Lincoln Spector: Hate Facebook? There are alternatives

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My name is Lincoln, and I’m a Facebook addict. Lincoln Spector is back with a Facebook takedown that’s different — there are problems, yes, but there
[See the full post at: Lincoln Spector: Hate Facebook? There are alternatives]

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abbodi86, Myst

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I’m not on Facebook, can’t imagine joining and proud of it. So far as catching up with my friends, here in the UK we have an alternative – it’s called the pub.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

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HiFlyer, Elly, Myst

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When you wanna throw a punch at someone on FB it’s a free for all without the pain physically. At the pub, well, different story. Think twice before sticking foot in mouth. Drinks are on the house, no password required and everybody knows your name.

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

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Elly

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If there is one thing we need more of now more than ever in modern society, it is more time spent socializing offline.

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rc primak, lanceboil, Elly, Myst, JSTechGeek

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It’s all very well with all these alternatives to Facebook, but if nobody else I know is using them, there’s no point.

I use Facebook purely with people I have actually met in the real world, like family members and actual physical friends, old schoolmates, etc. If I get a friend request from anyone I don’t know, sorry, denied.

I’m also, sadly, the only real IT guy in my family and circle of friends, and they’re all likely to stick to the easiest social site to use available, ie. Facebook.

If Google had put in a bit of effort to make Plus more appealing, there’d be a decent alternative, but that ship has hit the iceberg now.

No matter where you go, there you are.

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rc primak

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I’m very happy to get a report on MeWe… as I am looking for ways to move family and friends off FaceBook. Diaspora was definitely too challenging, so that was a fail. There is definitely more awareness on their part, so we can talk about the advantages, at least.

One of the problems that may not be recognized as a problem is that FaceBook (and games) are designed to be, for lack of a better word, addictive… to keep you there, longer, by triggering release of happy-making brain chemicals… It would not surprise me that something like MeWe, which, if it is not monitoring what you post, and then using that info to keep you watching longer, so more advertisements can be delivered, would not have the same addictive response. So, I would not be disappointed if not feeling like I have to always be checking it to get that digital fix…

How many people have struggled with not checking their feed, their phones, etc., because they’ve become accustomed to the new and frequent endorphin releases that accompany such behavior, to the point that it is difficult to engage in real life social activities such as a simple dinner conversation, without interruption?

The fact that such addiction was intentionally introduced, being studied and improved upon through data collection, and is not necessary or even good for the people so addicted, does not make it any easier to wean people off of it… but just like there can be rules like ‘turn phones off for’ _____ (dinner, religious services, business meetings, etc.) which were not needed a generation ago… it is refreshing to have an on-line social, non-addictive, alternative to point to.

 

Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter

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rc primak, Myst

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You sure nailed that one, Elly!

Facebook has made a science of making social media addicting, and they are not shy about admitting to it. They have also made a science about manipulating public opinion (and possibly election outcomes), but they seem to be very shy about admitting to that.

Still, the mere size of Facebook would seem to predict that no one will displace them. Everyone thought that about MySpace too, and yet here we are. So if enough people decide that Facebook is not the “cool” place to hang out anymore, they will change platforms. But only to something even more addictive, more ad-driven and even more flagrant in their privacy violations. History has shown as much, and I see no reversal of history in the foreseeable future.

What makes Facebook so fiendishly effective is their ability to change our opinions while making us think they are validating everything we already profess to believe. That is the true genius of their science. And it is scary as all get-out. Because…it…WORKS!

Were it not for these facts, I would endorse any open-source, non-commercial social media platform over Facebook. And I would join eagerly, if others showed some signs of following suit. Someone has to make the first leap of faith, but alas, I am not that brave, nor that influential.

-- rc primak

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Facebook concerns me greatly with their laissez-faire attitudes on extreme right-wing groups — highly racist, sexist, or xenophobic ones. They won’t shut them down so long as those groups are generating massive amounts of advertising revenue for them. In the Philippines Facebook was believed to have been manipulated by the current government in order to weaponize the population against the government’s critics (I salute Maria Ressa for standing strong in the wave of all of the death and rape threats lodged against her — we need honest journalists!), and when told that 97% of people who had access to the Internet in the Philippines were on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg just said “What about the other 3%?”, rather than addressing the issues of numerous troll accounts that had been used to threaten Ressa.

Luckily for me I just lost interest in Facebook for the most part, and spend very little time on it these days. I only use it to communicate with friends over Facebook Messenger. The site is just an evil weapon designed to steal my attention when I should be studying or only show me the stuff I want to see so I become blind and naive to the world around me. Facebook is a mess. That should be said. And it’s all because of the greed for profit.

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