Just joined Facebook, OMG The good, the bad, and the ugly

[sengsational]

+1

On the culture here on this board vs. FB.

Same here. We are not named as a real person. Location and age are approximate. No other info is shared. People figure out who we are by context.

We use Facebook to follow local nature and other happenings. Very active local nature groups - it a great way to keep up with the latest.

Some folks went on a pelagic birding trip yesterday. This morning I got to see photos of the whale shark they encountered plus several great deep water birds. Very cool - that's what I like FB for.

Real name, but no DOB, no cell phone, no email.

Also like you, I only got on to follow my interests. Ok, you got me, I had missed getting invited to events I was interested in because they were scheduled on FB (only), so I joined.

I make no attempt to scroll the news feed regularly. I just click the "notifications" (the globe with the red number). And liberally use the "don't show me this cr*p" buttons (except on ads, I just ignore those).

 

[freebird5825]

I joined FB a few years back only to be able to get news about high school reunions. I did add a few local friends, but after my umpteenth Farmville invitation, I did the "unfollow" thing for the local friends but sent each one a message saying why. Everyone was cool about it. Some I had to "unfriend" because they were relentless with actively sending the various game invitations.

I log onto FB maybe once a month.

Mr B, on the other hand, is an avid FB user. His grown children use FB a lot, so he likes to see their posts. He is quite the character and puts up some pretty funny posts himself.

 

[travelover]

I was one of the first people not to join Facebook.

 

[imoldernu]

Really makes me want to give the moderators of this forum a really big LIKE! for what they do to keep everything civil AND interesting!

+1

 

[RunningBum]

You can block those game invitations without unfollowing the friend. I don't remember exactly how, but when you go to hide on of those posts I think it gives you the option to block everything from that app/game.

 

[sengsational]

If you are using FireFox I recommend an add on called Facebook Purity. It allows you to filter out all the ads and crap you don't want to see as well as set the default to "see everything" instead of top posts.

I installed it. Nice functionality. I hope it's not doing any evil.

 

[W2R]

When I first joined Facebook years ago, like many I discovered "The Dark Side of Facebook" (in other words, the problems being discussed in this thread). It was very distressing to me, so in short order I instituted a massive unfriending binge and decided to just use Facebook to keep up with my daughter, period. After purging my other Facebook friends, I tightened up security to the max. I have a long list of friends requests that I ignore. Problem solved.

 

[Cobra9777]

Of my 100 or so FB friends, there are 2 or 3 who don't have enough common sense to avoid posting/sharing/liking extremist political/religious/personal rants. Comes with the territory. I just sorta smirk and move along. As someone else suggested, you have to put FB in perspective. It's really just a microcosm of all the people (and their attitudes) that you've interacted with face-to-face all your life. If it gets too negative with a particular person, I just unfollow them. Same as real life. No biggie. IMO, the positives of Facebook far outweigh the little annoyances. I love keeping up with extended family and old HS/college friends that otherwise would be distant fading memories.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

Back before Facebook created those lists, I created my own lists, and bookmarked the "closest" list as the page I enter FB at, to ensure I see the updates I most want to see first, then I go to the main feed if I have time. I can also choose to have my posts only seen by that list of people, or any other list. I'm not at my pc right now, but Google FB lists and you can find out how they work.

I even have a list of people who I want to read but who post so frequently that I don't want them cluttering up my "closest" list. [emoji4]

I love FB. I love seeing what trips people are taking, what their kids are up to, and getting back in touch with people I lost track of long ago. I don't have many people who do the religious or political ranting stuff, but those that do, I either just glide past or eventually hide their posts.

Thanks for the clue to FB Lists, just created them, and they do clean things up a bit.

 

[candrew]

I know people who post 20-30 times a day: "met with Jim", "walking to the donut shop now", "got to bed at 11PM", "leaving tomorrow for 2 weeks" (come and rob me!)
Really?

+1

DW has a friend that posted on FB a closeup photo of a rash she had on her leg. Same friend posted a photo of her father asleep in his hospital bed (w/o his knowledge or prior approval). More posts of her other various physical ailments (trust me, this is TMI sort of stuff) along with relationship drama.

 

[Koolau]

Uh, well, from the dinosaur who just 2 weeks ago sent his first text message - ever! - you may understand why Facebook and its ilk have never interested me. The mods (and we ourselves) have done a pretty good job of keeping this site politics/religion/etc. free (with the occasional appearance of Porky). I see no reason to subject myself to any such screeds or diatribes (or even to long lost relatives for that matter, heh, heh.) I have nothing against social media and I'm sure they are a blessing and a joy to many. I just am not one of those folks at this time. YMMV

 

[audreyh1]

Some people do treat FB a as their personal journal. It's a bit embarrassing to us introverted types. Do they realize how many people are reading their personal angst stories?

Of course FB encourages this by asking them to post "what's on their mind".

 

[48Fire]

Just messaged this morning with a friend from Germany. Exchanged pictures, etc. Not likely happening without FB. But it does get a little much for some "friends" posting crazy things.

 

[Lucantes]

I think everyone in the world should be on FB, post constantly about anything that you want to, click Like for all things that you like , Share everything that catches your fancy, and click on every ad that appears (Full Disclosure: I own FB stock!).

 

[easysurfer]

I just hid some things from my FB timeline today.

I learned too to set my privacy setting to limit what shows up on tagged photos. I could set "none" but some photos are okay. Others, now need my approval .

 

[karen1972]

I'm one of those FB groupies.. I have friends around the world that there is just no better way of staying in touch with... there isn't enough time in the day to write/call all of them, but FB allows me to see how they are doing.

The bad of course is the major influx of religion and politics into FB ..and it has caused me to unfriend people in real life as I just had no idea some of them had such hatred in them.

The great is seeing everyone posting their kids off to school.. to see them grow up even while Im' 1000 miles away.

I'm one of those people that also like the games.. people just need to learn to block items on FB. I've even learned you can turn off notifications to a thread.. ie when your friend tags you in her new business and 180 people congratulate her, you can op out of seeing all that. it takes a little work to set it up, but once you get use to it, you can filter out most of the negative.

 

[easysurfer]

I have a brother who, his personality and FB is a bad combo. I really don't need to see the plate of food of where we went out to eat at every single night. . Plus, other friends or family think FB is a place to start throwing F-bombs . I've learned for those, putting them as an acquaintance instead of friend make FB more manageable.

 

[Pbkmaine]

I have friends from all over the political spectrum, and have hidden many political posts. But if the lesbian socialist atheists ever meet the conservative fundamentalist Christians, I am afraid that WW III might result.

 

[MichaelB]

Both there and here, which is why we avoid these characterizations.

 

[travelover]

Just messaged this morning with a friend from Germany. Exchanged pictures, etc. Not likely happening without FB. But it does get a little much for some "friends" posting crazy things.

As a lark, I "friended" a person in Germany with my exact (unusual) name. It wasn't funny when he started posting crazy, racist stuff and other people thought it was me.

 

[Redbugdave]

I joined FB about a year ago after avoiding it for so long. Old dogs do learn new tricks. I was worried about the security, etc. Now, I check in every day or so. I have a lot of outdoor interests and really like the outdoor groups and clubs I belong to. It is the best way to get information of upcoming hikes, etc. I keep up with friends that way, too. Pictures, etc. I have met real people and made real friends through Facebook because of our interests.

I can't believe all the people that have to repost political stuff and trash in general. Kinda like people that blather on their cell phones all day. I either unfriend or unfollow.

Here is a good link to helping on the settings:
http://www.komando.com/tips/269130/5-facebook-settings-to-change-now/all

 

[easysurfer]

I joined FB about a year ago after avoiding it for so long. Old dogs do learn new tricks. I was worried about the security, etc. Now, I check in every day or so. I have a lot of outdoor interests and really like the outdoor groups and clubs I belong to. It is the best way to get information of upcoming hikes, etc. I keep up with friends that way, too. Pictures, etc. I have met real people and made real friends through Facebook because of our interests.

I can't believe all the people that have to repost political stuff and trash in general. Kinda like people that blather on their cell phones all day. I either unfriend or unfollow.

Here is a good link to helping on the settings:
5 Facebook settings to change now | One Page | Komando.com

Thanks for the link on the settings. I did the first one to stop autoplay of videos, then gave up on the rest . That author did a good job summarizing the settings but trying to do them flipping back and forth on screens was just too cumbersome. That's why I chose Facebook as the worst company in regards to privacy in the Poll posted on this site .

 

[Redbugdave]

And don't forget...
https://www.facebook.com/EarlyRetirementCommunity

 

[Elbata]

I say too bad people don't join FB because of some preconceived ideas.

I use FB mainly to get posts of topics I find interesting: Groups like Center for Inquiry, Science and Critical Thinking, Bill Gates, Science Daily, you get the idea.

After reading a book, I'll sometimes write the author via her FB page. In a few instances we've become "friends".

Before Jordan Spieth, the golfer, starting doing all his winning, I posted on his FB page and he wrote back.

So it bothers my wife that I don't "follow" her on FB, but I'm just not that interested in what she's having for lunch. But to be able to have conversations with (what I think are) brilliant people, or people I greatly respect, now that is fun.

But it's still exciting to write to someone I've completely forgotten about from over 50 years ago.

 

[Pbkmaine]

Follow your wife! It will make her happy and cost you nothing. That's why I follow my husband. Besides, I learn stuff that way.