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Absolutely zero. People would find another way to communicate, socialize, or whatever. The loss of Facebook would be a loss of jobs and income for people, but t

Absolutely zero. People would find another way to communicate, socialize, or whatever. The loss of Facebook would be a loss of jobs and income for people, but that’s it. Facebook serves no positive purpose in society, and it seems the best thing a person can do, is to delete their Facebook account.

AlexTWithBeard 5y ago
1. Lots of information will disappear. Vast majority of it will be garbage, but occasional jewels in the mud will get thrown away as well. 2. S&P 500 will go down 2.5% the very instant FB disappears. Further consequences for financial markets are hard to predict.
- nixpulvis 5y ago
  I was more thinking about the facebook groups. Where would they go? Discord? Meetup? Some new aggregator? Would anything actually improve?
  - bmarquez 5y ago
    I'm seeing more of my Facebook groups move to Telegram chat rooms or channels.
SquareWheel 5y ago
Zero damage? No way. Millions of people would lose contact with friends and family that they have no other connections with. Companies that depend on Facebook advertising would disappear. People would be locked out of OAuth accounts on thousands of websites. It would be catastrophic.
- williamscales 5y ago
  > Millions of people would lose contact with friends and family that they have no other connections with. Not at all. > Companies that depend on Facebook advertising would disappear. Good. > People would be locked out of OAuth accounts on thousands of websites. OK? If you were federating your auth via Facebook it was only a matter of time until you were locked out for one arbitrary reason or another. This just seems like an acceleration of a good thing. > It would be catastrophic. From your perspective, I can see that. But there are other perspectives out that that are not completely beholden to Facebook.
  - SquareWheel 5y ago
    That is such a Hacker News answer. Some people rely on their relationships with other people. They build support systems, form groups, and take comfort in the company of others. Being cut off suddenly and with no means to reconnect would isolate many people. This would be extremely damaging from a mental health perspective alone. In addition, so many people have reconnected with old friends, family, teachers. One friend of mine used Facebook to find her birth parents. That avenue disappears completely. I don't know why you would say it's "good" for these companies to disappear. These aren't megacorps. It's small, local companies that rely on FB advertising. Bed and breakfasts, wineries, anything that depends on tourism. They're always hit the hardest. Walmart isn't going to care if they can't advertise on FB anymore. Your comment shows a lack-of-understanding and compassion for your fellow human.
    - telxos 5y ago
      Actual research shows the opposite effect on mental health from what you are saying. When you don't have Facebook your friends and family just txt or email. I mean Facebook book hasn't even been around that long. To pretend it is something like water or electricity is just preposterous.
      - SquareWheel 5y ago
        Many do not text or email, they use Facebook's messaging system. They would not even have the information required to connect elsewhere. There is also a huge difference between people making the decision to stop using social networking, and being suddenly and unexpectedly cut off from a support network. The former can have positive effects on mental health, the latter will certainly not. I say this as somebody who deleted their Facebook account over a decade ago.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - BeetleB 5y ago
- SlowRobotAhead 5y ago
  > It would be catastrophic. Yea! How did people communicate or companies advertise before Facebook!? They couldn’t. I mean, maybe some old fashioned things no one remembers, but we’d be talking all the way back to 2004 here.
  - SquareWheel 5y ago
    You've managed to ignore all possible context and depth in your sarcastic answer. The question is not "Could Facebook be replaced?". The question is "What happens were it to disappear one day". They're different questions with very different answers.

AlexTWithBeard 5y ago

1. Lots of information will disappear. Vast majority of it will be garbage, but occasional jewels in the mud will get thrown away as well. 2. S&P 500 will go down 2.5% the very instant FB disappears. Further consequences for financial markets are hard to predict.

nixpulvis 5y ago
I was more thinking about the facebook groups. Where would they go? Discord? Meetup? Some new aggregator? Would anything actually improve?
- bmarquez 5y ago
  I'm seeing more of my Facebook groups move to Telegram chat rooms or channels.

SquareWheel 5y ago

Zero damage? No way. Millions of people would lose contact with friends and family that they have no other connections with. Companies that depend on Facebook advertising would disappear. People would be locked out of OAuth accounts on thousands of websites. It would be catastrophic.

williamscales 5y ago
> Millions of people would lose contact with friends and family that they have no other connections with. Not at all. > Companies that depend on Facebook advertising would disappear. Good. > People would be locked out of OAuth accounts on thousands of websites. OK? If you were federating your auth via Facebook it was only a matter of time until you were locked out for one arbitrary reason or another. This just seems like an acceleration of a good thing. > It would be catastrophic. From your perspective, I can see that. But there are other perspectives out that that are not completely beholden to Facebook.
- SquareWheel 5y ago
  That is such a Hacker News answer. Some people rely on their relationships with other people. They build support systems, form groups, and take comfort in the company of others. Being cut off suddenly and with no means to reconnect would isolate many people. This would be extremely damaging from a mental health perspective alone. In addition, so many people have reconnected with old friends, family, teachers. One friend of mine used Facebook to find her birth parents. That avenue disappears completely. I don't know why you would say it's "good" for these companies to disappear. These aren't megacorps. It's small, local companies that rely on FB advertising. Bed and breakfasts, wineries, anything that depends on tourism. They're always hit the hardest. Walmart isn't going to care if they can't advertise on FB anymore. Your comment shows a lack-of-understanding and compassion for your fellow human.
  - telxos 5y ago
    Actual research shows the opposite effect on mental health from what you are saying. When you don't have Facebook your friends and family just txt or email. I mean Facebook book hasn't even been around that long. To pretend it is something like water or electricity is just preposterous.
    - SquareWheel 5y ago
      Many do not text or email, they use Facebook's messaging system. They would not even have the information required to connect elsewhere. There is also a huge difference between people making the decision to stop using social networking, and being suddenly and unexpectedly cut off from a support network. The former can have positive effects on mental health, the latter will certainly not. I say this as somebody who deleted their Facebook account over a decade ago.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - BeetleB 5y ago
SlowRobotAhead 5y ago
> It would be catastrophic. Yea! How did people communicate or companies advertise before Facebook!? They couldn’t. I mean, maybe some old fashioned things no one remembers, but we’d be talking all the way back to 2004 here.
- SquareWheel 5y ago
  You've managed to ignore all possible context and depth in your sarcastic answer. The question is not "Could Facebook be replaced?". The question is "What happens were it to disappear one day". They're different questions with very different answers.