

Facebook: Your Year in Review - georgebashi
https://www.facebook.com/yearinreview

======
DeusExMachina
I used to be the person that didn't see any value in new year's eve
celebrations, or birthdays and any recurrent celebration. To me they were just
a day like any other from a grander scheme. I'm just a tiny fraction different
from yesterday. It's just a turn around the sun from an arbitrary point in
space. So why bother?

But recently I realized the value they have. Humans need cycles and
renovations. They need to get to a point where they can look back to what
happened and what didn't in their lives and plan for the next cycle to make
better. They need celebrations to allow them to relieve important moments and
to realize that time is passing.

We celebrate not because the day itself has any special meaning, but because
every one of us can get a special meaning out of it.

I was already coming to the realization, but the turning point was when a
friend of mine told me her experiences working in countries close to the
equator, where seasons and cycles don't exists. There, the culture is to live
by the day, because winter never comes and they don't need to prepare for hard
seasons. If they are hungry, fruits are always available, food is always
provided by nature.

For this reason they don't plan ahead at work, they don't save money and they
waste a lot of resources thinking that there will always be something provided
to them. This was her hardest problem in working in those cultures.

So, these cycles shape cultures and are a big part of what pushed mankind
forward. Now I look at them with different eyes.

~~~
qnk
_> For this reason they don't plan ahead at work, they don't save money and
they waste a lot of resources thinking that there will always be something
provided to them. This was her hardest problem in working in those cultures._

It would be good to know in which country your friend went to and what she was
doing there. I was born an raised in Colombia (you can tell it by my far from
perfect English), been living in Europe for more than five years now, and I've
had the opportunity to travel to more than a dozen different countries. I
completely disagree about the conclusion your friend jumped into from her
experience near the Equator.

It was 1986, if I remember correctly, when our country was hit by El Niño[1].
We barely had rain for months, so the government decided for the first time
ever, to implement day-light saving time and electricity rationing. Most of
our energy is hydropower, so it was very important for us to make a very
conservative use of electricity. Schools and offices changed their schedules
and everyone was very conscious about the situation. I was just a child, but I
realized how important our natural resources were and that there is a really
big difference between using them and wasting them.

I speak for myself, but believe me when I tell you this was a generalized
sentiment. I lived in a big city, but there are small villages (even Today)
that only have running water for a couple of hours a day, because there's not
enough money to keep the water treatment plant turned on 24/7.

Now, living in the first world, I can tell that people here in general tend to
be less conscious about those facts. I see it everyday at my office, at
parties, public events, etc.

I don't think this has to do with geography, it's something cultural and it's
not like that in the place where I come from. Is people in Hawaii living day
by day and wasting resources because they are closer to the equator? I don't
think so.

I recommend you to travel more, don't let your friends tell you, experience it
first hand, get to know different people, different places. It makes you a
better person and changes your perspective on certain things.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93Southern_O...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o%E2%80%93Southern_Oscillation)

~~~
DeusExMachina
My friend worked in NGOs in Asia, mainly in Indonesia because her mother is
from there (but she was born and raised in Europe). I'm pretty sure that it's
not the same everywhere in the world, but there they probably didn't
experience the sort of things. She has been there for a long time and the
prevalent culture is what I described.

Definitely that's not the entire world. But what you are explaining is what I
was saying, only in the reverse. In your country you had situations where you
really had to plan and rationalize to go through extreme climate problems.
Then again, every country and culture is different.

------
optimusclimb
This might be the straw that actually makes me delete my Facebook account, and
it's not because I think Facebook is trying to be malicious or doing anything
wrong.

I use FB maybe several times a week, as a time killer. Sometimes I may share
things (status, pictures), but I'm certainly not "on top of it".

My "year in review" is certainly NOT the sum of everything I posted to
facebook. When I go on a road trip with friends, the pictures do not always
make their way there. Not every person I date becomes a relationship status.

I used to argue to fb detractors and holders out that it's not intended as a
socializing replacement, but just as an enhancer. But this just seems to
reinforce the fact that, for many people...what they've publicly shared online
defines them.

I guess it just kind of saddens me that, for many people, this WILL be a
summary of their 2012. I think I'm having trouble really articulating what
bugs me about it, but it just feels like validation that Facebook is gamifying
people's lives into being about making Facebook some sort of mirror of their
real life, which is not a future I'm on board with.

~~~
personlurking
Reminds me a bit of "staged authenticity" in tourism studies which I've been
thinking about lately. When we see the fake version of something as the real
version, whether because we don't care about its blatant falsity or because
we're not competent enough to authenticate its veracity.

<http://hotelmule.com/wiki/Staged-authenticity>

------
GBKS
I find the lack of humility in this page fascinating. Even though it's my
account and my life, I have no control over what my top 20 moments are. The
concept is great, but the tone (Facebook assuming authority) definitely rubs
me the wrong way.

~~~
sharkweek
I'm glad that Facebook thought my attending a Baltimore Orioles game was more
important than me getting married this year.

I suppose though it's based heavily around social signals - which means
apparently my friends thought me attending an Orioles game was more important
than my marriage.

~~~
arjunnarayan
It's probably because the friends of yours that cared about your marriage
probably showed up to the marriage in person. But clicking likes maximizes
around sports games (especially if you have friends who are also Orioles
fans).

It's the same thing with my friends: My 5 closest friends don't even register
on my facebook feed, because I talk to them regularly in person and share
experiences with them. The more intimate private conversations. It's the next
50 that show up constantly in facebook, hitting like ex post facto.

------
ernst
According to facebook I live my life on facebook.

"See Your 2012 Year in Review Look back at your 20 biggest moments from the
past year."

Are you kidding me? These are my 20 biggest moments from last year? Only
because they're posted on Facebook?

Got to be kidding me. It's time to delete my account.

~~~
cfinke
Did you expect Facebook to stalk you over the year and make a list of the 20
biggest moments in your real life?

~~~
ernst
Not stalking, but it's in my head now.

Like, if this are my bigest moments in life in 2012.... then I must post more,
meaningful stuff to facebook so that my yearly review in 2013 will be more
satisfying.

so they indirectly ask you to add more meaningful content to your wall...
otherwise your review in 2013 will suck again.

------
kmfrk
As an alternative, check out Wolfram|Alpha's Facebook review of your data:
[http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/08/wolframalpha-
personal...](http://blog.stephenwolfram.com/2012/08/wolframalpha-personal-
analytics-for-facebook/).

------
davidcollantes
Something no one can see, compared to:

\- <http://2012.twitter.com>

\- <http://www.google.com/zeitgeist/2012/#the-world>

~~~
ngoel36
What do you mean? FB Year in Review becomes much more fun if you go to:

[http://www.facebook.com/yearinreview/<insert_friends_use...](http://www.facebook.com/yearinreview/<insert_friends_username_here>);

------
marquis
>You don't currently have enough posts to see your 2012 year in review.

Refreshingly empty. I use Facebook as a last resort to contact friends and was
pleased to see they didn't drag anyone else's year-in-review into mine.

~~~
graue
I got that too. Any screenshots or examples of what this looks like?

~~~
marquis
Well, now I took a closer look I'm seeing private photos switching back and
forth. I'm waiting for a friend to confirm, but I see photos I posted to
closed groups that have no relevance to others out of context. I'm waiting for
a friend to tell me what he sees.

------
rlu
This reminds me of Microsof's "A year in the like" from last year...it seems
the site is down so you cant make new ones.

It was kind of funny/corny. Here's a youtube video of someone who uploaded
theirs:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owCojITbuSo>

I thought that the juxtaposition of the music with some of the content it
chooses can be funny at times.

------
telecuda
Facebook Legacy:

<https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151391609962845>

Released this concept today as sort of a "Your Life in Review" for children
and grandchildren to follow your life story through Facebook.

------
danso
Wow, considering how FB's algorithm _seems_ to pick a good news feed for me to
read, it's astonishing how poorly done this year-in-review thing is done. It's
not organized even by content that was most liked or read, and random,
arbitrary events are given large prominence...it makes me wonder if my
newsfeed really does reflect the things I'd be most interested in

~~~
Firehed
I completely agree, and really wonder about their algorithms in general
(there's a reason I keep my news feed sorted by most recent, rather than top
stories). It completely missed my trip to South America over the summer, yet
very prominently featured a random photo taken of me at the office yesterday.

------
davidw
Well that was depressing. Mostly photos of the going away party(ies) we had
for my good friend who left town.

