
Facebook – cancer of our generation - tapasfr
https://hackernoon.com/facebook-cancer-of-our-generation-ddc34f5f1605
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jasode
A meta comment... the blog post has the tag _" Filter Bubble"_ which might be
ironic because Facebook stories on HN and similar tech sites will be
overwhelmingly negative. As a matter of fact, _I have never seen a positive
Facebook-as-social-networking-site story on HN._ (To clarify, there were a few
positive Facebook stories about their various open source projects but not
about the social networking function.)

For instance, if I consider a random grandmother who logs into Fb to see her
photos of grandkids and catch up on other retirees, she's probably not going
to write an blog post saying Facebook is a cancer. She feels Facebook
_enhances_ her life. If you lecture her on swapping out Facebook time with
meeting people in real life, she'll say her grandchildren are in another city
and you're an insensitive idiot.

I don't have a Facebook account nor am I a Facebook sociology expert but I
wonder if this forum (filter bubble) gives a massively warped picture of how
Facebook adds value to peoples lives. (Especially the people who are not
programmers or techies.)

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pdelbarba
All things in moderation I suppose. I don't have an issue with Facebook's
basic premise, just the emergent behavior of it's community and what the
managing company has become. When I used it, it had both positive and negative
outcomes, like many things. I just found that many of those around me were
causing serious self through overuse of the platform.

I think it is a social parallel to alcohol. Somewhat helpful for meeting new
people, not so helpful as a replacement for a social life.

The problem occurs when a public mega corporation is managing the entire flow
of this product though. Imagine if every bar in your town was owned by Walmart
and they were hell bent on keeping everyone engaged as often and for as long
as possible, data mining and optimizing all your interactions. People would
probably see that as a bad thing.

~~~
CodeMage
Or, to take your alcohol metaphor closer to what Facebook tries to be, imagine
if Budweiser was actively striving to curate all the content you consume, to
be your main source of news, to be your main channel of communication with
other people and to track all your habits as much as it can, all so they could
get you to drink as much Budweiser as they could make you.

~~~
tarboreus
And then the CEO of Budweiser runs for president.

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rabboRubble
Had a 2 week holiday where I no internet access. Was very worried going into
it that I would be bored without a steady stream of news and online
distractions like FB. I didn't miss it at all and was most relieved to be away
from FB. Recently, the app notifications had gotten out of hand with bullshit.
"X just posted a photo. How about commenting on it?".

Coming home, I decided to keep my FB account but delete the app from my phone
and remove FB from the list of sites I visit every day.

Think part of the problem with FB is that I'm technically inclined. If I were
less aware of what it does and how it works, I could just bop around consuming
stuff without feeling a pressure to clear all the alerts. Or even be
completely oblivious to the fact there alerts.

One of the reasons I decided to keep an FB account is for access FB's
emergency alert "I'm okay" feature. I lived through a natural disaster, and FB
was really freaking useful to be able to communicate with people. I could set
one status, and everybody could see it, without having to communicate over and
over again with the same "I'm okay" information.

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khazhoux
For me it's a self-correcting problem. I don't care about what most people are
posting, I've unfollowed probably more than 75% of people, and I spend maybe 5
minutes a day scanning for interesting updates. I don't post anything because
there's nothing I would ever share, that'd be appropriate for the grab-bag of
friends, family members, former coworkers, and randoms that I've Friended over
the years.

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djyaz1200
Some of the most successful people I know aren't on Facebook and I don't think
that's a coincidence. It's the new smoking, an expensive/unhealthy pacifier
for poor people.

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david_mitchell
Cancer is the wrong word. These things are addictions not diseases. "coca-cola
for the mind" is how I like to put it.

~~~
state
I think it was on HN that I read someone compare social media on your phone to
smoking in the 50s.

Always liked that comparison.

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Sir_Cmpwn
[https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674](https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674)

~~~
jngreenlee
FYI for those curious, this link takes you to the "How do I delete my account
page" at facebook.

I haven't used Facebook in around 5-7 years. One day 2-3 years ago my wife was
fooling around with our media PC and accidentally logged me in (lastpass) when
she wanted to check a video link. Broke my record!

More substantially, but not wanting to preach...I'm amazed as I visit
customers, partners and coworkers around the country and see how much
time/effort people (especially middle aged corporate people) spend on the
Book.

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ericzawo
If Facebook is the cancer of our generation, what does that make, you know,
cancer?

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notacoward
The impressions you get from Facebook, or Twitter, or even Hacker News are
going to be shaped in large part by what you choose to focus on. If you expect
to find outrage and envy, and focus on the things that confirm your
expectation, you will probably come away outraged and envious. If you expect
to find joyful news and humor, and focus on the things that confirm your very
different expectation, you will probably come away happy and amused. You can
guide this process further by who you choose to befriend, who you choose to
mute or highlight, and even what you post yourself.

Social media lets you become connected. What people, what facts, or what
feelings you connect to is largely up to you.

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styts
I've managed to break the daily habit by installing a browser extension that
removes the main feed, while leaving the others, e.g. groups.

Not able to delete my account completely, because some of the social events I
partake in are organized via FB.

