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People who use Facebook are silly people. No this is not a flame, it's AOL all over again. The walled garden, except the garden is a dystopian big brother state

People who use Facebook are silly people. No this is not a flame, it's AOL all over again. The walled garden, except the garden is a dystopian big brother state. I don't mind people being in the dystopia of their own choosing at all. I enjoy going for walks outside the cyberdome. It's quiet and peaceful out here and people are not monitoring and trying to manipulate and control me. Those who enjoy being a cog in a machine I am sure lead happy fulfilling lives inside The Facebook.

thom 15y ago
You know, the dystopia in which I'm forced to share pictures of my newborn son with my family, and talk to friends on the other side of the country that I haven't seen for months, is better than pretty much any other dystopia I can imagine.
- droithomme 15y ago
  I'm definitely not criticizing anyone who wants to be in the Matrix, I believe in freedom and free will. I read the referenced article and it was yet another one by someone in the Matrix complaining about the Matrix. It seems such a strange complaint since people are not only able to leave at any time but there are many other cyberworlds they could inhabit alternatively, and many they can even create themselves to their own specifications and desires. There is no need to be unhappy with the offerings of a giant multinational conglomerate run by a cynical sociopath with publicly stated contempt for his customers in an age of freedom and choice. I'd rather save criticism of this fabulously wealthy conglomerate to be directed at the disturbing ways they are trying to claim ownership of things outside their Matrix, such as that of my personal identity, and to track my comings and goings outside their Matrix without my consent. Those parts are disturbing and dangerous, especially when coupled with their deep interest in mixing it up in politics and influencing laws to create a captive universal audience. Matrix is fine, but I want it to stay bottled up and optional.
  - thom 15y ago
    Okay, so long as we're not being incredibly creepy and paranoid then.
    - pak 15y ago
      You know what's incredibly creepy? 3000 faceless people in Palo Alto know more about your distant friends than you will ever know. Depending on how much time you spend on the site, they probably also have profiled a sizable portion of your thoughts simply by tracking clicks and pageviews.
      - thom 15y ago
        And yet this Christmas we've _still_ all had to manually make our Amazon wish lists, despite being watched round the clock by these crazy sociopaths who know exactly what we're all thinking.
- VladRussian 15y ago
  >the dystopia in which I'm forced to share pictures of my newborn son with my family, and talk to friends on the other side of the country that I haven't seen for months the things impossible without Facebook :) The main thing that Facebbok does isn't [technically] enabling some specific communications in some specific space, the main thing is that Facebook puts people into that space, bumps them one into another and thus forcing/making/nudging/tempting to perform act of communication that otherwise may not have happened. Facebook makes [helps to unleash] one a social beast. Vs. the force in dystopias, in the Facebook case we have dopamine generating activities grounded in the Facebook environment. While they can be replaced by dopamine generating activities in other environments [ i enjoy mine here on HN for example ], why would a social dopamine addicted beast that gets it fix on-schedule bother?
  - thom 15y ago
    I guess I just haven't met these Facebook victims - vegetables chained to their computers, grinning and drooling as they click reflexively on adverts all day, unaware that they could be outside, surrounded by swarms of butterflies and running with wild horses in the warmth of the Summer sun. Mostly it's just a website.

thom 15y ago

You know, the dystopia in which I'm forced to share pictures of my newborn son with my family, and talk to friends on the other side of the country that I haven't seen for months, is better than pretty much any other dystopia I can imagine.

droithomme 15y ago
I'm definitely not criticizing anyone who wants to be in the Matrix, I believe in freedom and free will. I read the referenced article and it was yet another one by someone in the Matrix complaining about the Matrix. It seems such a strange complaint since people are not only able to leave at any time but there are many other cyberworlds they could inhabit alternatively, and many they can even create themselves to their own specifications and desires. There is no need to be unhappy with the offerings of a giant multinational conglomerate run by a cynical sociopath with publicly stated contempt for his customers in an age of freedom and choice. I'd rather save criticism of this fabulously wealthy conglomerate to be directed at the disturbing ways they are trying to claim ownership of things outside their Matrix, such as that of my personal identity, and to track my comings and goings outside their Matrix without my consent. Those parts are disturbing and dangerous, especially when coupled with their deep interest in mixing it up in politics and influencing laws to create a captive universal audience. Matrix is fine, but I want it to stay bottled up and optional.
- thom 15y ago
  Okay, so long as we're not being incredibly creepy and paranoid then.
  - pak 15y ago
    You know what's incredibly creepy? 3000 faceless people in Palo Alto know more about your distant friends than you will ever know. Depending on how much time you spend on the site, they probably also have profiled a sizable portion of your thoughts simply by tracking clicks and pageviews.
    - thom 15y ago
      And yet this Christmas we've _still_ all had to manually make our Amazon wish lists, despite being watched round the clock by these crazy sociopaths who know exactly what we're all thinking.
VladRussian 15y ago
>the dystopia in which I'm forced to share pictures of my newborn son with my family, and talk to friends on the other side of the country that I haven't seen for months the things impossible without Facebook :) The main thing that Facebbok does isn't [technically] enabling some specific communications in some specific space, the main thing is that Facebook puts people into that space, bumps them one into another and thus forcing/making/nudging/tempting to perform act of communication that otherwise may not have happened. Facebook makes [helps to unleash] one a social beast. Vs. the force in dystopias, in the Facebook case we have dopamine generating activities grounded in the Facebook environment. While they can be replaced by dopamine generating activities in other environments [ i enjoy mine here on HN for example ], why would a social dopamine addicted beast that gets it fix on-schedule bother?
- thom 15y ago
  I guess I just haven't met these Facebook victims - vegetables chained to their computers, grinning and drooling as they click reflexively on adverts all day, unaware that they could be outside, surrounded by swarms of butterflies and running with wild horses in the warmth of the Summer sun. Mostly it's just a website.