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Why do we overcomplicate our analysis of social media and web 2.0? We all got on Facebook because it was new, it was fun, we shared pictures, we poked each othe

Why do we overcomplicate our analysis of social media and web 2.0? We all got on Facebook because it was new, it was fun, we shared pictures, we poked each other, we implicitly pried on our friends. Some of us got on Google+ because we were intrigued by what new it can bring to the table. The answer was none. Some of us stuck with Facebook because we're too lazy to manage two networks. Some of us continued on Google+ just to brag about having a Google+ account. Most of us didn't care about privacy, freedom, human rights or whatever mambo jumbo the media pundits were talking about, and who the hell cares who owns the data. it's just pictures and stupid text. we're just having fun at the end of the day. No need for philosophical analyses. It's just a game and once we get bored we'll move on.

18pfsmt 14y ago
This sounds like a specific, personal experience. It certainly doesn't describe anything I, myself, experienced. If I were to guess, I would say you are in your early 20s?
- donebizkit 14y ago
  You surely understand that the description is a caricature of social media use. I am not saying, you or I have that experience but the point that I was making is that the majority of Facebook users, the teens and early 20s, as you're pointing, don't take any of this seriously. It's just one way of having fun until something else comes up. And that's why any competitor that enters this competition with a serious face i.e. we want to decentralize social interaction doesn't have a chance. The next Facebook killer will be something that's more FUN to use.
PakG1 14y ago
It's just a game and once we get bored we'll move on. This is why I never believed in Zynga. Casual games are casual. I never thought that they can capture the imagination of people over the long-term. It'd be really interesting of that axiom applies to the bigger picture of social also. It probably wouldn't, but who can tell what the future holds 10 years from now?
nsmartt 14y ago
It's a lot more than pictures and text. Jane goes to a party but doesn't want anyone who wasn't there to know. Jane's friends post pictures of her at said party. Now everyone who checks Facebook before Jane sees that she's been tagged in these pictures. Until now, Jane's never really considered that she should screen tags for approval first. Jane has her profile available to anyone who is a friend of a friend. Jane's never considered that people who might have an interest in her may add any of her loose acquaintances or work friends. Any undesirable who happens to add one of her 'friends' now has access to her political beliefs, check-ins, address, cell phone number, favorite books, movies, music. The problem is that the average person doesn't consider the implications of over-sharing or of Facebook's oversights in terms of privacy. Jane doesn't consider a _timeline of every major event in her life_ to be a problem because only 'friends of friends' can see it anyway. It's foolish of you to believe this is just a game and that boredom is all it will take to pass. People put their lives on social media without a second thought.
- misiti3780 14y ago
  if you put your life on social media without understanding the consequences, that is your own fault. i agree the average person doesnt understand the implications, but it is out of laziness that they do not (it's really not that complicated). (if facebook changes their settings, that is one, thing, but if you are too lazy to look at what settings exist, that is not facebook's problem) i totally agree that social media and facebook has become much more than pictures and text - it has a created a generation of people who want to take a picture every 5 minutes no matter how insignificant the event and upload them to "look cool". it has also created a generation of people that pour their heart and emotions out onto facebook to try to gain attention, likes, etc. if that type of behavior comes back to bite them in the ass, im not sure it is possible to feel sorry for them though....
  - nsmartt 14y ago
    I don't pity the individual who gets bitten by his or her ignorance. I fear for consequences on a much larger scale. This ignorance, well, false sense of security, will likely have broader implications in the long run. The scale and where this leads is a much bigger problem than the individual being bitten. Example: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/twitter-hands-over-occupy-wall-street-protesters-tweets/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/twitter-hands-ove... Not only are there issues like this, but there are also various changes in privacy policies that lead to exposed information. That can't really be blamed on individual ignorance.
shousper 14y ago
A game you can usually walk away from without experiencing life altering change. These social giants have mountains of information about millions (billions?) of people on this planet, and a legal right to keep it and do pretty much whatever they want with it. This "game" will never end. Your save data will never be erased. You will likely be reminded of that for years to come.
clobber 14y ago
It's all fun and games until people get hurt: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/109ipi/no_facebook_no_job_interview_is_this_seriously_a/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/109ipi/no_faceboo... & http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/facebook_is_making_us_miserabl.html http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/facebook_is_making_us_misera...
hessenwolf 14y ago
No, gosh no. Google+ has shared an album of mine entitled 'My Love and I', with a few snapshots of my girlfriend and I going for a walk by the river, with the people I met at a Hacker News meetup. Embarrassing. It also recently inappropriately shared another photo with somebody who should only have seen one photo. Google+ brought really shitty privacy to the table! tl;dr: google+'s privacy settings are outstandingly bad.

18pfsmt 14y ago

This sounds like a specific, personal experience. It certainly doesn't describe anything I, myself, experienced. If I were to guess, I would say you are in your early 20s?

donebizkit 14y ago
You surely understand that the description is a caricature of social media use. I am not saying, you or I have that experience but the point that I was making is that the majority of Facebook users, the teens and early 20s, as you're pointing, don't take any of this seriously. It's just one way of having fun until something else comes up. And that's why any competitor that enters this competition with a serious face i.e. we want to decentralize social interaction doesn't have a chance. The next Facebook killer will be something that's more FUN to use.

PakG1 14y ago

It's just a game and once we get bored we'll move on. This is why I never believed in Zynga. Casual games are casual. I never thought that they can capture the imagination of people over the long-term. It'd be really interesting of that axiom applies to the bigger picture of social also. It probably wouldn't, but who can tell what the future holds 10 years from now?

nsmartt 14y ago

It's a lot more than pictures and text. Jane goes to a party but doesn't want anyone who wasn't there to know. Jane's friends post pictures of her at said party. Now everyone who checks Facebook before Jane sees that she's been tagged in these pictures. Until now, Jane's never really considered that she should screen tags for approval first. Jane has her profile available to anyone who is a friend of a friend. Jane's never considered that people who might have an interest in her may add any of her loose acquaintances or work friends. Any undesirable who happens to add one of her 'friends' now has access to her political beliefs, check-ins, address, cell phone number, favorite books, movies, music. The problem is that the average person doesn't consider the implications of over-sharing or of Facebook's oversights in terms of privacy. Jane doesn't consider a _timeline of every major event in her life_ to be a problem because only 'friends of friends' can see it anyway. It's foolish of you to believe this is just a game and that boredom is all it will take to pass. People put their lives on social media without a second thought.

misiti3780 14y ago
if you put your life on social media without understanding the consequences, that is your own fault. i agree the average person doesnt understand the implications, but it is out of laziness that they do not (it's really not that complicated). (if facebook changes their settings, that is one, thing, but if you are too lazy to look at what settings exist, that is not facebook's problem) i totally agree that social media and facebook has become much more than pictures and text - it has a created a generation of people who want to take a picture every 5 minutes no matter how insignificant the event and upload them to "look cool". it has also created a generation of people that pour their heart and emotions out onto facebook to try to gain attention, likes, etc. if that type of behavior comes back to bite them in the ass, im not sure it is possible to feel sorry for them though....
- nsmartt 14y ago
  I don't pity the individual who gets bitten by his or her ignorance. I fear for consequences on a much larger scale. This ignorance, well, false sense of security, will likely have broader implications in the long run. The scale and where this leads is a much bigger problem than the individual being bitten. Example: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/twitter-hands-over-occupy-wall-street-protesters-tweets/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/twitter-hands-ove... Not only are there issues like this, but there are also various changes in privacy policies that lead to exposed information. That can't really be blamed on individual ignorance.

shousper 14y ago

A game you can usually walk away from without experiencing life altering change. These social giants have mountains of information about millions (billions?) of people on this planet, and a legal right to keep it and do pretty much whatever they want with it. This "game" will never end. Your save data will never be erased. You will likely be reminded of that for years to come.

clobber 14y ago

It's all fun and games until people get hurt: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/109ipi/no_facebook_no_job_interview_is_this_seriously_a/ http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/109ipi/no_faceboo... & http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/facebook_is_making_us_miserabl.html http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/facebook_is_making_us_misera...

hessenwolf 14y ago

No, gosh no. Google+ has shared an album of mine entitled 'My Love and I', with a few snapshots of my girlfriend and I going for a walk by the river, with the people I met at a Hacker News meetup. Embarrassing. It also recently inappropriately shared another photo with somebody who should only have seen one photo. Google+ brought really shitty privacy to the table! tl;dr: google+'s privacy settings are outstandingly bad.