Anyone else not care for Facebook?

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I am basically off of it. I still have a FB account, but I really don't check it much and the only people on it are dog rescues and a few friends who feel most comfortable getting me through FB (or I'd not have it at all). My son and daughter deliberately don't use FB. Daughter took hers down. Son has it up, but, like me, rarely looks at it.

I have heard of and seen first hand the petty fighting on FB and have also been contacted by people I'd rather not have as "friends" yet I feel it's mean not to friend them. So I just no longer check much anymore. I am astonished by how many people have FB wars. I confess I don't read my FB friend's FBs either. If I want to get in touch with somebody I text or call.

Yet I know a lot of people find FB valuable. So what do you feel about it? Even Jumper doesn't FB anymore very often and she was the main reason I stayed on FB. I can contact her more easily now by text (well, when she is not at home).

Thoughts?
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I'm a late adopter. I got on FB back, I think, in December. I was able to get in touch with quite a few people I remembered from the CD board from years back, which is very nice. In addition, I am in touch with some relatives, and a couple of friends from the "Army Days".

I enjoy it. My page and all communications are limited to "friends only", I do not hesitate to block or hide those I do not wish to deal with.

All in all, I have found it to be a positive experience so long as I keep my boundaries firmly intact and remain in control of communications.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I enjoy Facebook because it is a fun way to stay in touch with my nieces and nephews, cousins as well as other friends. I stay out of any of the negativity.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I never got negative, but I have heard of people who fight a lot.

I read a lot about DCs who post nasty stuff to their parents too.

Mind didn't, but they don't HAVE FB anymore. Sonic barely uses his...forgot about him. Jumper sends very sweet messages, but they go to my husband too so he reads them to me.

None of us are really into it. But for those who are I think it's smart to not let everyone read it.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
I'm not on FB... because I do NOT like their on-going privacy wars - you can set your settings as tight as you want, but on a regular basis they change what the rules are, and the defaults are "open" not "closed"... so basically you have to manage your settings pretty much daily (as you don't know when they will change). Sorry, FB, I value my privacy.

There are things on FB I wish I could access - certain buy-sell groups, etc. are all done there. But it's not worth giving up my privacy.

And that's BEFORE we get to how other people behave on FB!
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
I like FB alright. I check quite often but don't update often. And when I do, it is idle topics.

I do use fb messenger with quite a few friends who do not use WhatsApp. I also am part of few groups for my hobbies. Fb is an easy way to coordinate meetings, available times, who is coming and bringing what and so on with little bigger group of people.

I also enjoy reading and seeing everyday things of and keeping touch with those friends and extended family who live farther away. Even most of the kids still keep up their FBs for older (and outdated) relatives so it is nice to see something (carefully mommy/granny/aunt proofed of course ;)) from them too every now and then.

Kids themselves of course has basically stopped FB long ago and it is all WhatsApp, Askfm and Kik for them now (FB password was way too easy for parents to blackmail, those more current social medias are much better parent proofed...)

Maybe because kids are so long gone I can't remember much of FB drama in ages on my fall. It is mostly pictures of pets, garden, kids, some fun everyday tidbits and few news topics mixed to that.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
IC, I DO check my settings daily, for just the reasons that you mention. Got burned once and that was enough.

SuZir, I do use chat quite a bit as it gives me another reason to avoid the phone, which I'm all in favor of, especially since I've been dragged kicking and screaming in the modern era and practically sold my house via text message (probably SMS to you).
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I'd rather text.

It took me a long time and a great phone to want to text, but I find it easy and convenient now. I don't have to log onto anything to get to texting and it's easy.

That's what I mostly do.
 

Californiablonde

Well-Known Member
I am a facebook junkie. I check my alerts first thing in the morning and it's the last thing I check before going to bed each night. I must update my status at least several times a day. I get pretty many likes and comments, too, which is nice. Plus all of my groups are on there. I am an admin of a very large anxiety group, along with some bipolar groups and cat groups and an overweight appreciation group. It helps keep me entertained and out of my depression. Both my kids now have accounts, too, so I am friends with them and I frequently monitor what they post. I have joined a few other sites in the past, such as Twitter and Google Plus, but those bore me. Nothing is better than FB, in my opinion.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I still hate texting SWOT. I have a phone with a tiny little slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which makes it easier.

Problem is that I touch type around 80 wpm on a regular keyboard and simply cannot type with my thumbs. I wind up holding the phone with my left hand and punching keys with my right index finger.

Makes using shift and fn a real adventure so my punctuation and capitalization is sadly lacking. I also don't speak "textlish" and find it difficult to read.

Of course, I got the darned house sold, so I'm not complaining, and I now do know how to text, so plenty of good came of it, but argh!
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
For me the most important privacy setting in FB is on my fingertips. I do have privacy settings reasonable level but the main thing is, that if everything in my FB would end up to front page of local paper, the worst consequence for me would be a slight embarrassment. And that goes to chat too.

It would be embarrassing if people I don't care that much would see that picture of that one cake to which I didn't put enough gelatine, but likely I would survive. Maybe.

But I think people would be way too bored with dog and garden pics and updates to ever get to that darn cake anyway.

But you get the idea. I do not discuss anything I want to keep private at FB. Not even in messenger.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Suzir, good idea.

Too many people put way too much on FB.

Anyone who sees my FB is going to get a good education on dog rescue...lol. About it.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
CB, as a former IT manager, and knowing that you do not have a computer and internet service at home, I wonder about the amount of time you have to spend on FB while at work.

I had social media sites, etc., rendered unavailable to my employees, for the simple reason that worksite computers were to be used for work purposes only.

Yes. I'm an ogre.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
I like FB. It helps me keep in touch with Miss KT. I'm not really worried about the privacy aspect, since I don't put anything up that I want to keep secret. I think the last picture I put up was of a cookie jar I found at a street fair. No biggie.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I confess ... I am a total Facebook junkie too and for me it's been wonderful! Due to a couple of moves at crucial times in my life I had lost track of so many people. We moved away from extended family when I was 12, then moved again when my kids were little so I had lost track of most of those people that I knew. It didn't happen overnight but now, thanks to Facebook, I have reconnected with all these people that I thought I'd never hear from again! I'm back in touch with all of my many cousins on both sides of the family and it's wonderful seeing all their pictures and watching their kids and now grandkids grow up! I'm back in touch with a lot of people that were close friends back in my young "running around" years. And I am now keeping up with so many old friends that I went to high school with and lost track of when we all went our separate ways. I'm in groups for my old school and there's even a group of people who grew up in our old neighborhood where we lived when we were kids! We trade memories and pictures that mean a lot now that it's all so different there. I'm even friends with a large group of people that I've known online for many years because we all have Boston Terriers and became acquainted on a Boston website and message board. The family uses Facebook to keep in touch. Yeah, we could email but we don't. So now I've got pictures of one cousin's newest baby and pictures of the memorial service for another much loved cousin who passed away recently. Yes, you have to be careful and very selective, but for me, if it suddenly went away I would probably go back to being an isolated hermit again!
 

Nomad

Well-Known Member
Staff member
I'm conflicted about FB, but also sometimes fascinated.
I have extended relatives that lead double lives on FB. Everything is peaches and cream. They are always busy, having a great time, love this that and the other thing, their kids are great, their weekends are super and life is just terrific. In actuality, perhaps 10% is authentic. Then there are the really really weird, inconsistent behaviors. I like your pictures, but not this other person's.
I do like seeing photos of relatives and friends, especially if they are unusually cute or for an important event.
I'm using it less often and have definitely learned to NOT take anything personally.
I have not made my Difficult Child a friend and I never attempt to read her page.
 

SuZir

Well-Known Member
FB likes and comments and especially lack of them. Or someone not liking etc. should never be taken seriously. The most common explanation of someone not liking or commenting when expected is that they have not seen it.

Not only do people miss things when they do not check frequently but Fb also has it own, complex formula for what we actually see in our feed and what not. And no, it doesn't make much sense half of the time.

I too love to see pics and stories of every day life of those friends and relatives that live far or with whom I wouldn't meet that often for other reason. People stay so much closer than before Fb when it often was just Christmas cards and maybe seeing once a year if even that.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
I am "friends" on Facebook with both of my grown kids. My son mostly just reads it but very rarely posts. But my daughter posts pictures of my grandson and his activities and things they do as a family and I really appreciate it. I do have boundaries on Facebook though. I don't re-share their pictures without their permission. I don't like getting in to controversial subjects publicly and avoid it like the plague. And I never get in to personal conversations or disagreements that are best left to PM's or emails if at all. And you do have to be very careful about not sharing too much private information publicly. But if done carefully and with boundaries in place, it can be a very good thing.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
SuZir, you're right about the "likes" and what we do or do not see on our FB news feeds. I've noticed that there's a big difference in what shows on my laptop and what shows up on my phone. There are many posts that appear on the laptop but not on the phone and vise versa. And I have so much on mine that sometimes it's all I can do to just scroll through. So if someone does not immediately "like" your post or photo, it could be that they never even saw it!!
 
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