

John Dvorak: Why I Don't Use Facebook - adeelarshad82
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375715,00.asp

======
kenjackson
I also don't use Facebook, but I have an account. I rarely log in as there's
generally nothing for me to see on Facebook. On occassion I get an email
letting me know someone sent me a message or a friend request. I usually let
those pile up, and then once every two weeks or so I log on and deal with them
all.

I like the picture hosting and the ability to find long lost friends more
quickly (although honestly, I don't really have many long lost friends -- and
LinkedIn I find better for finding old colleagues), but it's not sticky for
me.

I'm probably odd that I'd much rather read about how Logo turtle graphics and
JS canvas are isomorphic than read status updates from friends. Not that I
don't like knowing what my friends are doing, but its rarely the case that I
need up to the minute notification. Once every two weeks is fine. And if
there's something big, someone will call or send email.

~~~
gst
Me too. I have an account so that people stop asking me to create an account.
However, I've disabled most of the features in the privacy options (my account
doesn't even have a "wall") and the only information for visitors is my
"about" box asking them to send me an email instead of a Facebook message.

I currently read mails about once or twice a day, because using things like
email notifications just interrupts me during work. Regularly checking
Facebook updates would be too much noise to me.

I have tons of interesting content that I want to read (but I don't have
enough time), so why should I read uninteresting Facebook updates instead? And
to socialize I'm happy to get away from my computer, instead of spending even
more time before the screen.

------
brudgers
> _"There is no reason for anyone with any chops online to be remotely
> involved with Facebook, except to peruse it for lost relatives."_

Facebook's facilitation of connections between individuals is a pretty big
exception. It's sort of like saying, "there's no reason to read Dvorak's blog,
except to find out what he has written."

~~~
codeup
At the time, AOL's facilitation of people going online was a pretty big
exception, too. After a short while, it was time to move on, and those who
showed the way ahead were those who had already been critical of AOL.

~~~
brudgers
I agree. However, Dvorak's argument depends on:

    
    
         GOTO [url] or [AOL keyword] 
    

having an analog with regards to Facebook. But such an analog doesn't
currently exist and the sort of personalized information channel Facebook
makes available doesn't appear likely to exist on the open web.

------
vessenes
Reading Dvorak posts is like watching the slow-motion trainwreck. I thought to
myself, "I wonder what idiotic thing John Dvorak is going to say this time?"
And did I click? Yes, Yes I did.

It strikes me that you have to be a pretty serious egotist/narcissist to think
that Facebook is all about publishing, as opposed to all about connecting with
people in your life.

And, that mental profile would also suit someone who is happily, aggressively,
FREQUENTLY wrong about technology, but doesn't mind making a career out of
writing about it.

I'm still going to read his occasional missives, though, I just can't help
myself.

------
wmeredith
He makes a good point here, but Dvorak's thinking on technology is a crap
shoot at best. This is the guy who thought the _mouse_ was bullshit, he also
thought the iPad was bullshit. I guess if you swing for the fences a lot
you're going to miss, but sometimes it seems like he's contrary for the sake
of being so. It's kind of his shtick. I think he's even said in an interview
before that he's basically a well paid, well educated troll.

~~~
GrooveStomp
Just because something is popular in the mainstream doesn't mean it's not
bullshit. As far as calling himself a well paid, well educated troll; well,
you can't take a tongue-in-cheek comment like that completely at face value.

Rather than calling his thinking on technology a crap shoot, I'd call it a
brutally honest personal assessment. In the case of his supposed bullshit call
on the mouse and ipad, I'd call him exactly correct.

~~~
wglb
So in what way are the mouse and iPad bullshit? I am curious about your
criteria.

------
guywithabike
If you suffix every other sentence with "... because I have no friends." it
makes a _whole_ lot more sense.

------
bradleyland
Similar ideas to what Simon at Buddy Cloud expressed:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2076932>

If you look back over the history of many technologies, you will see that
closed often precedes open. Profit motive is a powerful force, but it is
frequently overwhelmed by the motivation of freedom.

------
noelchurchill
Facebook is like living in a large city. People are attracted to NYC because
there is a lot going on there, they know people there, etc.

Saying "Why use facebook when I have the whole internet" is similar to saying
"Why live in the city when I can live in any number of other small towns."
Sure, some people aren't big city people, and they like the smaller tighter
rural communities. The city can belittle someone's ego and make them feel
small and insignificant. There are always going to be the "city people" and
the "non-city people."

On Facebook Dvorak is just another user, but on pcmag.com he is an important
journalist who's opinions are valued. Easy to see why he prefers one over the
other.

------
revorad
Troll ahead. Do not read.

~~~
AtTheLast
That should be the name of the article.

------
wglb
(This article is not really HN worthy). Dvorak has been oversimplifying since
the keyboard was invented.

If you have family or friends that don't live in the technical echosphere that
we all do here, it is a good way to keep in touch with them. Even my mother,
who is a wizzard at Word Perfect Reveal Codes isn't going to build a web site
to share her poetry.

I am sensing strains of the Priesthood mentality here.

------
iterationx
Facebook isn't a closed system because you can write apps for it. It's an
application platform which I think (caveat prediction) will become web
infrastructure. The social layer will be integrated with everything. FB could
screw it up and someone else could pull it off, but at the moment it looks
like they will win.

------
meadhikari
I was just curious on what this man had to say about Twitter and I found this

Twitter is the New CB radio

<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351932,00.asp>

------
ebun
"Which begs the question as to why anyone would use Facebook when it is
essentially AOL done right?"

I'm often taken aback when I hear/read these kind of comments. It shows the
gulf between most web users and a minority of techies.

------
pothibo
Well it makes sense to tech-savvy people since they know that the other
services exist. Ask your mum and your aunt to name 5 other service other than
YouTube and Facebook... They probably won't even be able to name 1.

------
Aloisius
I've deleted my Facebook account. And you know what? It didn't impact my life
in the slightest. I was never a huge voyeur, so I never really got a lot of
value out of Facebook anyway.

------
jpwagner
_Facebook is actually the logical end-point of what AOL should have become_

huh??

he seems to advocate never using a _new_ thing.

~~~
wccrawford
Once upon a time, AOL was a BBS. What drives a BBS is community. They worked
really hard on that aspect and even had messaging between users, forums,
games, and more.

Then, they decided they were an ISP instead and started claiming such. People
forgot all the other services they offered and focused on the millions of
frisbies they gave out.

Facebook is all about community, with messaging, forums, games, event
planning, and more.

So yeah, it's what AOL should have been, but wasn't.

------
brlewis
Facebook used to be a closed system, and might become one again someday. But
for now the graph API makes it an open system.

------
joeyh
Weird that he says Geocities was part of AOL. AFAIK, they were never
corporately connected.

------
stuaxo
What about all the other John Dvoraks that came before ?

~~~
iwwr
There is only one John D. Dvorak.

------
jdp23
TL;DR summary: "because I'm an elitist"

~~~
frossie
Really? I thought his point was "because it is a closed system".

~~~
jdp23
"Facebook is a simple system for the masses that do not really care about
technology and do not want to learn anything new except something easy like
Facebook."

"There is no reason for anyone with any chops online to be remotely involved
with Facebook, except to peruse it for lost relatives."

------
revorad
Dear HNers who upvoted this article, this is EXACTLY the kind of crap which
makes this place suck. Please use the flag button, not upvote on trolls.

<http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

