Do you use Facebook ?

Yes, I'm on facebook, along with all of my kids &
most of my relatives including my 84 yr old mother.
 
the FB UI looks and works like something a beginner computer geek cobbled together in 1981
 
I get a little frustrated with FB from time to time, as it gives me the same level of detail about the lives of people in my outer circle as it does from those who occupy my "inner circle". Nevertheless, it's quite useful although I do sometimes think that it artificially prolongs the natural process of falling out of touch with people who would otherwise drift out of my life.

I have begun to customize my feed to deliver me information on hobbies and subjects I am interested in, as well as news from a number of trusted sources.

It's good for posting pictures of cats as well!
 
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It's how I keep in touch with my real live close friends.

And, it's how my immediate family first found out about the sudden unexpected death of my brother a few days ago.
 
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I view facebook as the AOL of the 21st century....

-gauss
 
No...I do not have a Facebook account or use it in any way. Total waste of time.

I do, however, play World of Warcraft....which is so much more mature and never a waste of time.:LOL:
 
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I've never been on Facebook.

If you do, and find it useful, then roll.
 
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Nope

I personally believe it's ridiculous... but what do I know. My prejudice kept me from buying FB when it was trading near $18.00.
 
I use it and like it (along with Instagram and Twitter, just a little bit). I keep my friends list pretty tight, don't accept people I don't know fairly well, do not ever post on vacations nor do I use locations on post, and posts are only visible to friends.

That said, my tri sponsors require that I am active on social media, hence I do it more than I otherwise would. Still, I like seeing what my old friends are up to.
 
Glad to see I am not alone in having no use for Facebook. I frequently think about Betty White's monologue line about Facebook when she hosted Saturday Night Live back in 2010:

“I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time.”

You nailed it, Betty White! :)
 
I use it all the time. I probably spend 20 minutes a day on there, and sometimes an hour (between facebook and reading things linked to from facebook). I never browse news sites any more since my friends or "friends" or groups I belong to tend to post much more relevant and timely information or links to interesting stories.

I block a ton of people that I don't want to know anything about but don't want to delete them from my life forever.

It's a very useful tool for finding out what's up with friends, setting up social events between friends, and chatting with other people about any variety of things (hey neighbor can I borrow your X, "amigo, do you know how to nixtalamize corn?"). It's also very useful to share interesting photos or videos of our kids with my family and friends.

It's just another communication tool like a phone, email, snail mail, talking in person, etc. I hear people complain all the time about it and it's usually annoying "friends" that make their facebook experience crappy. I politely suggest blocking (adding to ignore list) anyone who they find unimportant so that their news stream is nearly 100% signal and almost zero noise.
 
I have a widespread family- nieces, nephews, cousins- in areas I never visit and it's been wonderful to keep in touch with them and see bits of their lives. Same with former coworkers and with people in my HS class (I'm hundreds of miles away and rarely visit the area). Because of FB, we occasionally get visits from family who are driving cross-country (we're not far off I-70) because they know where we are and know us well enough to ask if they can crash here for a night. We enjoy that.

It has its drawbacks. I get banner ads from Wal-Mart telling me a now-deceased acquaintance "likes" WM because the family kept her account open so they could share thoughts and memories. I've blocked the feed of contacts who do nothing but repost ooey-gooey recipes with processed foods that will never see the inside of my kitchen. I tend to tangle with 2 former HS classmates over some political issues where we disagree; not sure if I should show up at my next reunion! But, in general, I'd rather be with FB than without it.

DH and a friend from college do have fake names. DH wanted to be connected to a Board of people dealing with the same rare disease he has. He was named after a suave British actor (long dead, common last name) and uses the actor's last name. The college friend uses the name of the main character in a favorite novel. Zuckerberg hasn't caught onto them yet.
 
I am surprised at the animosity shown towards FB by those that are quite active in this Forum. Perhaps someone can explain to me in what way the two venues differ. (I have been treating them as the same so some correction seems in order.)
 
RonBoyd said:
I am surprised at the animosity shown towards FB by those that are quite active in this Forum. Perhaps someone can explain to me in what way the two venues differ. (I have been treating them as the same so some correction seems in order.)
Click to expand...
I'd call this forum a Web 2.0 thing. FB is more 3.0.
 
RonBoyd said:
I am surprised at the animosity shown towards FB by those that are quite active in this Forum. Perhaps someone can explain to me in what way the two venues differ. (I have been treating them as the same so some correction seems in order.)
Click to expand...
What animosity? By my count more than half of the responders in this thread use and like FB, and among those that don't, most just said "no".

Your other point, how we differ, is interesting. One way we differ is here we use avatars and invented usernames, FB is mostly real identity. Another, we collectively work to keep the forum free from business promotion, while FB works with commercial interests to mine the user base.
 
RonBoyd said:
I am surprised at the animosity shown towards FB by those that are quite active in this Forum. Perhaps someone can explain to me in what way the two venues differ. (I have been treating them as the same so some correction seems in order.)
Click to expand...
I think if my FB page had a moderator that put up the "Bacon Cartoon", I'd be much happier on FB. That's what we have here that FB doesn't.

Now, I can self moderate, but it can get old.

I used FB a lot a few years ago. Then a bunch of my friends became preachy, and others a bunch of whiners. So, I only visit rarely now.

I think I might create a new group or hide all those and try again. I really liked keeping up with family, watching great nieces/nephews group up, etc. But I could do without the politics, grandstanding, and the 15 times I'm admonished for ruining the world <put your vice here>.
 
MichaelB said:
What animosity? By my count more than half of the responders in this thread use and like FB, and among those that don't, most just said "no".

Your other point, how we differ, is interesting. One way we differ is here we use avatars and invented usernames, FB is mostly real identity. Another, we collectively work to keep the forum free from business promotion, while FB works with commercial interests to mine the user base.
Click to expand...


This reminds me. I have a facebone to pick with you, mister. ;)
 
MichaelB said:
What animosity?

Your other point, how we differ, is interesting. One way we differ is here we use avatars and invented usernames, FB is mostly real identity. Another, we collectively work to keep the forum free from business promotion, while FB works with commercial interests to mine the user base.
Click to expand...

"Nope...no desire at all. "
"Never even a thought to acquire it....... "
"Nope. I have no use for it. "
"Always turned my nose up at it because it just seemed like a lot of "look at me and how great my life is" or so I've heard."
"I can't stand Facebook although I have an old account that I very rarely look at."
"I personally believe it's ridiculous..."
"Glad to see I am not alone in having no use for Facebook."
Click to expand...

Yes, the UI is different. However, the usage is the same.
 
Facebook can be a helpful medium for organizing events with local friends. In the past week or two I have found a friend who, like me, is interested in attending an upcoming sporting event and we have bought tickets. I never would have guessed she would be interested in this sport so would not have thought to call her. I got advice on best places to see the salmon run. I posted photos of a recent vacation, which led to another (private) set of messages, which is leading to plans for a party......in other words, it's a social network.
 
I don't use Facebook in the way it was intended. My only Facebook "friends" are my daughter and her husband, and my brother who is badly disabled due to stroke and can't get online. I still can't bring myself to unfriend him. :)

I use Facebook just to communicate with my daughter, and to find out what she is up to. I don't have any desire to have a bazillion FB friends like so many do. I'm kind of an INTJ about it I guess.
 
I don't use FB. Originally I did this to annoy a few people who wanted me to get on it. Over time, it has turned into kind of acool thing to be able to say I'm not on it.

Most of my extended family uses it, but it's pretty much for gossip and things like baby pictures which I'm not unhappy to miss out on.
 
You don't use Facebook. Facebook uses you.

The advertisers use Facebook, and you are the product FB sells them.
 
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