4 ms·
I've been blogging for over five years. I'm also an avid Facebook user in that I try to post statuses that are interesting and relevant to my audience instead o
by vkb 13y ago
I've been blogging for over five years. I'm also an avid Facebook user in that I try to post statuses that are interesting and relevant to my audience instead of just the usual "I ate a grilled cheese for lunch and now I feel feelings about it". I also, as of recently, ironically own a typewriter and I am working on a novel. Basically, I love creating content.
Theoretically, I am the target market for this product because it's supposed to lure me into divulging more longform-ish content to Facebook and creating narratives about it.
I was completely repelled by the ad, not only because I still don't see how this product differentiates from Facebook_regular, but because of the vast array of hipsters doing things that have nothing to do with actual Facebook. If you like photography and animation and writing in the Real World, why would you want to move that content to Facebook? If you create content digitally, why would you want to do it on anything except for a platform you own?
Moreover, I was horrified to see that woman not only Facebooking ("Papering?") in the bathtub, but sharing pictures of her fetus, which could then be enlarged by anyone who cares enough.
2014. What a world.
- sp332 13y agoLots of people put ultrasound pics of their future kids on Facebook. It's not even that weird, considering the emotional intensity that picture must have for the poster.
- vkb 13y agoI agree that lots of people do it, and they do it to foster an emotional reaction, and that sharing ultrasounds with people close to you is a very positive experience. But I feel uneasy that we're encouraging this kind of privacy invasion from the very beginning, that leads to things like this[1]. The piece is, of course, reductio ad absurdum, but not completely out of the realm of the ordinary. [1] http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-mommy-bloggers-lament http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/a-mommy-bloggers-lament
- wmeredith 13y agoUh, your source for "where this all leads" is satirical fiction.
- vkb 13y agoI don't have a source, because most of the young kids whose lives have been shared without their consent have been having their lives shared for less than 10 years (Facebook started in 2004 and was rolled out to the general public in 2006 [1]), so we'll have to wait before academic studies start coming out on the topic of oversharing. I am coming at the topic anecdotally (where sites like STFUParents[2] exist for people who are tired of overshare or people who have been fired or arrested for things they shared on social networks come into play.) If anyone has links that either prove or disprove that sharing pictures of small children/sonograms is beneficial, I would be really interested in seeing them. I just tend to skew towards guarded when it comes to sharing private medical information and pictures, especially of minors who don't have a say in whether you do or not. [1]https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/welcome-to-facebook-everyone/2210227130 https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook/welcome-to-facebook-... [2]http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/stfu-parents-an-addictive-blog/2012/01/13/gIQAHNpGuQ_blog.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-parenting/post/stfu-p...
- brown9-2 13y agobut sharing pictures of her fetus, which could then be enlarged by anyone who cares enough. What is the issue with someone enlarging an ultrasound picture?
- vkb 13y agoNot in enlarging, but in sharing. Why are we sharing ultrasound pictures? Should we be? What if something goes wrong and the woman has a miscarriage? Who's keeping these pictures (outside of FB)? Who's sharing them with others? At what point is it ok/not ok to share pictures of kids/future kids? My point is that it's an interesting philosophical question that has a lot of implications, and I personally don't like the fact that Facebook is casually encouraging the action through their commercial, which I'm sure pushes it further into the realm of acceptable social norms.
- brown9-2 13y agoWhy are we sharing ultrasound pictures? Should we be? How about: should we be questioning what other people decide to share with friends, family, the Internet? Probably not.
- vkb 13y agoIf something is shared publicly (i.e. willingly) with "the Internet" as you put it, we have a right to question it. If it's being shared on the Internet and I am a recipient, why can't I question if it's appropriate? I.e. If someone is sharing a picture on Facebook, they are explicitly soliciting feedback/approval. The give and take of this is that I, even as a passive recipient, can have an opinion. If you're not interested in other peoples' opinions of your content, and that's entirely your right, then I would argue that you shouldn't share it in a public forum.