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Re: The Decline of Facebook
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Posted: Nov 14, 2010 3:41 AM
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> I have the same issues with Facebook. To avoid some of > them I use the Facebook account for friends, and the > LinkedIn one for co-workers, job-related relationships. I > also edited the "Share" option so some of the postings can > go to selected people. > In my opinion, there is no alternative to Facebook yet, > there won't be one soon, and most people don't seem to > care their info is used by advertisers. I personally don't > play anything on it because they all want my personal > data. Google is less intrusive indeed.
Is not doing "social networking" at all a valid alternative, or am I being laughably reactionary and jejune?
I don't have a FaceBook account mainly because it just seems so incredibly lame. I simply can't imagine what one might get from a "friend"ship of such quality.
AFAIK, I'm a pretty good demographic hit for FB. I live on the opposite side of the world from my home, and my family, whom I miss a great deal. But I can't imagine how reading/making "status updates" could address that.
Another reason I don't do social networking is that I can't abide doing what everyone else does. Wisdom of the crowd? Well, that gives us a prurient obsession for the mundanities of the lives of entertainers, western democracy and the professional political class, wings of politics separated by a gnat's wingspan who confect mutual detestation as a substitute for vision, etc. etc. etc. Wisdom of (some of) the individuals is far more compelling.
Furthermore, I can't stand people. Don't get me wrong, I have huge affection and respect for many persons, but human beings, en masse, are a pretty pathetic lump. This is one of the challenges of having children of a certain age: teaching them that the vast majority of persons are, while imperfect, doing their best with good intentions, while groups of people are unthinking entities that make truly dumb choices.
Finally, who has the time for all that chuff? I can barely keep on top of my work+family+exercise+hobbies+writing; I can't fathom where I would muster the time to be posting about the minutiae of my life, or the interest to be reading about those of others.
Or maybe I'm missing something?
> I don't even notice > their ads in GMail.
Agreed. It probably happens only about three times a year.
> As a general conclusion: I find Facebook helpful, a bit > noisy. Hopefully they will get better in time.
For me it's (hopefully) an awkward, ugly, abusive, and short phase towards a better future, wherein connectivity is done for the purpose of enriching lives, and not pockets.
(Oh dear, I sound like a major hippy!)
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