3 ms·

I really don't understand the anti-facebook nature of HN users, personally I think it's a fantastic product, it perfectly fulfills my use case. I'm 20 years ol

I really don't understand the anti-facebook nature of HN users, personally I think it's a fantastic product, it perfectly fulfills my use case. I'm 20 years old, I feel that's somehow relevant before I give my long list of anecdotes. When I woke up this morning, I checked my feed, 3 notifications! The first (ranked by importance of course) was that one of my cousins was pregnant. She lives in Spain, I'm the only member of my family in the UK, how would I otherwise have found out? Snail mail? Pah! Takes too long and my address isn't always static for longer than a few months. Phone? Really? Do you know how much international calls cost when you aren't on a Silly Valley wage?! E-Mail? ... Do people actually still do the whole E-Mail thing? And isn't E-Mail completely broken anyway? The second was a party event my friend was throwing and had invited me too this weekend, it took one click and now I know all about it, I accepted and left a message. So in 30 seconds on one application, I've discovered my cousin is going to have a baby, congratulated her and let her know that I "like" this outcome, told my friend I'm cool to hang out this weekend and asked him if he wants to go halves on a Pizza Saturday. Last night I used it to talk over video with my grandma who's been ill recently (and also coincidentally lives abroad) because she doesn't know what a Skoop (Skype) is and MSN no longer exists, but Facebook is still here, she's already on it and she uses it frequently. After this I checked up on my company feed to look at photos of my co-workers birthday party and the comments on the photo I took (and uploaded in seconds to the internet after applying filters to make him prettier) of him opening his presents. I literally just got out of bed and I have a message already from my girlfriend (who's out of texts) asking me what we're doing tonight, I've told her it's a surprise and send her a photo to give her a clue. Anyway... The point of this is that while you may detest Facebook for whatever privacy issues you may have (and lets face it, other companies such as our beloved Google are often much, much worse) it is a fantastic application making it easier than ever to connect to the people who I actually care about (for the record, I only keep 40 friends on there), if perhaps a little out of your particular use case.

dvt 13y ago
> E-Mail? ... Do people actually still do the whole E-Mail thing? And isn't E-Mail completely broken anyway? It's so funny when people are critical of FB critics (I do not consider myself to be a critic of FB, even though my post garnered a lot of debate), but then go on to criticize email. Specifically, what's funny is that email is used to transfer magnitudes more information than FB on a daily basis. So, um... yes? Email is still around. And people use it. And it's not broken, per se. It's a sort of analogy with Spotify and radio.. "omg is FM still around? lol!! what noobs"
- shanelja 13y ago
  I was being sarcastic with the E-Mail one - but to be honest among younger people, at least in my area, you would never meet someone and say "So, what's your E-Mail address?" - you just ask for their full name and find them on Facebook, or take their number.
icebraining 13y ago
Phone? Really? Do you know how much international calls cost when you aren't on a Silly Valley wage?! I just wanted to point out that international calls cost peanuts, if you do it using a VoIP provider instead of your local landline/cellphone. I call people abroad almost every day and my small balance lasts a very long time.
- shanelja 13y ago
  Peanuts would surely be a luxury item if you had none. Honestly, though, doesn't using VoIP seem way harder than pressing one button on Facebook? As someone who's never used it, I would have to go through the effort of Googling for a client or an online app, figuring out how to use it, adding my billing information and then actually paying for it, when Facebook is completely free! Also, this is always a good time to bring up how ridiculous international calls are from the UK for anyone who doesn't know. [1] My 22 minute Facebook conversation with my nan over Facebook last night would have cost me £22 + a small connection charge. [1] http://www.vodafone.co.uk/discover-vodafone/managing-my-costs/calling-abroad-from-the-uk/index.htm?cid=rdr-1202-01 http://www.vodafone.co.uk/discover-vodafone/managing-my-cost...
  - icebraining 13y ago
    Peanuts would surely be a luxury item if you had none. Not if you were allergic to them. But I fail to see your point. Honestly, though, doesn't using VoIP seem way harder than pressing one button on Facebook? As someone who's never used it, I would have to go through the effort of Googling for a client or an online app, figuring out how to use it, adding my billing information and then actually paying for it, when Facebook is completely free! Well, my point was just that phone calls aren't actually particularly expensive. I certainly don't make anything close to SV money. Whether the one-time half hour cost of signing up for a service, plus playing for it, is too onerous compared to Facebook is your call. Personally, I have various reasons to dismiss Facebook a priori, so the question is irrelevant to me.

dvt 13y ago

> E-Mail? ... Do people actually still do the whole E-Mail thing? And isn't E-Mail completely broken anyway? It's so funny when people are critical of FB critics (I do not consider myself to be a critic of FB, even though my post garnered a lot of debate), but then go on to criticize email. Specifically, what's funny is that email is used to transfer magnitudes more information than FB on a daily basis. So, um... yes? Email is still around. And people use it. And it's not broken, per se. It's a sort of analogy with Spotify and radio.. "omg is FM still around? lol!! what noobs"

shanelja 13y ago
I was being sarcastic with the E-Mail one - but to be honest among younger people, at least in my area, you would never meet someone and say "So, what's your E-Mail address?" - you just ask for their full name and find them on Facebook, or take their number.

icebraining 13y ago

Phone? Really? Do you know how much international calls cost when you aren't on a Silly Valley wage?! I just wanted to point out that international calls cost peanuts, if you do it using a VoIP provider instead of your local landline/cellphone. I call people abroad almost every day and my small balance lasts a very long time.

shanelja 13y ago
Peanuts would surely be a luxury item if you had none. Honestly, though, doesn't using VoIP seem way harder than pressing one button on Facebook? As someone who's never used it, I would have to go through the effort of Googling for a client or an online app, figuring out how to use it, adding my billing information and then actually paying for it, when Facebook is completely free! Also, this is always a good time to bring up how ridiculous international calls are from the UK for anyone who doesn't know. [1] My 22 minute Facebook conversation with my nan over Facebook last night would have cost me £22 + a small connection charge. [1] http://www.vodafone.co.uk/discover-vodafone/managing-my-costs/calling-abroad-from-the-uk/index.htm?cid=rdr-1202-01 http://www.vodafone.co.uk/discover-vodafone/managing-my-cost...
- icebraining 13y ago
  Peanuts would surely be a luxury item if you had none. Not if you were allergic to them. But I fail to see your point. Honestly, though, doesn't using VoIP seem way harder than pressing one button on Facebook? As someone who's never used it, I would have to go through the effort of Googling for a client or an online app, figuring out how to use it, adding my billing information and then actually paying for it, when Facebook is completely free! Well, my point was just that phone calls aren't actually particularly expensive. I certainly don't make anything close to SV money. Whether the one-time half hour cost of signing up for a service, plus playing for it, is too onerous compared to Facebook is your call. Personally, I have various reasons to dismiss Facebook a priori, so the question is irrelevant to me.