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This. People using FB to share information outside their lives has been a net bane to society. Unfortunately, FB profits immensely from the damage it causes.

account42 3y ago
> People using FB [...] has been a net bane to society. Agreed.
nonethewiser 3y ago
According to the people doing it or outside observers? Seems like there are lots of things that are net negatives in the opinion of one group of people despite many others choosing it for themselves. Should we ban soda? Granulated sugar in general? Rap music? The liberal arts? This is the government acting as a parent. We need a society of adults, not children.
- kaffeeringe 3y ago
  Yes, we created a world, where many people make objectively bad decisions, because we let companies become so big and so rich that they can pay the cleverest mind to influence us. I too want a free society of adults, that can choose their own fate. But we as single persons do not have the capacities to find a reasonable way through all the bullshit that rich organisations feed us every day. Look at supermarkets: everything after the department for fruits an vegetables is basically bad for us. Science prooves that. But we have to pass all this convenience food that promises to be cheap and fast and healthy and it isn't. And most people somehow learned that in school but ever since they are being informed by the companies.
  - simple-thoughts 3y ago
    Science does not in fact prove only fruits and vegetables are good for you, and in recent years the healt benefits of meat and dairy have been coming to light.
    - kashunstva 3y ago
      > Science does not in fact prove only fruits and vegetables are good for you I will agree with your objection to the “prove” claim about the science (if only because it’s an overstatement of what science does) but the negative associations between various adverse health outcomes and a plant-based diet are well-supported in the literature: lower risk of type 2 diabetes, lower systolic BP, lower risk of cardiovascular events, lower total cardiovascular mortality, lower rates of certain malignancies.
roywiggins 3y ago
Uh, sharing news articles is most of what people do here on this site. Why is it uniquely bad when people do it on Facebook instead?
- xp84 3y ago
  My guess why HN isn’t a problem the way FB is? No ads. Thus, no engagement metrics to optimize for because HN isn’t even monetized that I know of (and hopefully doesn’t need to become one?) With no engagement needing to be goosed we don’t need an algorithm to make sure we see the most outraging things possible. We just see what’s interesting to the whole community. Radicalization online is a serious problem and I think the reverse qualities of the above, which FB, Twitter, and YouTube are perfect examples of, is a big part of how it happened. HN pushes us toward the average interests of hackers. FB amplifies whatever interests repeatably get your attention until they become obsessions. (I stopped following anything or anyone political on FB and YouTube, so that they only makes me more engaged in my nerdy, wholesome interests. I think I’m in the minority though)
- bandyaboot 3y ago
  I should have phrased it better, my intention wasn't to focus responsibility on typical FB users. It's posting and consuming news on a platform that deliberately puts them in an information bubble that feeds into and reinforces their existing viewpoints. It's what keeps people there and drives FB profits, but it causes harm to society. The responsibility is on FB and those knowingly feeding toxic content into it.
- qup 3y ago
  Lack of moderation or filtering of the content (via voting)
- neltnerb 3y ago
  I mean, I gave up on Facebook long ago to be honest, but this is a news aggregator website that is specifically about sharing links to articles of news or interest. Facebook... I mean... it wasn't pitched to be that? It was supposed to connect you to each other, not be an algorithmic view into the universe. Sure, sharing news can be a big part of that, and talking about news too, but every site doesn't have to be everything. Why would my personal social group (i.e. facebook friends) make sense to combine with the random strangers on here who discuss technical posts? Sure there's some overlap in audience but it just doesn't seem like a necessary compromise to make.
sheepscreek 3y ago
YouTube is the new FB newsfeed. On a personal note, I wholeheartedly hate their half-assed approach to parenting controls.
- hsjqllzlfkf 3y ago
  Why are people ok with letting YouTube do parenting for them, that's what I would like to know. It's like you're giving your children heroin, and complaining that your dealer has half-assed parenting controls.

account42 3y ago

> People using FB [...] has been a net bane to society. Agreed.

nonethewiser 3y ago

According to the people doing it or outside observers? Seems like there are lots of things that are net negatives in the opinion of one group of people despite many others choosing it for themselves. Should we ban soda? Granulated sugar in general? Rap music? The liberal arts? This is the government acting as a parent. We need a society of adults, not children.

kaffeeringe 3y ago
Yes, we created a world, where many people make objectively bad decisions, because we let companies become so big and so rich that they can pay the cleverest mind to influence us. I too want a free society of adults, that can choose their own fate. But we as single persons do not have the capacities to find a reasonable way through all the bullshit that rich organisations feed us every day. Look at supermarkets: everything after the department for fruits an vegetables is basically bad for us. Science prooves that. But we have to pass all this convenience food that promises to be cheap and fast and healthy and it isn't. And most people somehow learned that in school but ever since they are being informed by the companies.
- simple-thoughts 3y ago
  Science does not in fact prove only fruits and vegetables are good for you, and in recent years the healt benefits of meat and dairy have been coming to light.
  - kashunstva 3y ago
    > Science does not in fact prove only fruits and vegetables are good for you I will agree with your objection to the “prove” claim about the science (if only because it’s an overstatement of what science does) but the negative associations between various adverse health outcomes and a plant-based diet are well-supported in the literature: lower risk of type 2 diabetes, lower systolic BP, lower risk of cardiovascular events, lower total cardiovascular mortality, lower rates of certain malignancies.

roywiggins 3y ago

Uh, sharing news articles is most of what people do here on this site. Why is it uniquely bad when people do it on Facebook instead?

xp84 3y ago
My guess why HN isn’t a problem the way FB is? No ads. Thus, no engagement metrics to optimize for because HN isn’t even monetized that I know of (and hopefully doesn’t need to become one?) With no engagement needing to be goosed we don’t need an algorithm to make sure we see the most outraging things possible. We just see what’s interesting to the whole community. Radicalization online is a serious problem and I think the reverse qualities of the above, which FB, Twitter, and YouTube are perfect examples of, is a big part of how it happened. HN pushes us toward the average interests of hackers. FB amplifies whatever interests repeatably get your attention until they become obsessions. (I stopped following anything or anyone political on FB and YouTube, so that they only makes me more engaged in my nerdy, wholesome interests. I think I’m in the minority though)
bandyaboot 3y ago
I should have phrased it better, my intention wasn't to focus responsibility on typical FB users. It's posting and consuming news on a platform that deliberately puts them in an information bubble that feeds into and reinforces their existing viewpoints. It's what keeps people there and drives FB profits, but it causes harm to society. The responsibility is on FB and those knowingly feeding toxic content into it.
qup 3y ago
Lack of moderation or filtering of the content (via voting)
neltnerb 3y ago
I mean, I gave up on Facebook long ago to be honest, but this is a news aggregator website that is specifically about sharing links to articles of news or interest. Facebook... I mean... it wasn't pitched to be that? It was supposed to connect you to each other, not be an algorithmic view into the universe. Sure, sharing news can be a big part of that, and talking about news too, but every site doesn't have to be everything. Why would my personal social group (i.e. facebook friends) make sense to combine with the random strangers on here who discuss technical posts? Sure there's some overlap in audience but it just doesn't seem like a necessary compromise to make.

sheepscreek 3y ago

YouTube is the new FB newsfeed. On a personal note, I wholeheartedly hate their half-assed approach to parenting controls.

hsjqllzlfkf 3y ago
Why are people ok with letting YouTube do parenting for them, that's what I would like to know. It's like you're giving your children heroin, and complaining that your dealer has half-assed parenting controls.