Why is Facebook so bad?

[qwlauren35]

Facebook is my lifeline. I have friends in seven different states whom I have accumulated over the years who help to keep me sane, and help me manage my suicidal tendencies. It is also how my cousins network. It is also how I participate in a feminist network that started 30 years ago. The ads don't bother me. If my information was sold, I wouldn't care.

Facebook works for me. I am so concerned that people object to it, that I feel that I need to fight for its existence.

Is it the people who use it who hate it? Or people on the outside who see no benefit?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If this question is too contentious for DU Lounge, I'll move it.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. I don't post anything political on FB and anything political I see I assume is bee ess.

99.9 percent of it anyway, because all I see is conservative drivel about the mythical land in which they live and Trump.

[qwlauren35]

6. Wow.

I think I got something "pro-Pence" once and I shut it down in a heartbeat. Maybe it is because of the political things that I post. I get nothing right-wing.

I can understand that someone would hate it if they got a bunch of crap that wasn't tuned to them.

[Thomas Hurt]

8. Most of the Trump crap I see is from my Trumper extended family.

I see some ads pop up but I ignore those as well.

[qwlauren35]

15. Oh my.

I only have one ADMITTED Trumper in the family. It may be that I'm so political that the other Trumpers stay quiet. I think I put one on ignore, so I guess there are two!

My friends rebut my Trumper family member when he gets evangelical, and then I don't have to!

[patricia92243]

2. Like most things - it is what YOU make it. I have every kind of privacy

tool that they have in place. I keep in touch with family, etc. and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone else.
IF THEY PERSONALIZE IT.

[Binkie The Clown]

3. I created a facebook account... and deleted it 45 minutes later.

I could not believe the volume of garbage I was subjected to in just a few minutes of being a member.

My take: If someone is worth staying in touch with, then keep in touch with personal emails, not with impersonal facebook updates. (Your mileage may vary. Feel free to disagree. etc. etc. Standard disclaimers apply.)

[sl8]

4. It has 2,500,000,000 users.

Fighting for its existence is probably premature.

[Phoenix61]

5. The issue is it's used to spread utter bs.

Zuck says they check but they don’t. Who gets to see what is pushed by algorithms that are subject to bias. Zuck says no, but it seems to push far-right, basically amplifying their message. There’s also the issue of fake accounts ie bots. The data mining isn’t just your data, it’s your friends data. You know those fun little FB questioner games? Yeah, all data mining.

[qwlauren35]

11. I have noticed

that all kinds of people are asking for my data. I'm not a private person, so that doesn't bother me. But I know that my sister is very private, so she stays off.

I get ads for Jaime Harrison, Amy McGrath. That's about it on the political. When I see the BS, I usually fact-check it, and respond with Snopes or a source that debunks it.

But I like sharing the jokes, sharing the warm fuzzy photos of baby animals, sharing pictures of grand-children. I like when people post valuable articles that make me think, give me new information. I am very selective about who I choose as a friend. And repeat friend requests I ignore.

I certainly can see how someone on the left, getting a bunch of crap from the right, would get turned off fast.

[Srkdqltr]

7. I have been on Facebook since it started

There are a lot of folks on here who are luddites. Lot don't like anything that everyone else likes. And some defy logic

[Fla Dem]

19. Wow, insult people much? I'm not a "Luddite" nor a contrarian.

I am not on FB although some family and friends are. I already receive many pics and emails from both and don't need to be inundated with more commercials and ads. I have all I can do to keep up with emails and texts I do send and receive. I have other things to do with my time.

Facebook is a commercial enterprise that could care less about the strife and friction they cause by pitting different groups against one another. All they care about is selling your information to god knows who so they can make another $6.9 billion in profit.

Give me a phone, email, text and DU and I really don't have time in my day to spend on one more message board. Got better things to do with my life.

[Thekaspervote]

23. +1000

[Srkdqltr]

29. no insult meant. You are entitled to your opinion.

I have seen some posts on here that boggle the mind about FB. If you like it OK.. If you don't OK too. How ever you use it or don't. It is a large diverse platform. I would say that every one is on or not for their own reasons. It isn't good or bad it just is. I don't believe that FB as a business had to be anything more than what it is. It is a business with all the ads and commercial stuff that is needed to keep it going. If a person can't deal with it, and I see how it can be, than don't use it. But I enjoy it how I use it and I hate people who can't deal with it telling me that I shouldn't because they can't or won't or don't.

[Fla Dem]

36. Yes, you are entitled to your opinion, but added an insult.

I could care less what you do with your time. If you enjoy FB then by all means knock yourself out.

The only reason I even replied to your comment was because you attempted to label people who don’t use FB as Luddites, as people out of the mainstream, and just not sure what you mean by “some defy logic” as though they are mentally deficient if the don’t jump on the FB band wagon.

Lud.dite
noun
1. DEROGATORY
a person opposed to new technology or ways of working

Then in your response to me you continue to berate those who are not fans of FB. Your mind is “boggled” by people who EXPRESS THEIR OPINION about FB. Evidently unless fellow DUer’s beat the drum for FB, they should just keep their opinions to themselves.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. It's only bad if you let it be bad.

Several useful rules:

Do not accept every friend request. Only accept those of people you already know. If someone you already know is an asshole, don't accept that person's friend request.

Keep high privacy settings. Don't allow anyone to see what you have on your page.

Try not to respond to all of the stupid posts you will still see. I happen to find a lot of posts annoying that have nothing to do with political content. For instance, I have several FB friends, all of whom I also know in real life, who talk CONSTANTLY about their depression, mental health issues, how angry they are at people without these issues who just want them to buck up. Sometimes I just want to tell them that I don't give a flying fuck, but if it somehow helps them vent, then I don't have to respond.

Limit your time on FB, just as you need to limit how much time you spend watching news broadcasts. There's a lot of other stuff out there. Read a book. Watch a show of some kind. Go for a walk. Take up needlepoint. Do something else.

I do FB on my own terms, as indicated above, and have no problem with it.

On the other hand, I probably spend far too much time on DU. Okay, so now I'm going to finish the book I'm currently reading, which is Rodham by Curtis Sittefeld. It's actually better than I thought it might be.

[qwlauren35]

12. Yeah

I'm as addicted to DU as I am to Facebook.

[wcmagumba]

10. I only use it occasionally to look at a company or other group website...

I never post but have used the local marketplace (garage sale) to buy an item or two...

[NRaleighLiberal]

13. it is a tool easily used to mislead and spread propaganda.

it's also about $$$ ads, fuckerberg's wealth above all else. Leaving it last year was one of the best decisions I've made, ever.

[Mike Nelson]

14. Well...

... I like FB. Mine is very progressive. I keep a few pro-Trumpsters to get a feel for how they think. The more of us on FB, the better! A great page is "Occupy Democrats" & also everyone should like DU on FB!

[IcyPeas]

16. I only use it for cats and arts and crafts.

I never see weird ads or get weird messages. I have never accepted a friend request. my privacy settings are all set. I do not use it for news.

I am agnostic as to whether it succeeds or fails really.

[Squinch]

17. The issue is that Mark Zuckerberg owns complete data on you or anyone else who has an account.

You think he only has the data you have given him. Instead he has that plus information on how much time you spend looking at certain types of advertisements, all the information on all the people you interact with, all your habits and all your tendencies.

The REALLY BIG problem is that he allows representatives for Republicans, companies like Cambridge Analytica unfettered access to that data.

Cambridge Analytica, in turn, takes that information and uses it to spread disinformation that is pinpointed to its audience. If it is an old bigot, they convince that person that the criminal Mexicans are at the door and only Donald can save them. If it is a butthurt white man whose gun is an extension of his manhood, they convince him that Democrats are two doors down confiscating guns.

They can psychologically manipulate people using ALL the data you have given them to work against you.

To Democrats, they send disinformation with the goal of sowing confusion and a feeling of helplessness.

And this work only goes one way. It strengthens the worst kind of sociopath Republican, and it weakens Democrats.

And if you are thinking, "Well, I don't ever get that stuff or engage in that stuff," that matters not one whit. YOU and everyone else create the monolithic entity that is Facebook. Every interaction you have contributes to their complete information. It is the completeness of their data, the data YOU have given them, that allows them to do these things.

[2naSalit]

20. +1

[Thekaspervote]

24. +1000

[qwlauren35]

25. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel informed now.

If I use Facebook, I am contributing to massive disinformation that benefits Republicans. However, it also serves a great benefit to me.

I used to avoid Papa John's pizza. But I have to admit that it tastes good. I figure as long as I'm informed when I eat it, I'm making a choice.

I think, if it was not such a great benefit, I would reject it. But it offers a service. It is at a very steep price. Can I live with the fact that every time I use it, I am contributing to massive disinformation that benefits Republicans?

I think I can.

My husband, who is a fierce progressive, watches FOX AM News Baltimore. It does what he needs it to do, and at the same time, he is supporting the FOX Corporation, which is an organization that spreads massive disinformation that benefits Republicans. I think he knows this. But he watches anyway - he likes the way they cover Baltimore news.

Unlike what an earlier poster said, I do not feel poisoned, weakened, abused. Because I am now informed and now I am making a choice. I figure it's like eating meat. Very, very bad for me. It's a choice. I live with the consequences.

[Squinch]

26. The difference here is that you are not the only one who lives with the consequences of your choice.

For example, 150,000 people are dead. The vast majority of them should not be. Children are imprisoned in cages. People are being taken off American streets by anonymous government thugs. None of that should be happening. But Facebook and Cambridge Analytica put Donny Bodybags in office and Donny Bodybags made those things happen.

Everyone who uses Facebook helped to put him in the position that made those things happen.

This isn't about your personal cost benefit analysis.

The question is this: is a convenient way of seeing your friends vacation pictures worth the cost of all those lives?

Because those are actually the stakes we are talking about.

[qwlauren35]

28. I think that's how you see it.

Many, many people and organizations worked together to get Trump into office. I support many of them. I decided at some point that I was not going to research everything that I do and touch and make sure that it is not part of the Republican machine.

Regarding Facebook: Now I know. You have informed me. It is now my choice to make. An educated choice. And I am choosing something that contributed to the election of Donald Trump. I have to live with that, and I've decided that I can.

[Squinch]

31. You are also choosing to contribute to the election of the next Republican who wins.

He will inevitably be worse. Worse erosion of our Democracy, probably even a higher body count.

But I hear you. That doesn't outweigh having a really convenient way to trade recipes with Aunt Martha. Which, by the way, could be almost as easily traded using email.

[qwlauren35]

32. I did some research.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal was in 2018. What you are repeating is old news.

I accept, have always accepted, and will always accept that Facebook sells my data. Google sells my data, too.

At this point, I would bet that the data is sold to all kinds of people for all kinds of uses. But not Cambridge Analytica - the company no longer exists.

Now that I have more information, I am even less inclined to stop trading recipes with Aunt Martha.

[Squinch]

33. Yes. Cambridge Analytica is now working under a different name. Emerdata. It's even more

insidious now. They've hooked up with the Mercers and Erik Prince. But heck! No sense worrying about THEM having access to everyone's data, right?

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/cambridge-analytica-executives-and-mercer-family-launch-emerdata-2018-3

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/05/cambridge-analytica-scl-group-new-companies-names

https://www.theregister.com/2018/05/02/cambridge_analytica_shutdown/

https://www.metro.us/meet-emerdata-the-rebranded-cambridge-analytica/

[qwlauren35]

34. I read them.

As I said, Zuckerberg can sell the data to anyone. Including Emerdata. And there's little I can do about it, except stop using Facebook. Which I am not going to do.

None of your articles link Facebook to Emerdata. It's still old news.

[2naSalit]

40. FYI...

On NPR today re: Congressional subcommittee Hearing today...

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/29/894802424/watch-heads-of-amazon-apple-facebook-and-google-testify-on-big-techs-power

And

Critics say Facebook has stifled competition by buying upstart social apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. It's also a big player in digital advertising, thanks to the deep trove of data it collects on its users.

Facebook is embroiled in plenty of controversies that aren't directly related to antitrust, such as its role in spreading election and health misinformation, its failures to protect users' data and accusations of political bias. Senior committee aides say they want to keep the hearing "laser-focused" on competition — but Facebook's other problems may prove too tempting for lawmakers to ignore. Some Republicans have pushed to broaden the hearing to address how social media platforms treat conservatives.

The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general are also investigating whether Facebook has broken any competition laws.

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/28/894834512/big-tech-in-washingtons-hot-seat-what-you-need-to-know

[qwlauren35]

27. BTW

I have shared this on my Facebook page and tagged all of my political friends. Should be interesting to see what happens.

[pattyloutwo]

30. Well said, thanks

It’s frustrating that so many groups use it as their only forum - parent groups, interest groups, and now my streaming exercise classes. Grr

[Skittles]

35. you get it, Squinch

it absolutely sickens me how many Democrats just love them some FB

[Squinch]

37. I do, Skittles. And people shooting their own feet is never nice to watch.

But shoot they will.

[IADEMO2004]

18. Easy to find local music and events but regular weeding is a must.

[elleng]

21. Dunno, qwlauren;

one of my lifelines too; in touch with family, schoolmates, and former colleagues.

I don't look at it broadly; just my posts and those of my friends, and rational news.

[Maraya1969]

38. I just got am im from a friend from grade school with one of those black people who hate themselves

You know, the ones the racists love to quote and pass on, like Candace Owens.

It pissed me off so much. I just told her to never send me anything like that again.

Plus I have about 30 people on block.

[qwlauren35]

39. Blocking is a useful tool.

I remember finding out a cousin was not only a Republican, but running for office. Blocked immediately. I think that was about 8 years ago.

[aikoaiko]

41. I think the benefits of connectivity outweight the downsides.

Sure, FB helps spread disinformation, but there has always been political disinformation and smears.

It's up to us to message the truth which we can do.

I think there are lot of people who want to scapegoat FB for 2016, but there not much there there.