Giving up on Facebook

[dr wogz]

Just that, I've decided to stop using face book for a while.. That is, no longer checking my updates, news feed etc..

I've found I have been giving it about an hour of my life each & every night.. I was always a little uneasy with certain posts about certain things, certain posts that endorse or contradict views that I don't necessarily agree with, posts of falsehoods, and 'click bait' appearing in pretty much most of the groups I belong to. And recently the amount of ads "Suggested posts" has risen to about 1 in 4 in my news feed.. Don't need it. In fact, I've even unfollowed a few friends because of all their well intended posts. (I really don't need to see another abused / starving puppy post..)

One group I belonged to was just a steady stream of "Look what I got by spending big bucks, and wiping out a store's entire stock of said item". Another just became a daily cycle of the same three questions..

I never 'like' anything; posts, sites, suggested posts, etc.. Even the fun pictures of friends doing things, even if I'm in them! I've made a few posts that have garnered likes, aeven a few that got shared. I've replied to posts. So, I imagine that FB's algorithm is taking pot-shots at finding the right kind of advertising for me. I have varied interests, and have a lot of things in my 'interests' box. (I even went as far as to 'organize' them into about 5 or 6 categories!). I went thru a few nights recently by actually clicking all the "not relevant to me" and "do not show ads from XX" of the relentless ads in my feed, and that just seemed to add more & more.. (Some were funny, when clicked on the 'why am I seeing this": the response was that I matched their criteria: Aged between 18 & 54 who lived or visited Canada.. Seriously?!

SO, no more FB. maybe a week,. maybe a month, who knows. More time to build, clean house, learn Fluid dynamics, vacuum!

 

[TangoJuliet]

Good luck.

I should probably follow suit, but I'm addicted ! I easily spend several hours of my day on Facebook . I justify it by the fact that I work out of state for a week at a time and it keeps me connected to home... And with the fact that I have a lot of idle time at work (at work now :grin. But truly, there is no good excuse for stupid amount of time I waste on Facebook.

 

[dixontj93060]

My wife made a strong suggestion for me to get off Facebook about 5 years ago. Never was addicted, just did it to test promoting my consulting business. Problem was all these friend requests coming in from old girlfriends and such--old college and high school females cause I never attended a reunion I guess. Anyway, my wife didn't like it and it wasn't a fit for marketing my business anyway, so never became a time waster for me.

 

[Nytrunner]

Good idea. I've read that emotion-inducing posts and associated content from obscure "friends" is quickly catching up to traffic/commuting in terms of daily stress addition.

My work's networks don't appreciate it, so I'm spared for a good chunk of the day, but I could probably do with a break as well.

 

[scottrc]

When Facebook first started, it was cool to talk and show things with old friends and make new ones, but like everything else in the world of media, direct marketing seemed to have take over and it now sucks to weed through a hundred posts before seeing anything original, so I have been pretty much off of it. Do most of my social communicating in Gmail, Hangouts. or Whatsap. Looks like Linkd is going the same way as Facebook and I am about ready to ditch it s well. I much rather spend time on forums like this one.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I've had a love/hate relationship with FB for a while. I have my personal page and keep a page for my business. Actually my biggest problem came from accepting friend requests from large numbers of rocketeers.

About 2 years ago I tried to friend someone that I had never met other than through a FB group. He sent me a polite message stating that he didn't friend anyone he didn't know on a face to face basis and that I could follow his rocketry exploits on the related FB group. At the time I thought it was pretty conservative. Now I understand. I had someone I have met once at a launch start stalking me, people whom I've never met having a political argument on one of my FB posts, etc. I found that I was getting irritated almost daily by someone on FB. A week or so ago I unfriened almost everyone on FB that I had never met face to face. I even unfriended a few who I did know face to face but only seemed to make political posts. I made a public post on my personal FB page stating what I had done and why. I also invited everyone to follow my business page and the TRA and NAR FB groups where I would post my rocketry exploits anyway.

I also made it a rule that if I was friends with someone I had to follow their FB posts. If I can't stand their posts why am I friends with them on FB. It has to be a two way street.

So far it's worked. I feel a lot better about posting personal stuff on my feed and I don't feel like every other post I make or like is going to get someone fired up.

 

[Cabernut]

I haven't been much of a Facebook fan. Seems like 90% posts about: "Look at ME! Me Me ME!", copypasta(cut-n-paste) propaganda, stuff I generally like but don't want to hear about every dang hour, etc.

2016 was a bad year in general for Facebook garbage IMO. Me personally, only unfollowed 1 person, no unfriendings though.

The good thing about Facebook is finding long lost friends that I haven't talked to in 20 years, and keeping in contact with people I'm not geographically near anymore. Recently I was found by a friend of mine in high school(11th grade) that used to give me rides to school. Been out of contact since 1993.

 

[dr wogz]

That was one of the big things that I've been thinking about recently.. A lot the friends I have, I talk to, hang out with, see face to face! Granted, it is nice for long distance aunts & cousins, but I feel that's about it. The long lost ex-girlfriends, the old friends from High school.. There' a reason we don't hang out any more, why we don't talk all the time, why we don't ... it just seems to be a ranking.. As a T-shirt my Brother-in-law has:

FB friends: 233
Real friends: 4


The ads were getting to me too. I "like" a company / product that interested me: Estes, Rapala Rio fly lines, Boeing, Syren, etc.. but getting ads that were (very loosely) based off my profile, my likes, my.. was getting a bit annoying.. Yeah, I shop at Costco, but I don't need to "like" them, same with Tide, Crest, L'Oreal, Sysop, etc.. (If I wanted those ads, I would have liked them at the beginning!) We get enough ads thru other channels; TV, radio, the internet (this page for example!) I don't need my friends 'likes' to try & persuade me to buy brand X..

 

[DanDare]

I've had a love/hate relationship with FB for a while.
...

Same here.
Internet has created new meanings for the "friend" word. Like how it's possible someone to have, let's say, +3,000 friends? Of course they aren't real friends. It can be dangerous even for you physical integrity. Criminals are always using internet to collect people's data. So my rule of thumb in facebook is adding only people I really know personally. Even that... about anything you do, talk, enjoy or comment is shared among everyone on your list, what can be really inadequate. In real life I don't react, talk or behave the same among different social moments or groups I'm inserted. Over exposition is danger in so many levels.

I think it's a cool resource if you know how to use it. As anything in life

 

[boatgeek]

What I'd really like is a filter to remove any post that doesn't have any content generated by my friend. If it wasn't important enough for them to type something in, I don't really need to see it. That would end most of my teeth-gritting. The other dilemma is what to do about family that posts stuff that raises your blood pressure. I don't really want to hide them because they occasionally share stuff I do want to see, but I hate wading through the crap.

 

[Joe_Shockcord]

Facebook has become the CB radio of the 21st century.

 

[hornet driver]

The ONLY reason I have a page is so Deb can play games against herself or gift herself. Watching mold grow is more useful to me.

 

[ChrisAttebery]

I agree.

What I'd really like is a filter to remove any post that doesn't have any content generated by my friend.

 

[Scotty Dog]

TRF is my favorite social media site.
Wife does the FB. Not I.
It (FB) did come in handy when me son was in the Marines.
Me-self, I'm not online much anywhoo. I 've gone days without being on.
No need for it. Its pretty much all for intertainment or research/shopping/parts pieces.

 

[Worsaer]

I don't need to give up Facebook, because like smoking, I never started. Don't need it, never did, not missing anything.

 

[The_Lone_Beagle]

I don't need to give up Facebook, because like smoking, I never started. Don't need it, never did, not missing anything.

Ditto.

I'm not too paranoid (only about the people out to get me ) but I am very concerned about privacy (I've met more than a few weirdo's in my life), and what Facebook asks for and what people give them really, really concerns me.

Also, when people show me stuff on Facebook, about half is pictures of what they had for lunch or dinner, another almost half is simply some marketing meme/post that people are sharing and passing around, and then tiny bit is some personal update of info (which sometimes is appropriate, and sometimes "too much information"). What a waste of time! Except you are lining Zuckerberg's pockets with extra money. Go ahead if you want...

 

[TopRamen]

You'll be a much more improved Human Being for it.
I would suggest getting rid of television too, as all of the sudden real life matters again, and is so much more fulfilling.
I stopped fakebooking shortly after starting, back in like 2011, because I could see exactly what kind of distraction it was.
Kudos to you, you are on the right path.

 

[Hobie1dog]

FB is the epitome of social masturbation. .look at me, what I did, or have, or where I went,, don't you envy me?

 

[TopRamen]

FB is the epitome of social masturbation. .look at me, what I did, or have, or where I went,, don't you envy me?

Exactly!
Well said!

 

[dr wogz]

Something else I was thinking about, is the fact that FB is getting big. I mean really big. We as a society like growth. Our empire depends on it. Our families grow, our businesses grow, our investments grow, it’s what we want! But there comes a time when that growth start to become harder, and new methods are needed to maintain that level of growth. Things can get to a point where they implode under their own weight..

Bring in the advertising. That seems to spur growth, and also seems to be the main money maker for a few avenues, FB being a main user of advertisers intent (and $$!) so when that in-flow start to dry up a bit, or that ad campaign starts to loose it’s bite, time to ramp it up , change the message, get it in front of more people!

I kinda feel that’s happened, or is happening recently with FB, at least from my point of view.. that I need more friends (to share “stuff” with), and I need more interests to like, and therefore get more advertising (tailored or not) to me.. More More More!!

As I mentioned, the ads were getting to be 1 in 4, and I felt like I was constantly getting a stream of “people you may know” Many of whom I don’t know, just by association. What really puzzled me, was why I might know someone who is in a group I belong to. The only criteria, regardless of geography or other influences or criteria..

 

[BDB]

My wife and I share a FB account. She manages it most of the time--mostly just to post pics of our kids so our extended family can see what they are doing.

TRF is my preferred social network. Even though I don't know most of you guys personally, at least you are posting something that I'm actually interested in reading.

 

[Larry Curcio]

Everyone should share my opinions or leave the country. Hit Like if you agree. (Ignore if you are a traitor)

 

[Neilw]

I generally dislike facebook, but I can't really stop using it at this point. All my colleagues use it and I find it's the most practical way to communicate with them. Plus, for the longest time, I was using it since I needed to manage team facebook pages and groups. It turns out that facebook is even better for promotion than paying for an actual website.

When it comes to what I'm seeing on facebook, I don't have a problem with things that I disagree with (sounds like a contradiction, doesn't it). If I see something that I disagree with, I try to take it as an opportunity to figure out if what I think already is wrong. There's no guarantee that anything I think already is correct (except the opinion that "Tag a friend" posts are awful). Seeing something I disagree with is usually an opportunity for me to do more research on that subject. Making Facebook into a means by which to direct my efforts in improving the way I see the world has so far had moderate success.

THAT BEING SAID, facebook is definitely not the right forum for enlightening discussion.

 

[sam_midkiff]

I generally dislike facebook, but I can't really stop using it at this point. All my colleagues use it and I find it's the most practical way to communicate with them. Plus, for the longest time, I was using it since I needed to manage team facebook pages and groups. It turns out that facebook is even better for promotion than paying for an actual website.

<snip>

THAT BEING SAID, facebook is definitely not the right forum for enlightening discussion.

This. With kids in high school, it is essential to, e.g., follow marching band stuff. My college kids prefer it for short communications, and with the uncommunicative one, it is the only way we know he is alive. For Lent, I think I will give up reading my timeline. For fun, I've thought about setting up a satire account with me doing the things I'd do if I had unlimited time and money, but it would just sink another hour a day into the toilet and make my friends who think I am mocking their lives angry.

 

[BuiltFromTrash]

I don't do facebook because I already have enough data mining mongers on my back. Google is enough. I don't need facebook yelling at me about everything wrong with the world or what to buy. I use Adblock+ so no ads on Youtube, websites, or even here on TRF. I don't mind saying it, I will not let companies profit off of my personal data.

Look this up sometime, it is very real and it is how we are able to use so many things "free".

 

[Lowpuller]

Wogz?

What investments are you in? &#128512;&#128512;

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

If you get off Facebook, how will you find out about the Outrage of the Day?

 

[soopirV]

My wife and I share a FB account. She manages it most of the time--mostly just to post pics of our kids so our extended family can see what they are doing.

TRF is my preferred social network. Even though I don't know most of you guys personally, at least you are posting something that I'm actually interested in reading.

I deleted my FB account 5-6 years ago, and have been so happy since. Too much BS, and too many old "friends" that I never really liked anyway! This forum is enough to satisfy any social needs I may have!

 

[ksaves2]

Joined and quit within hours many years ago. They kept pestering the heck out of me but I withstood the beseeching to go back and they eventually stopped pestering me. If I recall correctly people were complaining at the time it was "hard" to
actually quit. Me it was easy 'cause I didn't do anything or post. I like this place so much better as it is "specialty" directed. Kurt

 

[mrichhcirm]

If you get off Facebook, how will you find out about the Outrage of the Day?

The Outrage of the Day? Only one? in my feed it's usually the Outrage Parade. Although things have improved a bit since I learned how to use the "hide" functions.