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College Humor had a bit that called Facebook "The Site That Commits Treason & Tells You What Your Parents Are Doing". They (and the author here) aren't wrong.

College Humor had a bit that called Facebook "The Site That Commits Treason & Tells You What Your Parents Are Doing". They (and the author here) aren't wrong. But what am I supposed to advise them to use? The article doesn't make any suggestions on alternatives. It links another article he wrote, which also doesn't suggest anything. * Instagram is picture focused, which doesn't fit with 90% of my parent's posts. * Twitter is public by default, which is less privacy than the soft-wall provided by FB "Friends". Maybe everyone could use private twitter accounts.. But the article argues > "It (FB) is a megaphone and an amplifier of extreme views, easily disproven conspiracy theories, pseudoscience, superstition, magic cures, disinformation, controversy and hyper-effective propaganda." If that's true of Facebook, it's certainly in abundance in twitter! * Maybe Mastodon? They don't want or need to understand federation. None of their friends use it, so they can't keep in touch with their old co-worker from 3 jobs back. * Discord/Telegram/Signal/Wire - They're all intended for live/dynamic use, while FB excels at async. Sure, you can go back and reply to old things, but that's not the intent or way things are typically used. * The best I can think of right now is regular old Email.. It's pushed-based, and sends to exactly who you want it to. It handles comments (replies) and it can embed pictures/links/etc.

beams_of_light 6y ago
Is it really the fault of the platform? I despise Facebook, and do not use it, but the root of the problem, IMO, is that people are dumb. We'll never change that - some people are always going to be dumb. Humans have been doing dumb things in large numbers for a long time - witch hunts, public stonings, The Crusades...Facebook just virtualizes their presence. Blaming Facebook for the 2016 election is my favorite form of misdirected ire. The real problems lied in people manipulating people. That could have been done with billboards, TV ads, newsletters, or phone calls just as easily. We're still learning how to deal with the ability to communicate with one another instantly over large distances, as a species. I do think we're in a valley right now, where stupidity reigns over all, but believe that will change eventually.
- papermachete 6y ago
  Sure it's their fault, Facebook moderation is lax at best and discriminatory at worst.
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  Somewhat agreed, but Facebook is also not doing anything to curb the stupidity. They could very well ban whoever posts obvious misinformation or scams and anyone who is repeatedly caught sharing such content, but they don't because behind the scenes these same stupid users are probably the most profitable for Facebook because they're more likely to click on ads.

beams_of_light 6y ago

Is it really the fault of the platform? I despise Facebook, and do not use it, but the root of the problem, IMO, is that people are dumb. We'll never change that - some people are always going to be dumb. Humans have been doing dumb things in large numbers for a long time - witch hunts, public stonings, The Crusades...Facebook just virtualizes their presence. Blaming Facebook for the 2016 election is my favorite form of misdirected ire. The real problems lied in people manipulating people. That could have been done with billboards, TV ads, newsletters, or phone calls just as easily. We're still learning how to deal with the ability to communicate with one another instantly over large distances, as a species. I do think we're in a valley right now, where stupidity reigns over all, but believe that will change eventually.

papermachete 6y ago
Sure it's their fault, Facebook moderation is lax at best and discriminatory at worst.
Nextgrid 6y ago
Somewhat agreed, but Facebook is also not doing anything to curb the stupidity. They could very well ban whoever posts obvious misinformation or scams and anyone who is repeatedly caught sharing such content, but they don't because behind the scenes these same stupid users are probably the most profitable for Facebook because they're more likely to click on ads.