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Yeah, everybody thinks it's evil except for the people who use Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. It's bizarre to me how many upvotes pretending society isn't s

Yeah, everybody thinks it's evil except for the people who use Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. It's bizarre to me how many upvotes pretending society isn't still embracing FaceBook gets. And when you say this people parrot tired points about how most people "use it because they have to" as if people who thought it was evil, in the the real way, wouldn't be willing to resist the compulsion. I don't think most HN posters are from tough enough places to know what it looks like when people actually think something is evil.

ethbr0 6y ago
Facebook is crack cocaine. Most people aren't informed about the dangers, and by the time they understand, they're addicted. Moreover, it was explicitly and willfully designed to work that way.
- dhyreueu 6y ago
  They're not addicted to Facebook you just don't like that the social landscape is changing. Calling people was terrible compared to the convenience of social media, sure it was more intimate but most people aren't looking for intimacy in every interaction they have with their friends. A lot of the time they just want to shoot the breeze. People like memes, seeing what trendy garbage with avacado on top their friends ate, and they like having an easy way to coordinate a group meetup without making ten phonecalls. I recognize that some people do get addicted to social media but for most people the only thing they're addicted to if anything is convenience. We're already at a point where many people feel more comfortable giving out their public insta than their phone number to new acquaintances because of how much more control they have if things go badly. Before social media parents were complaining that cell phones were turning their kids into shut-ins who just wanted to text all day instead of having real conversations. The whole dialogue is just another repeat of people feeling like something must be wrong because it's not how they think the world should be.
  - bredren 6y ago
    There are very real reasons to consider Facebook a threat that have nothing to do with projections of "it just isn't for me." Facebook embraced Q Anon and turned it into a gold mine for engagement. Facebook is directly responsible for the growth of that conspiracy and made the United States much worse as a result. Facebook did this by feeding a culture of fear, suspicion and bigotry in the guise of belonging, community and group 'fun' via memes and 'trendy garbage.' Facebook is crack cocaine and the pipe has already blown up in our faces. The United States is on fire like Richard Pryor.
    - kerrsclyde 6y ago
      Myanmar!
  - mthoms 6y ago
    >They're not addicted >I recognize that some people do get addicted >the only thing they're addicted to if anything is convenience Since you're a bit err.. "conflicted" on this subject, you might want to read some research. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=social+media+addiction&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=social+media+addiction&...
    - dhyreueu 6y ago
      Or maybe, just maybe, it's a nuanced subject and I was acknowledging that there are people who do suffer from actual social media addiction while contesting the notion that the majority, or even a large minority, of social media users are addicts and not simply people who get enjoyment and utility out of the platform.

ethbr0 6y ago

Facebook is crack cocaine. Most people aren't informed about the dangers, and by the time they understand, they're addicted. Moreover, it was explicitly and willfully designed to work that way.

dhyreueu 6y ago
They're not addicted to Facebook you just don't like that the social landscape is changing. Calling people was terrible compared to the convenience of social media, sure it was more intimate but most people aren't looking for intimacy in every interaction they have with their friends. A lot of the time they just want to shoot the breeze. People like memes, seeing what trendy garbage with avacado on top their friends ate, and they like having an easy way to coordinate a group meetup without making ten phonecalls. I recognize that some people do get addicted to social media but for most people the only thing they're addicted to if anything is convenience. We're already at a point where many people feel more comfortable giving out their public insta than their phone number to new acquaintances because of how much more control they have if things go badly. Before social media parents were complaining that cell phones were turning their kids into shut-ins who just wanted to text all day instead of having real conversations. The whole dialogue is just another repeat of people feeling like something must be wrong because it's not how they think the world should be.
- bredren 6y ago
  There are very real reasons to consider Facebook a threat that have nothing to do with projections of "it just isn't for me." Facebook embraced Q Anon and turned it into a gold mine for engagement. Facebook is directly responsible for the growth of that conspiracy and made the United States much worse as a result. Facebook did this by feeding a culture of fear, suspicion and bigotry in the guise of belonging, community and group 'fun' via memes and 'trendy garbage.' Facebook is crack cocaine and the pipe has already blown up in our faces. The United States is on fire like Richard Pryor.
  - kerrsclyde 6y ago
    Myanmar!
- mthoms 6y ago
  >They're not addicted >I recognize that some people do get addicted >the only thing they're addicted to if anything is convenience Since you're a bit err.. "conflicted" on this subject, you might want to read some research. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=social+media+addiction&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=social+media+addiction&...
  - dhyreueu 6y ago
    Or maybe, just maybe, it's a nuanced subject and I was acknowledging that there are people who do suffer from actual social media addiction while contesting the notion that the majority, or even a large minority, of social media users are addicts and not simply people who get enjoyment and utility out of the platform.