Absolutely using it to sell books (at a high cost, btw, if he tries to get back on FB), but he brings up some interesting points. "It does things on our behalf when we're not even there."
But my favorite part is at the bottom where we are all invited to "like" CNN Opinions on...wait for it.. FB. You'd think he demand that they not have that below his article.
One day we'll look back and laugh about how much we needed to check in to a black mirror every so often, like how people looked back to the 70's and 80's and laugh how much cocaine addiction, was tolerated in social settings.
Why do people keep talking about Facebook as if it's an exercise in ego-stroking? I don't sit there staring at my own profile page, I use it to communicate with people.
I think a lot of people miss the point of Facebook. They say it's a wide, shallow network with low-touch engagement. But that's just fine for what it is. Rather than comparing Facebook engagement to some hypothetically deeper, more ostensibly fulfilling form of social interaction, we should be comparing Facebook to not-Facebook. How many people were we keeping in touch with before we started using Facebook? How have our existing friendships deepened or shallowed because of Facebook? My guess is that, on balance, we have suffered very minimal (if any) "shallowing" of true friendships, while simultaneously we have rekindled a lot of (admittedly shallow, but nonetheless existent) secondary and tertiary friendships.
Most important, we have probably increased our frequency of engagement with all friends -- close and not-so-close -- on a daily basis, and no doubt by a dramatic margin. Facebook gives people a great way to engage in social interactions at low social cost, so to speak. There's minimal risk of non-reciprocation, the way there could be with SMS or email or phone calls. Thus, the barriers to initiating social contact are drastically lowered. Frequency increases accordingly.
Bla bla bla - show me another ubiquitous platform that let's me chat with my mother halfway across to the state from my mobile phone/computer/toaster.
I only have 49 Facebook friends, I don't add every other schmoe to my list. I laugh when I see people with 2000+ friends and then complain about privacy. Give me a break.
You know, you're probably right. I was one of those FB users who ended up with a large number of connections on FB, and then it felt like a runaway train. I tried to adjust the privacy settings but they seemed to be designed to trip users up every step of the way. Finally last week I deactivated my account. For me it has been wonderful, I don't waste time on long "quick breaks" any more. FB might be our generation's TV - a huge time-sink and a major productivity black hole.
Is exactly the equivalent of TV for this generation; is just more focus on the ego and the narcissism of every person and not just plain entertainment. Although is obvious, it would be unfair to not mention that Facebook can be an useful tool for communication; but in my opinion it seems to be becoming a less common use-case.
17 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 47.0 ms ] threadBut my favorite part is at the bottom where we are all invited to "like" CNN Opinions on...wait for it.. FB. You'd think he demand that they not have that below his article.
Most important, we have probably increased our frequency of engagement with all friends -- close and not-so-close -- on a daily basis, and no doubt by a dramatic margin. Facebook gives people a great way to engage in social interactions at low social cost, so to speak. There's minimal risk of non-reciprocation, the way there could be with SMS or email or phone calls. Thus, the barriers to initiating social contact are drastically lowered. Frequency increases accordingly.
I only have 49 Facebook friends, I don't add every other schmoe to my list. I laugh when I see people with 2000+ friends and then complain about privacy. Give me a break.