Social media

[bunn]

In other news, I have decided that my loathing of sodding Facebook is now so great that I shall try to use it only for essential Oldies Club communications and nothing else.  People don't interact thoughtfully there and there is far too much utter bollocks hiding in the crevices.  I know it is usual to object to the Facebook interface, but I don't think I really have a problem with that, it's more that I come away from the communications of individuals and groups feeling irritable.

I think this is partly because it gives the illusion of contact with people without any reality to it.  Because the audience is so broad, one tends to share only the most superficial things: those who are prepared to share everything with the world use it as a one-way broadcast medium in a way which makes me feel uncomfortable.

I can't quite pin down why I feel cramped and uncomfortable using facebook and not, say Twitter, which I find much more appealing and open.  I mostly use the @oldiesclub twitter account but I may try to use my own @cycas account a little more in future.

I gave up on Google plus, I've still got one but found it too noisy and distracting. I know I can filter, but it just seemed too fiddly.

This is the first post that I have ever used the 'morose' mood option on.  Strangely, this cheered me up, so the mood is now a bit of a lie :-D

Comments

[thecatsamuel.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. I am glad you are no longer morose.

I hate facebook with a passion. I have an account because so many college-related things use it to communicate about events, but I loathe the way it is so general (my friends there include my sixteen year old cousin, college friends, ex colleagues and my mother whom I would talk to in differing ways in real life). And I am so, so unhappy about the endless changes to the privacy settings. I feel I have *no* control over what happens to my posts, or the changes, so I just don't use it.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Using filters should in theory help with the general-ness, but somehow it doesn't :-(

[mcmurphy79.livejournal.com]

I deleted my FB just after Xmas for lots of the reasons you have given. Real friends will text, email, call me. all the rest is just fluff

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I'd delete mine if it wasn't so handy for certain volunteering-type things. But I'm going to make a concentrated effort to not use it more than I have to!

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

Facebook is evil, it is known fact. If it wasn't for the fact that some people I know seem to be only capable of communication via there, I'd get rid of mine. I vastly prefer twitter, there's much less social pressure, and also a lot less room for people to be wankers.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

It is known. *attempts to nod head in vaguely Dothraki manner*.

It's undeniably good at rallying volunteers and getting donations, but if it weren't for my occasional need to do that I'd zap the damn thing. It is nasty.

[inzilbeth-liz.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan either for all the reasons you give although I have a sort of macabre fascination in what does get posted!

[bunn.livejournal.com]

I think that's another annoying thing! It lures you in...

[demon-rum.livejournal.com]

here, here, a hundred times this.

I've got all these people who friended me because of work, or high school, or whatnot, and it's beyond aggravating. I like keeping up with a couple of them, but the rest ... eesh. And if I unfriend them, FB will just give them little messages saying "WANT TO FRIEND HER??" and they will know. I dislike that intensely.

Unfortunately, it is so great for school...

If only there was something better, something... FB-like. But not Google+. Ugh.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

You can hide all their updates - but that still poses the whole 'why have I got this' question again. :-/

What I don't like about it is that it feels like you are in contact with people, so you don't make the effort to contact them in any other way. And then you realise that the contact isn't real, it's not like emailling or phoning or even blog posts - for most people it's a sort of very-edited press release that they are happy sharing with large numbers of people, including workmates and mad Aunt Sybil...

[purplecat]

There does seem to be a remarkably low signal to noise ratio on FB. I also wish I could filter out any shares of anything over 6 months old. The amount of old news on FB is staggering. I think you're right though that exposure to the place lowers rather than raises my opinion of human nature. I should probably agressively filter more people because there are one or two who's posts I find interesting, but mostly not.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Old news, endlessly shared stuff and scams. It's instructive to see how fast the scams spread and how easily many people are taken in by them, but somewhat depressing how they don't get picked up and squelched - presumably either because the other people who see them are also taken in, or because they don't care enough to tell the poor gullible sods...

I suppose it's partly a weakness of a system that makes it easier to share on someone else's tripe than come up with an original thought of your own...