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Nobody uses email This is an absurd statement - over 1 billion people use email, far more than actively use FB messages. Many people use facebook messaging as

Nobody uses email This is an absurd statement - over 1 billion people use email, far more than actively use FB messages. Many people use facebook messaging as their primary form of text communication these days. Many people don't. I've never had an account and never had a problem in my professional or social life as a result. It's just never come up. If your friends all use Facebook, tell them it's a bad idea (for many, many reasons, including the one pointed out here) and to contact you with email/phone/text/twitter whatever other method they prefer. If they can't be bothered, they are not your friends.

sneak 13y ago
> If they can't be bothered, they are not your friends. This is demonstrably false, and suggests that you don't like people very much.
- grey-area 13y ago
  This is demonstrably false And yet you have neglected to demonstrate it. No misanthropy here thanks, you should adjust your assumptions. Perhaps we just disagree on the meaning of the word friend - I'd take it to mean someone who you know outside of FB and via other means of communication, someone who is willing to put in the minimal effort of emailing/texting/calling to contact you individually? Someone who doesn't I would consider an acquaintance at best. If you make a decision to remain on FB and find it valuable, that's totally fine, but don't try to extend your judgement of its utility and experience of communication to everyone.
  - schrodinger 13y ago
    It's not binary. That someone might still be a good friend, and be willing to communicate by different means for one on one conversations. But it's easy to forget when you're setting up an event and inviting a large group, that one of your friends won't see it and you'll have to contact them individually.
eksith 13y ago
I'll make a slight addendum: Most people have an email address if they frolic online, however I rarely meet people who prefer to conduct communications over it. Of course, they need one for FB or Twitter either way, but... Either they go to FB or DM over Twitter or some other "social thing", but they view email as far more cumbersome. This is especially true with family these days as the first question I get is, "are you on Facebook". It's an inescapable part of society nowadays in that they view the site as something-other-than-internet and more user-friendly, more quick and more "connected", if that's the operative word, than email. Sending/receiving text is over FB chat is still viewed as preferable to the not so straightforward method of email. Even the venerable IRC is viewed as less acceptable; "wait, don't I need a client or something for that? Won't I get viruses and stuff?" Never mind the fact that they still need a mobile client to chat over FB or Twitter, but they view it as "it came with the phone". Bottom line: FB and Twitter have taken over communication where email once ruled for the vast majority of people I interact with. They can't be bothered with email, but they still are my friends and family.
- halviti 13y ago
  I've never used Twitter or Facebook, and I have zero problem communicating with friends and family, nor have I noticed any difference in my communication with anyone regardless of wherever they spend their free time on the internet. If someone can't be bothered to send you an e-mail or call, you might want to reconsider how close those people are to you.
  - sneak 13y ago
    > If someone can't be bothered to send you an e-mail or call, you might want to reconsider how close those people are to you. Indeed, it would be very neat if the world worked that way. Unfortunately, I have, and they are, and they don't use email. I was on facebook for ~2 years, was off for five, and have been back on for about a month. The frequency and quality of communication with almost everyone I care about and don't see often (I moved continents from where I grew up) has increased dramatically.
    - 13y ago

sneak 13y ago

> If they can't be bothered, they are not your friends. This is demonstrably false, and suggests that you don't like people very much.

grey-area 13y ago
This is demonstrably false And yet you have neglected to demonstrate it. No misanthropy here thanks, you should adjust your assumptions. Perhaps we just disagree on the meaning of the word friend - I'd take it to mean someone who you know outside of FB and via other means of communication, someone who is willing to put in the minimal effort of emailing/texting/calling to contact you individually? Someone who doesn't I would consider an acquaintance at best. If you make a decision to remain on FB and find it valuable, that's totally fine, but don't try to extend your judgement of its utility and experience of communication to everyone.
- schrodinger 13y ago
  It's not binary. That someone might still be a good friend, and be willing to communicate by different means for one on one conversations. But it's easy to forget when you're setting up an event and inviting a large group, that one of your friends won't see it and you'll have to contact them individually.

eksith 13y ago

I'll make a slight addendum: Most people have an email address if they frolic online, however I rarely meet people who prefer to conduct communications over it. Of course, they need one for FB or Twitter either way, but... Either they go to FB or DM over Twitter or some other "social thing", but they view email as far more cumbersome. This is especially true with family these days as the first question I get is, "are you on Facebook". It's an inescapable part of society nowadays in that they view the site as something-other-than-internet and more user-friendly, more quick and more "connected", if that's the operative word, than email. Sending/receiving text is over FB chat is still viewed as preferable to the not so straightforward method of email. Even the venerable IRC is viewed as less acceptable; "wait, don't I need a client or something for that? Won't I get viruses and stuff?" Never mind the fact that they still need a mobile client to chat over FB or Twitter, but they view it as "it came with the phone". Bottom line: FB and Twitter have taken over communication where email once ruled for the vast majority of people I interact with. They can't be bothered with email, but they still are my friends and family.

halviti 13y ago
I've never used Twitter or Facebook, and I have zero problem communicating with friends and family, nor have I noticed any difference in my communication with anyone regardless of wherever they spend their free time on the internet. If someone can't be bothered to send you an e-mail or call, you might want to reconsider how close those people are to you.
- sneak 13y ago
  > If someone can't be bothered to send you an e-mail or call, you might want to reconsider how close those people are to you. Indeed, it would be very neat if the world worked that way. Unfortunately, I have, and they are, and they don't use email. I was on facebook for ~2 years, was off for five, and have been back on for about a month. The frequency and quality of communication with almost everyone I care about and don't see often (I moved continents from where I grew up) has increased dramatically.
  - 13y ago