16 ms·

Maybe my age (finished grad school in 2004) but I never created a Facebook account. Seemed like a waste of time and energy. And now? I’d gladly buy an Occulus b

by robg 5y ago

Maybe my age (finished grad school in 2004) but I never created a Facebook account. Seemed like a waste of time and energy. And now? I’d gladly buy an Occulus but nope, need a Facebook account. Seems like a horrid company and where the cigarettes analogy seems apt and I used to smoke Marlboros as a kid. A lot of kids are now addicted to a product that actively harms them, Instaspam especially. Frankly love that FB makes it so hard to read stuff posted. Every time I’m linked to something there and it requires an account, I nope right out. I’ve banned Facebook from my life. Highly recommend not what you’ve lost, but what you’ll find instead.

skylanh 5y ago
This is a similar issue I have with Twitter. Direct link to the material--I can see it, if I'm trying to find additional material, nope. The negative patterns are too bold.
- dreen 5y ago
  Tbf its hard to find specific things/tweets you're looking for on Twitter even if you do have an account. At least that's how it was until I stopped logging in about a year ago. But I can still access linked content. On mobile, I just have to paste the url into the browser address bar and it works.
  - masklinn 5y ago
    > But I can still access linked content. Yeah but it feels like navigating around gets weird if you're not logged, because any link from the direct-linked content (original tweet for RTs, comments, etc...) will navigate then immediately hide the information behind a big popup, and if you close that popup... it sends you back where you came from.
    - kittywav 5y ago
      It's a recent anti-pattern they added. Possible solution: replace the "twitter.com" portion of the URL by "nitter.net" and you won't be nagged by things like that.
    - jkaplowitz 5y ago
      It's definitely a weird and (anonymous-)user-hostile design, but here's a trick: reloading the page instead of closing the popup does load the content without the popup. (Until you navigate to the next link, of course, after which you'll need another reload.)
  - tata71 5y ago
    Try a Nitter instance.
  - yborg 5y ago
    Most Nitter instances end up rate-limited and are unusable at least half of the time in my experience, this isn't really a practical solution.
- lvncelot 5y ago
  I'm using Nitter redirect[1] for Firefox, so that any Twitter link automatically links me to the nitter.net frontend for that reason. [1]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nitter-redirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nitter-redire...
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  > too bold Well, they work as long as the company is powerful. And push people away as soon as the power reduces. It's one of those policies that provide metastability, but increase the rate of change once the stability is lost. Powerful people normally like them, as they care much less about rate of change than about conserving power.
B1FF_PSUVM 5y ago
> Maybe my age (finished grad school in 2004) but I never created a Facebook account. Me neither. The "dumb fucks trusted me" vibe rubbed me the wrong way right out of the gate. Wish someone had stopped them grabbing Whatsapp, etc., deleted my account there too.
29athrowaway 5y ago
And Reels, the TikTok competitor. TikTok is even worse than Facebook.
- frank_nitti 5y ago
  Is Tiktok worse than FB because of the way the platform is designed, or because of the way people are using it (trends etc), or something I’m not seeing?
  - Nbox9 5y ago
    From my perspective TikTok is worse because it’s algorithm is better at holding human addition, and it’s headquarters is located in an authoritative country. I don’t have any evidence to defend these statements, and it’s quite possible propaganda has influenced by opinion here. I’d love to hear from the experts.
    - Mezzie 5y ago
      It's interesting because they're both bad but in different ways. Facebook's addictive nature is in interacting with other people: FB wants you to start flame wars in the comments, share things around with people, etc. FB tries to connect you with other people to hate them. Facebook distorts a person's idea of OTHER PEOPLE. Facebook is like meeting the Duggers and assuming they're representative of all Americans. Facebook makes people angry and aggressive. TT's addictive nature is more insidious because it's more internal: Humans are pattern-matching machines and TikTok will show you a LOT of very niche content to the point where your brain thinks it's important and true (think TV/movie product placement; they wouldn't do it if it didn't work). Because of TT's form, it's harder for the average person (non-creator) to be drawn into a social group, but it's easier for them to be firehosed into accepting false narratives through sheer repetition. TT distorts a person's idea of HOW PEOPLE LIVE; imagine if your main idea of how Americans live was USSR propaganda. TT makes people apathetic and prone to hug-boxes. They're both taking advantage of the fight-or-flight mechanism, FB just wants you to fight and TT wants you to 'flee' (into its loving escapist arms, of course). There are healthy use cases for both FB and TT (and even Twitter), but they're directly at odds with the incentives of the platforms themselves + we have a society full of unhealthy and traumatized people, so instead you get these evil clone versions. I'd also say that both the US and China are authoritarian countries. China more so, but the mental health/addictive problems with TT are inherent to its design and medium decisions, not which nationality made it.
tchalla 5y ago
> I’d gladly buy an Occulus but nope, need a Facebook account Facebook says that Oculus won't require a Facebook sign in anymore. https://www.facebook.com/boz/posts/10114026973983491 https://www.facebook.com/boz/posts/10114026973983491
- cloogshicer 5y ago
  Until they backpaddle on it again. When they bought Oculus they made a definitive statement saying that Oculus devices will never need an FB account to use. To me they lost all credibility. Not just because of this instance but many other instances of lying and deceit.
- exdsq 5y ago
  I bought an Occulus Quest 2 last week and had to sign in with Facebook
  - syntheticnature 5y ago
    It sounds like "they're working on it", which is only a promise at best.
  - mycall 5y ago
    You can bypass Facebook if you want to jump through some hoops. https://uploadvr.com/how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2/ https://uploadvr.com/how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2/
    - cachvico 5y ago
      That's Link (Rift apps running on your PC, displaying on your Quest), not Quest apps.
- rrdharan 5y ago
  Where in that statement are you getting that interpretation? Is it buried in the comments or something? I just read and reread the Boz words and don’t see how any of it translates into “no Meta (Facebook) account needed”?
exdsq 5y ago
Interestingly those born in 2004 don't necessarily have them either - my neighbour was born then and mentioned that their year group don't use FB at all.
- mattmanser 5y ago
  You'll probably find they use Instagram instead, which is why they should never have been allowed to pruchase it.
- netizen-936824 5y ago
  It seems like its mostly old people on Facebook now, at least that's my perception as a millennial who interacts with mostly other millennials
  - Grakel 5y ago
    Facebook is LinkedIn for families. Basically useless, mostly performative, but worth checking once a month just for connections.
    - netizen-936824 5y ago
      Is it really worth it? I'm not sure what benefit people get out of either LinkedIn or Facebook. They seem like not only a time suck, but also a great way for presenting your personal information for people and corporations to harvest. Personally I value my privacy and data over whatever miniscule (if any) tangible benefit I would see from using such a service. This isn't even mentioning the rampant misinformation and divisive bullshit permeating the platforms (yes both of them)
      - tetraca 5y ago
        I use LinkedIn to passively trawl offers from recruiters and ask for references. Most offers aren't particularly good but a few random recruiting recruiting connections I made ended up being important. The data I give LinkedIn effectively matches my resume which I have to be comfortable to send to random people in the first place, so I'm not particularly worried about the data provided. I do not browse the feed or post anything publically. I only privately message people I'm connected with, or those who provided a job posting I was willing to apply to. The more socially competent you are, the less useful this probably is. Many people probably have some useful network of friends they built in college. I have little to draw on aside from a handful of people I worked with which I had professional rapport with which I never developed a personal connection. So thus, I am stuck on LinkedIn on the off chance I need a new job and a reference.
webdoodle 5y ago
Same here. I just didn't get why I'd want to broadcast every shit I took, or everything I ate. Low on substance, high on drama. Fast forward to today, and we now know that Facebook and other social media are encouraging narcissistic behavior, because narcissists are easy to manipulate: They are highly likely to have multiple addictions, they are easy to emotionally provoke, have nearly no ability to moderate there own behavior, and they take any attack on there beliefs as a persona attack, and will hate there attacker forever, becoming flying monkeys. I highly encourage everyone to watch the documovie: The Social Dilemma.
leros 5y ago
I don't use Facebook either. Part of the problem is that other people treat it as if everyone is on Facebook. People will only invite you to events on Facebook. Restaurants will only post updates to Facebook. Businesses have support forums in Facebook groups. Etc. You do miss out on a portion of the internet by not being on Facebook. But I think that's because people rely too much on it.
- Baeocystin 5y ago
  I keep a Facebook account for the sole reason that I don't want some derplgänger with the same name causing me employment trouble in the future. It may sound like a dumb reason, but I have seen the pattern of some eponymous innocent suffering because lazy HR didn't verify waaaaaaay too many times to not take the threat seriously.
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    You realize by making an account and adding a picture you greatly increase the chance someone will clone your profile vs someone creating a profile with photos they have sourced from somewhere else. If the latter happens it is probably from your friend group.
    - chaostheory 5y ago
      Just keep the profile private and limit friends on FB. I try to keep the number of FB friends at Dunbars number.
    - Baeocystin 5y ago
      Who said I had a picture of myself? I can post something proving it's me as necessary, which is what I use it for. Zero personal pictures, though.
  - dvtrn 5y ago
    I go through this frequently and it's not even due to Facebook, it's just due to having a stupidly common western name. To the point of I have folders, digital and physical full of sworn statements I've had to make, and official court documents from six different states attesting "no the John Doe before you applying for this job is not the one who came up in your background check database for grand larceny, no he's not the one who came up for involuntary manslaughter either." and I'm always ready for that conversation later in the interview when I get an email from the recruiter/HR "hey, we have a question about something that came up in your background check"
georgeecollins 5y ago
You can create an account that has none of your personal information. I understand why people don't have an FB account. I don't, and I use an Oculus . But the downside of having an FB account is they plant cookies on your browser or track you in their app. If you are only using the FB account on your Oculus, its an Oculus account that calls itself an FB account. You need an account for most game devices these days and for Steam. I am not saying its perfect, I am saying that not using an Oculus because you are off FB doesn't make that much sense to me. I do exactly that.
- ThalesX 5y ago
  One thing I can think of that might complicate this is that Facebook has a policy of not allowing nicknames if I understand correctly. Which is why they can also verify you with national ID and others if something happens (and it does). How would I remain as anonymous as I am on Steam for the community and still work within Facebook's terms of service?
  - icedchai 5y ago
    I know plenty of people with nicknames (generally, fake last names) on Facebook. They just have to "look" real. Perhaps use your middle name as your last name.
    - betwixthewires 5y ago
      I did that back when I had an account about a decade ago, and some do gooder got into an argument with me, didn't like my opinion and reported my account. It got locked and they asked for a government issued ID. Fuck that. I never went to the site again. Good riddance.
      - sebastien_b 5y ago
        Exact same happened to me - lots of snowflakes on Meta[stasize].
- 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
doopy1 5y ago
I think they're removing the requirement to have an oculus tethered to an fb account if they haven't done so already.
- throwanem 5y ago
  No, it's the other way around. You can already no longer create a non-Facebook Oculus account, and some time next year they'll require Oculus accounts be "upgraded" to Facebook in order to use the devices at all.
  - doopy1 5y ago
    https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-29-oculus-plans-to-remove-facebook-account-requirement https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-29-oculus-pla...
    - throwanem 5y ago
      Interesting they've said that, but this is Facebook - I'll believe it when I see it, and even then be astonished if they make it possible to port purchases or de-Facebook an account created during the period when that has been mandatory.
_huayra_ 5y ago
I recently recreated a facebook account merely because many companies offer more prompt customer service through that platform. Instead of filling in some broken "contact us" form and wondering if you get a reply it's just one more way to track down customer service for things. That said, I'm keeping their creepy apps off my phone...
- airbreather 5y ago
  Good luck with that, it is some years ago but all my experiences are install once, regret for life, there are some things that don't go away.
spoonjim 5y ago
Nobody needs a Facebook account but there is a lot on there to like. Instagram has a tremendous amount of creativity and craft (and a bunch of butt shots), WhatsApp is a low cost way for billions of people to text, Facebook lets me keep updated on old friends and acquaintances. Overall I think I get positive value from it.
systemvoltage 5y ago
Unpopular opinion: Instagram and Pintrest are absolutely amazing for discovering aesthetics and visual culture. I don't use them for their intended purposes or any social need. Have no followers or I follow no one. Just save images and cultivate what I like.

by robg 5y ago

skylanh 5y ago

This is a similar issue I have with Twitter. Direct link to the material--I can see it, if I'm trying to find additional material, nope. The negative patterns are too bold.

dreen 5y ago
Tbf its hard to find specific things/tweets you're looking for on Twitter even if you do have an account. At least that's how it was until I stopped logging in about a year ago. But I can still access linked content. On mobile, I just have to paste the url into the browser address bar and it works.
- masklinn 5y ago
  > But I can still access linked content. Yeah but it feels like navigating around gets weird if you're not logged, because any link from the direct-linked content (original tweet for RTs, comments, etc...) will navigate then immediately hide the information behind a big popup, and if you close that popup... it sends you back where you came from.
  - kittywav 5y ago
    It's a recent anti-pattern they added. Possible solution: replace the "twitter.com" portion of the URL by "nitter.net" and you won't be nagged by things like that.
  - jkaplowitz 5y ago
    It's definitely a weird and (anonymous-)user-hostile design, but here's a trick: reloading the page instead of closing the popup does load the content without the popup. (Until you navigate to the next link, of course, after which you'll need another reload.)
- tata71 5y ago
  Try a Nitter instance.
- yborg 5y ago
  Most Nitter instances end up rate-limited and are unusable at least half of the time in my experience, this isn't really a practical solution.
lvncelot 5y ago
I'm using Nitter redirect[1] for Firefox, so that any Twitter link automatically links me to the nitter.net frontend for that reason. [1]https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nitter-redirect/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/nitter-redire...
marcosdumay 5y ago
> too bold Well, they work as long as the company is powerful. And push people away as soon as the power reduces. It's one of those policies that provide metastability, but increase the rate of change once the stability is lost. Powerful people normally like them, as they care much less about rate of change than about conserving power.

B1FF_PSUVM 5y ago

> Maybe my age (finished grad school in 2004) but I never created a Facebook account. Me neither. The "dumb fucks trusted me" vibe rubbed me the wrong way right out of the gate. Wish someone had stopped them grabbing Whatsapp, etc., deleted my account there too.

29athrowaway 5y ago

And Reels, the TikTok competitor. TikTok is even worse than Facebook.

frank_nitti 5y ago
Is Tiktok worse than FB because of the way the platform is designed, or because of the way people are using it (trends etc), or something I’m not seeing?
- Nbox9 5y ago
  From my perspective TikTok is worse because it’s algorithm is better at holding human addition, and it’s headquarters is located in an authoritative country. I don’t have any evidence to defend these statements, and it’s quite possible propaganda has influenced by opinion here. I’d love to hear from the experts.
  - Mezzie 5y ago
    It's interesting because they're both bad but in different ways. Facebook's addictive nature is in interacting with other people: FB wants you to start flame wars in the comments, share things around with people, etc. FB tries to connect you with other people to hate them. Facebook distorts a person's idea of OTHER PEOPLE. Facebook is like meeting the Duggers and assuming they're representative of all Americans. Facebook makes people angry and aggressive. TT's addictive nature is more insidious because it's more internal: Humans are pattern-matching machines and TikTok will show you a LOT of very niche content to the point where your brain thinks it's important and true (think TV/movie product placement; they wouldn't do it if it didn't work). Because of TT's form, it's harder for the average person (non-creator) to be drawn into a social group, but it's easier for them to be firehosed into accepting false narratives through sheer repetition. TT distorts a person's idea of HOW PEOPLE LIVE; imagine if your main idea of how Americans live was USSR propaganda. TT makes people apathetic and prone to hug-boxes. They're both taking advantage of the fight-or-flight mechanism, FB just wants you to fight and TT wants you to 'flee' (into its loving escapist arms, of course). There are healthy use cases for both FB and TT (and even Twitter), but they're directly at odds with the incentives of the platforms themselves + we have a society full of unhealthy and traumatized people, so instead you get these evil clone versions. I'd also say that both the US and China are authoritarian countries. China more so, but the mental health/addictive problems with TT are inherent to its design and medium decisions, not which nationality made it.

tchalla 5y ago

> I’d gladly buy an Occulus but nope, need a Facebook account Facebook says that Oculus won't require a Facebook sign in anymore. https://www.facebook.com/boz/posts/10114026973983491 https://www.facebook.com/boz/posts/10114026973983491

cloogshicer 5y ago
Until they backpaddle on it again. When they bought Oculus they made a definitive statement saying that Oculus devices will never need an FB account to use. To me they lost all credibility. Not just because of this instance but many other instances of lying and deceit.
exdsq 5y ago
I bought an Occulus Quest 2 last week and had to sign in with Facebook
- syntheticnature 5y ago
  It sounds like "they're working on it", which is only a promise at best.
- mycall 5y ago
  You can bypass Facebook if you want to jump through some hoops. https://uploadvr.com/how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2/ https://uploadvr.com/how-to-play-pc-vr-oculus-quest-2/
  - cachvico 5y ago
    That's Link (Rift apps running on your PC, displaying on your Quest), not Quest apps.
rrdharan 5y ago
Where in that statement are you getting that interpretation? Is it buried in the comments or something? I just read and reread the Boz words and don’t see how any of it translates into “no Meta (Facebook) account needed”?

exdsq 5y ago

Interestingly those born in 2004 don't necessarily have them either - my neighbour was born then and mentioned that their year group don't use FB at all.

mattmanser 5y ago
You'll probably find they use Instagram instead, which is why they should never have been allowed to pruchase it.
netizen-936824 5y ago
It seems like its mostly old people on Facebook now, at least that's my perception as a millennial who interacts with mostly other millennials
- Grakel 5y ago
  Facebook is LinkedIn for families. Basically useless, mostly performative, but worth checking once a month just for connections.
  - netizen-936824 5y ago
    Is it really worth it? I'm not sure what benefit people get out of either LinkedIn or Facebook. They seem like not only a time suck, but also a great way for presenting your personal information for people and corporations to harvest. Personally I value my privacy and data over whatever miniscule (if any) tangible benefit I would see from using such a service. This isn't even mentioning the rampant misinformation and divisive bullshit permeating the platforms (yes both of them)
    - tetraca 5y ago
      I use LinkedIn to passively trawl offers from recruiters and ask for references. Most offers aren't particularly good but a few random recruiting recruiting connections I made ended up being important. The data I give LinkedIn effectively matches my resume which I have to be comfortable to send to random people in the first place, so I'm not particularly worried about the data provided. I do not browse the feed or post anything publically. I only privately message people I'm connected with, or those who provided a job posting I was willing to apply to. The more socially competent you are, the less useful this probably is. Many people probably have some useful network of friends they built in college. I have little to draw on aside from a handful of people I worked with which I had professional rapport with which I never developed a personal connection. So thus, I am stuck on LinkedIn on the off chance I need a new job and a reference.

webdoodle 5y ago

Same here. I just didn't get why I'd want to broadcast every shit I took, or everything I ate. Low on substance, high on drama. Fast forward to today, and we now know that Facebook and other social media are encouraging narcissistic behavior, because narcissists are easy to manipulate: They are highly likely to have multiple addictions, they are easy to emotionally provoke, have nearly no ability to moderate there own behavior, and they take any attack on there beliefs as a persona attack, and will hate there attacker forever, becoming flying monkeys. I highly encourage everyone to watch the documovie: The Social Dilemma.

leros 5y ago

I don't use Facebook either. Part of the problem is that other people treat it as if everyone is on Facebook. People will only invite you to events on Facebook. Restaurants will only post updates to Facebook. Businesses have support forums in Facebook groups. Etc. You do miss out on a portion of the internet by not being on Facebook. But I think that's because people rely too much on it.

Baeocystin 5y ago
I keep a Facebook account for the sole reason that I don't want some derplgänger with the same name causing me employment trouble in the future. It may sound like a dumb reason, but I have seen the pattern of some eponymous innocent suffering because lazy HR didn't verify waaaaaaay too many times to not take the threat seriously.
- ipaddr 5y ago
  You realize by making an account and adding a picture you greatly increase the chance someone will clone your profile vs someone creating a profile with photos they have sourced from somewhere else. If the latter happens it is probably from your friend group.
  - chaostheory 5y ago
    Just keep the profile private and limit friends on FB. I try to keep the number of FB friends at Dunbars number.
  - Baeocystin 5y ago
    Who said I had a picture of myself? I can post something proving it's me as necessary, which is what I use it for. Zero personal pictures, though.
- dvtrn 5y ago
  I go through this frequently and it's not even due to Facebook, it's just due to having a stupidly common western name. To the point of I have folders, digital and physical full of sworn statements I've had to make, and official court documents from six different states attesting "no the John Doe before you applying for this job is not the one who came up in your background check database for grand larceny, no he's not the one who came up for involuntary manslaughter either." and I'm always ready for that conversation later in the interview when I get an email from the recruiter/HR "hey, we have a question about something that came up in your background check"

georgeecollins 5y ago

You can create an account that has none of your personal information. I understand why people don't have an FB account. I don't, and I use an Oculus . But the downside of having an FB account is they plant cookies on your browser or track you in their app. If you are only using the FB account on your Oculus, its an Oculus account that calls itself an FB account. You need an account for most game devices these days and for Steam. I am not saying its perfect, I am saying that not using an Oculus because you are off FB doesn't make that much sense to me. I do exactly that.

ThalesX 5y ago
One thing I can think of that might complicate this is that Facebook has a policy of not allowing nicknames if I understand correctly. Which is why they can also verify you with national ID and others if something happens (and it does). How would I remain as anonymous as I am on Steam for the community and still work within Facebook's terms of service?
- icedchai 5y ago
  I know plenty of people with nicknames (generally, fake last names) on Facebook. They just have to "look" real. Perhaps use your middle name as your last name.
  - betwixthewires 5y ago
    I did that back when I had an account about a decade ago, and some do gooder got into an argument with me, didn't like my opinion and reported my account. It got locked and they asked for a government issued ID. Fuck that. I never went to the site again. Good riddance.
    - sebastien_b 5y ago
      Exact same happened to me - lots of snowflakes on Meta[stasize].
5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

doopy1 5y ago

I think they're removing the requirement to have an oculus tethered to an fb account if they haven't done so already.

throwanem 5y ago
No, it's the other way around. You can already no longer create a non-Facebook Oculus account, and some time next year they'll require Oculus accounts be "upgraded" to Facebook in order to use the devices at all.
- doopy1 5y ago
  https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-29-oculus-plans-to-remove-facebook-account-requirement https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-10-29-oculus-pla...
  - throwanem 5y ago
    Interesting they've said that, but this is Facebook - I'll believe it when I see it, and even then be astonished if they make it possible to port purchases or de-Facebook an account created during the period when that has been mandatory.

_huayra_ 5y ago

I recently recreated a facebook account merely because many companies offer more prompt customer service through that platform. Instead of filling in some broken "contact us" form and wondering if you get a reply it's just one more way to track down customer service for things. That said, I'm keeping their creepy apps off my phone...

airbreather 5y ago
Good luck with that, it is some years ago but all my experiences are install once, regret for life, there are some things that don't go away.

spoonjim 5y ago

Nobody needs a Facebook account but there is a lot on there to like. Instagram has a tremendous amount of creativity and craft (and a bunch of butt shots), WhatsApp is a low cost way for billions of people to text, Facebook lets me keep updated on old friends and acquaintances. Overall I think I get positive value from it.

systemvoltage 5y ago

Unpopular opinion: Instagram and Pintrest are absolutely amazing for discovering aesthetics and visual culture. I don't use them for their intended purposes or any social need. Have no followers or I follow no one. Just save images and cultivate what I like.