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>Facebook is a net negative for society Bold claim, Cotton. I personally have a hard time imagining a world where if Facebook didn't exist, something like it w

>Facebook is a net negative for society Bold claim, Cotton. I personally have a hard time imagining a world where if Facebook didn't exist, something like it wouldn't either. There were plenty of companies vying for the same idea. Or is the suggestion that all usage of the internet to allow people to connect with each other are bad.

hankman86 4y ago
You haven’t paid much attention in the last 10 years if you still think that Facebook is about connecting people.
- nindalf 4y ago
  You haven’t paid much attention to the internet if you still think that allowing people a worldwide platform doesn’t have inevitable downsides. The internet is the same as the other mass media when it was newly invented. The printing press didn’t change how people were, it just allowed them to reach wider audiences. Without the printing press, Martin Luther is just a guy. Without Twitter, Trump is also just a guy. Facebook does connect people. Billions of people log in every day to see what their friends and family are up to. You might find that far fetched because you don’t know anyone who does, but that’s just your bubble. The issue with Facebook is that making communication free has consequences. Those consequences are what Facebook gets blamed for. But this would happen regardless because it’s a direct consequence of the internet making communication free.
  - Retric 4y ago
    “see what their friends and family are up to” isn’t actually connecting with people. I can see what some people are up to by watching reality TV, but that’s not connecting with them.
    - nindalf 4y ago
      How about you let people connect how they want to, and you connect how you want to? You don’t need to tell us if these billions of people are living up to your standards. They just need to live up to theirs.
      - Retric 4y ago
        Wanting doesn’t make it so. The issue is Facebook is built on people wanting to connect with others and Facebook is actively preventing this. Lonely people simply make better customers.
Heliosio 4y ago
Sure there would be something else similiar to Facebook but that doesn't make the critisism against Facebook wrong or invalid. The critisism would then go to Bookface. Independent of it, look what Facebook left: Nothing of importance.
Schroedingersat 4y ago
> Or is the suggestion that all usage of the internet to allow people to connect with each other are bad. False equivocation. Monopolizing the social graph and using it to manipulate people isn't the same as having links exist on the internet. A sane world would have it legislated out of existence and replaced with protocols anyone could implement with no central control.
specialist 4y ago
You need only imagine the year 2005. Before newsfeeds and like buttons, the combo which enables Facebook's algorithmic hate machine (recommender to maximize engagement). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_(Facebook) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_(Facebook) [2006] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_like_button https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_like_button [2009]

hankman86 4y ago

You haven’t paid much attention in the last 10 years if you still think that Facebook is about connecting people.

nindalf 4y ago
You haven’t paid much attention to the internet if you still think that allowing people a worldwide platform doesn’t have inevitable downsides. The internet is the same as the other mass media when it was newly invented. The printing press didn’t change how people were, it just allowed them to reach wider audiences. Without the printing press, Martin Luther is just a guy. Without Twitter, Trump is also just a guy. Facebook does connect people. Billions of people log in every day to see what their friends and family are up to. You might find that far fetched because you don’t know anyone who does, but that’s just your bubble. The issue with Facebook is that making communication free has consequences. Those consequences are what Facebook gets blamed for. But this would happen regardless because it’s a direct consequence of the internet making communication free.
- Retric 4y ago
  “see what their friends and family are up to” isn’t actually connecting with people. I can see what some people are up to by watching reality TV, but that’s not connecting with them.
  - nindalf 4y ago
    How about you let people connect how they want to, and you connect how you want to? You don’t need to tell us if these billions of people are living up to your standards. They just need to live up to theirs.
    - Retric 4y ago
      Wanting doesn’t make it so. The issue is Facebook is built on people wanting to connect with others and Facebook is actively preventing this. Lonely people simply make better customers.

Heliosio 4y ago

Sure there would be something else similiar to Facebook but that doesn't make the critisism against Facebook wrong or invalid. The critisism would then go to Bookface. Independent of it, look what Facebook left: Nothing of importance.

Schroedingersat 4y ago

> Or is the suggestion that all usage of the internet to allow people to connect with each other are bad. False equivocation. Monopolizing the social graph and using it to manipulate people isn't the same as having links exist on the internet. A sane world would have it legislated out of existence and replaced with protocols anyone could implement with no central control.

specialist 4y ago

You need only imagine the year 2005. Before newsfeeds and like buttons, the combo which enables Facebook's algorithmic hate machine (recommender to maximize engagement). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_(Facebook) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_(Facebook) [2006] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_like_button https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_like_button [2009]