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It is 100% completely voluntary. Nobody is forcing you to use Facebook. It is not even remotely close to the only communication service. I don't personally u

It is 100% completely voluntary. Nobody is forcing you to use Facebook. It is not even remotely close to the only communication service. I don't personally use Facebook and have no problem leading an active social and business life. Sure, a large portion of my friends use Facebook, but they also make phone calls, send text messages, email (through multiple different services), LinkedIn, Flickr, etc etc etc. So how does Facebook have no alternatives? If you don't like the product, or you don't like the way its run, or you don't like the way it handles your data, or you don't like the color of the log in button, then its simple. Don't use it. As the original poster said, it is a private organization, and therefore you have a choice. This isn't social security, this isn't taxes. I can (and don't) use Facebook, but much to my dismay, I still pay my outrageous taxes. This weeks' Monopoly is last weeks' MySpace when users choose to go elsewhere.

sek 15y ago
You are not using it? This is maybe the reason why you don't understand this. For most people like me it is a tool to communicate to over 150 people and they expect me to have it. With most of them i can't communicate with mail any more. Facebook himself says it's Messaging is replacing Mail for young people, now they have to act responsible about it. It is like a telephone number you give to all your friends and someone says "Hey when you don't like something about it, just don't use it". You are invested in these things, it is not that easy.
- VladRussian 15y ago
  >You are invested in these things, it is not that easy. By analogy with predatory lending, i'd name it predatory social network lock-in. Hook 'em while they're young, while they don't know any better and while they not able to analyze consequences, ie. while they not able to make an informed decision.
- Travisism 15y ago
  > You are not using it? This is maybe the reason why you don't understand this. Is this not word for word what a drug addict says to somebody who's clean? I've used social networks and found all they did was replace real life social interaction with fake, scrubbed online interactions. I was never one of those "DELETE YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE AND RUN" fad followers, I just found that I was able to get by and communicate just fine without it.
bitops 15y ago
Perhaps true in the US but not so in Europe. My 16-year old cousin in Denmark (the worlds most FB connected country in the world, 3M users out of 5M population) told me that it's basically impossible to have a social life without being on Facebook (at her age). Facebook also caters very much to US culture. E.g. In middle school and high school you move between different classrooms so you make lots of different friends that way. In Denmark you sit with the same 20-30 kids every day for 10 years. It's a very different type of social conditioning. So - if you're the outlier in the class who isn't connected and the party invites go out on FB, guess what? You have volunteered to get ostracized.
- jamesgeck0 15y ago
  You realize that in no way does this make Facebook registration non-voluntary.
  - bitops 15y ago
    Of course, signing up for Facebook is completely voluntary in a legal sense. No-one can strong-arm you into creating an account. My point is that social pressure can often make people do things that they don't really want to do. And sadly, many people do not have the courage to stand up to their peers and tell them no. It's more common in US culture to do that, and largely encouraged by US societal norms, but that isn't always the case in other cultures. This is based on my experience growing up outside of the US (and also spending time in high school and college in the US).
- Travisism 15y ago
  I see where your cousin is coming from by thinking that if she isn't on Facebook, she's ostracized, however people tell me the same thing when trying to get me to sign up. Thankfully, since I never actively used any social networks as a kid, they never became a crutch for me, and any time there's a party worth going to, I'll know about it either through text, a call, or (what most kids seem to avoid these days) face to face social interactions with my friends.
DanBC 15y ago
>Nobody is forcing you to use Facebook. True, but that doesn't help the people who don't use Facebook but who still have data about them collected.

sek 15y ago

You are not using it? This is maybe the reason why you don't understand this. For most people like me it is a tool to communicate to over 150 people and they expect me to have it. With most of them i can't communicate with mail any more. Facebook himself says it's Messaging is replacing Mail for young people, now they have to act responsible about it. It is like a telephone number you give to all your friends and someone says "Hey when you don't like something about it, just don't use it". You are invested in these things, it is not that easy.

VladRussian 15y ago
>You are invested in these things, it is not that easy. By analogy with predatory lending, i'd name it predatory social network lock-in. Hook 'em while they're young, while they don't know any better and while they not able to analyze consequences, ie. while they not able to make an informed decision.
Travisism 15y ago
> You are not using it? This is maybe the reason why you don't understand this. Is this not word for word what a drug addict says to somebody who's clean? I've used social networks and found all they did was replace real life social interaction with fake, scrubbed online interactions. I was never one of those "DELETE YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE AND RUN" fad followers, I just found that I was able to get by and communicate just fine without it.

bitops 15y ago

Perhaps true in the US but not so in Europe. My 16-year old cousin in Denmark (the worlds most FB connected country in the world, 3M users out of 5M population) told me that it's basically impossible to have a social life without being on Facebook (at her age). Facebook also caters very much to US culture. E.g. In middle school and high school you move between different classrooms so you make lots of different friends that way. In Denmark you sit with the same 20-30 kids every day for 10 years. It's a very different type of social conditioning. So - if you're the outlier in the class who isn't connected and the party invites go out on FB, guess what? You have volunteered to get ostracized.

jamesgeck0 15y ago
You realize that in no way does this make Facebook registration non-voluntary.
- bitops 15y ago
  Of course, signing up for Facebook is completely voluntary in a legal sense. No-one can strong-arm you into creating an account. My point is that social pressure can often make people do things that they don't really want to do. And sadly, many people do not have the courage to stand up to their peers and tell them no. It's more common in US culture to do that, and largely encouraged by US societal norms, but that isn't always the case in other cultures. This is based on my experience growing up outside of the US (and also spending time in high school and college in the US).
Travisism 15y ago
I see where your cousin is coming from by thinking that if she isn't on Facebook, she's ostracized, however people tell me the same thing when trying to get me to sign up. Thankfully, since I never actively used any social networks as a kid, they never became a crutch for me, and any time there's a party worth going to, I'll know about it either through text, a call, or (what most kids seem to avoid these days) face to face social interactions with my friends.

DanBC 15y ago

>Nobody is forcing you to use Facebook. True, but that doesn't help the people who don't use Facebook but who still have data about them collected.