those of the general population, maybe because hating on Facebook is an excellent excuse for people to feel superior to the general population. I agree with the part that HN isn't representative of the general population. But I don't think the reason for disagreeing is because we on HN want to feel superior to everyone else (maybe some people do, but I don't think most people here actually think that way..). The data from the poll shows that a negative opinion of Facebook is not particularly uncommon. It might not be the majority opinion, but it's also not an uncommon opinion among the general public.
cityzen 7y ago
"Most people I know appear to happily use it..."

WanderPanda 7y ago

You nail it

50656E6973 7y ago

>hating on Facebook is an excellent excuse for people to feel superior to the general population. "I know better than those ignorant proles, I wish they'd do what I think is best for them instead of what they want to do." Ironic; that's the same ethos being espoused and implemented by those who run Facebook.

Jonanin 7y ago
Do you have any examples of that ethos being "espoused" by Facebook?
- bubble_talk 7y ago
  "Remember, what Facebook is doing has never been done before. There are going to be mistakes." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19321420 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19321420
- 50656E6973 7y ago
  Its inherent in the business model: profiting off making people think, do, and buy things they otherwise would not have. Ever since the news feed ceased to be chronological, FB has become increasingly forceful with their filtering and sorting of people's minds primarily in accordance with what increases FB's profits.

cj 7y ago

Since you disagree with the parent and are claiming the opposite as him (also without a citation), I decided to Google around for some actual data. Here are some findings from a NBC/WSJ poll [0]... > 57 percent of Americans say they agree with the statement that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter do more to divide the country > Fifty-five percent believe social media does more to spread lies and falsehoods, versus 31 percent who say it does more to spread news and information > Sixty-one percent think social media does more to spread unfair attacks and rumors against public figures and corporations, compared with 32 percent who say it does more to hold those public figures and corporations accountable. > 82 percent say social media sites do more to waste people’s time, versus 15 percent who say they do more to use Americans’ time well. > 60 percent saying they don’t trust the company at all to protect personal information > 36 percent of adults view Facebook positively, while 33 percent see it negatively. And Twitter’s rating is 24 percent positive, 27 percent negative. [0] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5794861-19093-NBCWSJ-March-Poll-4-5-19-Release.html https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5794861-19093-NBCWSJ...

logicchains 7y ago
> 36 percent of adults view Facebook positively, while 33 percent see it negatively. And Twitter’s rating is 24 percent positive, 27 percent negative. Am I correct in reading here that more adults view Facebook positively than negatively? Interestingly, it also shows 68% of respondents agreed with "The federal government should not break these companies up because competition should be left to the free market without government choosing winners and losers", vs only 28% disagreeing, and for all such breakup questions asked there was 59% that totally agree with not breaking up, vs 30% that agree with breaking up. This is a clear majority in favour of not breaking them up, whereas the majority on HN seem to favour breaking thhem up.
- cj 7y ago
  I primarily responded because I disagree with your opinion: > The views of people on Hackernews don't seem very representative of those of the general population, maybe because hating on Facebook is an excellent excuse for people to feel superior to the general population. I agree with the part that HN isn't representative of the general population. But I don't think the reason for disagreeing is because we on HN want to feel superior to everyone else (maybe some people do, but I don't think most people here actually think that way..). The data from the poll shows that a negative opinion of Facebook is not particularly uncommon. It might not be the majority opinion, but it's also not an uncommon opinion among the general public.

cityzen 7y ago

"Most people I know appear to happily use it..."