
Ask HN: Why, you all intellectual people not quitting Facebook? - dprophecyguy
https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=FXdYSQ6nu-M<p>I just went through this video about Cambridge Analytica whistleblower that talks about How and Why they did what they did. And it sounds so scary when they talk about Changing Culture which could be done by Changing People.   
It sounds like a script from Black Mirror and now it seems like we are living in a black mirror.  
As a person myself who uses fb. I wanted you guys to ask why even after knowing all these things you guys can&#x27;t quit FB.  
I am interested in more of matrix points that describe concisely why you are on FB and after this thing has happened what you are going to do about it in near future?
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vinchuco
I quit years ago. Setting aside the condescension in the title, it's probably
useful to analyze the reasons people nowadays aren't voting with their actions
as much as with their online activism or even personal opinion.

Restricted to the FB scope. Some of many:

\- Human need for social connection (which FB preys on)

\- Ignorance (and poor sense of privacy) and carelessness (even though people
waste hours on it, they don't think it's an important part of their lives)

\- FB's self-preservation engagement tactics (your attention = clicks = $$$)
(FB: "you're deactivating your account? but look! all of these people will
miss you. Oh. You meant delete? Google it.")

\- Ego and insecurity (you can selectively display to others what you want of
you, hide what you don't want, block what you don't like, anything to enrich
your fake sense of online self)

\- Fast food equivalent of catching up with people

\- Fear of losing contacts (and fear of loneliness)

\- Detachment from moral responsibility (why should I feel guilty for
something FB is doing?)

\- ...

~~~
dprophecyguy
Sorry if the title gives you the feeling of condescension in the title but by
Intellectual, I mean people who can assess the situation and can act according
to it. The people who know right and wrong about it.

I am from India and here I can guarantee you that 95% of people are not even
aware of whats going on in this social media ecosystem. What it does, what the
impact of it and everything. And hence I felt like why people who know that
it's bad why they cant get rid of it.

Now coming to your points.

\- The human need for social connection (I really feel that nobody really get
some valuable interaction out of any social media. The only exception being
when you talk to someone special and someone you won't have access directly in
your circle.) I think what most people relate to social interaction is via
liking other people's posts and also getting your post being liked in return
which is equivalent to your 4 point getting the dopamine hit and boosting your
ego.

\- Ignorance point is right but its also being complemented with the fact that
they are being bombarded with these values that these companies have cooked to
tell that whatever they are doing clicking and scrolling is somehow adding
value to their lives.

\- I agree with your 4th point Ego is the only thing that we get as in case of
dopamine hit. But do you really want to go that path?

\- Fast food equivalent of catching up but again my same argument ? are you
really catching up ? or is it the just fake perception of catching up?

\- I am running out of time but I also disagree with your last two points
about losing contact and detachment because I don't think these things are
fulfilled by them. It's just fake values that we start believing in and start
perceiving how to be in contact and detachment the way these big companies
want us to believe.

------
askafriend
\- I'm able to use the tool in a way that is responsible and provides value to
me. It's a rolodex of all the different people I've met in my life with up-to-
date methods of communication to easily reach them. That's valuable.

\- At times, I have certainly abused the tool, but I'm quick to catch myself
when I feel this happening.

\- I only post things that I would be comfortable saying in public. It's like
a public scrapbook for me. I have people added from all different parts of my
life, including work.

\- I don't use it _that_ much. It's a bit like personal email in terms of
pace. High frequency communication doesn't happen on Facebook for me, it
happens on iMessage. I know some people who use FB Messenger or Facebook
itself for high-frequency communication, which is fine if that's what they
prefer, but that's not me.

------
SanderSantema
I manage a promotion page and unfortunately this page isn't even close to
being popular enough to get people to visit it on other channels.

But to me this whole disaster wasn't such a surprise. If this was a revealing
moment for the people who often read this site I could only ascribe it to
ignorance and naivety. It has been blatantly obvious that Facebook and all the
other big internet companies who serve "free" services have been doing this
all along.

On the other side, for some people Facebook and others really are essential
just like I couldn't do without Whatsapp since everyone here uses it. To me
all of this seems like a failure of the law too, people should be protected
from these things. Nobody would physically sign a contract without thinking
about it and that's the thing we do online all the time.

------
bsvalley
I have an empty profile that I can't delete since I manage a few business
pages. You need an FB personal profile in order to open a business page.
That's the only reason why I still have a profile (empty). I removed all
pictures, comments, posts, etc. It's literally an empty page.

------
EnderMB
A few reasons:

1\. For me, the damage is already done. Facebook has over a decade of data
from me, and even if I were to delete my account the Cambridge Analytica story
shows that Facebook has already shared that data. Even if there was a way for
Facebook to delete all of my data, they've already lost control. It's like
taking the bullets out of a persons gun after they have shot you. You're still
wounded.

2\. Facebook has largely become the social network where you interact with
people you don't really care about. My feed is full of third-party content,
and stuff about people I haven't seen in years - people I knew from school,
people I don't even like, etc. If I delete Facebook I delete my ability to be
nosy, and I think that's why a lot of people won't delete their accounts.
Whether you're perving on the guy/girl at school that went from zero to ten,
laughing about some asshole from school now has a shitty life and several
failed relationships, or how many kids the girl from your English class has
popped out since leaving school, Facebook will always be the platform for
that.

3\. Despite its flaws, it's the closest we've got to a universal social
network. I do BJJ a few times a week, and outside of a few people I know that
everyone at my gym is on Facebook, so if I want to chat to any of them I can
use messenger, or I can add them as a friend.

Most of all, I genuinely don't believe anything bad will happen to Facebook as
a result of this. Their higher-ups might get a grilling from
ministers/congress, but they will get away with their crimes - and make no
mistake, these should be serious crimes. Facebook allowed access to their data
under false pretences, and the first news to come from the arrest warrant was
that Facebook engineers were on-site right away at Cambridge Analytica. In a
just world, Facebook would be fined for every breach of a persons data, to the
tune of tens of billions. The fine should be so great that it forces Facebook
to scale back their operations and completely restructure their business. In
reality, someone might go to jail at Cambridge Analytica, but this practice
will continue. If anything, this practice will be promoted as an unethical,
but unpunishable tactic across the world.

------
jackgolding
80%+ of private events I attend are hosted on facebook (nearly 100% of social
ones.) Every gig I attend I find out about due to Facebook (easier than
reading a print gig-guide.)

~~~
besasam
Same. There really needs to be a good alternative to manage and discover
events in your area, but most will probably fail due to the missing
userbase/users' reluctance to switch to a new platform.

Some organizers/venues in my area put you on their guest list and have lower
entrance fees for people who are "going" to their Facebook event. The only way
I see a switch happening is if they agree to only offer those rewards for
users of the new platform. But some of them are already showing dissent and
setting up their own mailing lists/group texts, so I still have hope!

------
bikamonki
B/c breaking a habit is really, really hard. Like asking smokers why don't
they quit even in light of known risks. It is not a matter of users being
intelectual or not, it is a matter of rewards that reinforce the habit. Think
of that silly moment when a person _shares_ a picture of a mundane act, like a
meal about to be eaten. What is the reward?

FB is an epidemic. It will go away when ppl (most likely new generations)
develop resistance to it.

------
orionblastar
I got family on Facebook I can't find anywhere else. Some of them died and
their account memorized with pictures and comments. I find new family members
too.

Facebook is like Microsoft Windows, you want to get rid of it for Linux but
the apps you need and people you know still run Windows and need help.

------
tetek
I never shared anything personal, I don't have any real photos. I don't follow
anything/anyone so my wall is empty. I have it for messenger, oauth and one
page that I administer.

------
alashley
I use it for Tinder and Bumble.

------
warwickavenue
snip - self censorship

