What's really spooky about FB is when you get friended by someone out of the blue whom you've never met and has no friends in common with you. That don't smell right.
I have nothing against accepting friend requests from people I've never met, if we have the right friends in common. Probably the most surprising came from a member of Off Broadway, a legendary Chicago power-pop band who had two albums on Atlantic in '79-80. He is still active as a musician. I wrote him back thanking him, mentioning along the way that I was a fan of their On album in my teen years...he thanked me and replied, "sorry I inflicted that noise on you!"
#18 on the list - I will admit to having seen quite a few of those!
(although not necessarily from "high school," but definitely from "a long time ago"...you're innocently [ha!] wondering how they held up, but then they fake you out with some vague-looking snapshot)
the question should not be about Facebook itself (the brand, the product), but the broader concept of a platform that easily integrates multiple forms of digital communication. bitching about how that is unnecessary is what sounds so geriasshurt of my lawn.
I think there's the rub... and thus nay.
Anybody on here probably understands the value of social networking. From my experience Facebook is designed as such that it preys on peoples vanity. I canceled mine cause I didn't want to hear apathetic half-wit statuses and see shitty bar photos. Yes an event gets the word out but in the same respect it often gets lost among the countless other invitations to bullshit people receive. From my experience if people really care about what you got going on, they'll stay connected. The internet makes this easier than ever why do we need one cluster F*ck of a website to spoon feed us in glossy print?
Facebook has kept me in touch with good people on the other side of the world, despite my having lost cell phones and all other sorts of contact info (and them having done the same). Automatic plus for that alone.
I ride. more in touch with some old friends than ever.
and I LIKE when my friends make some corny "eating crackerjacks and watching Time Bandits" status update. It cracks me up. Because they are my friends.
"I don't use Facebook" is the new "I don't own a cell phone."
There's nothing wrong with either unless you're being self-righteous about it.
DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Just this week I got back in contact with an old schoolfriend that I lost touch with when I was about 19. In the interim, this guy's got himself an engineering degree, started his own business, lived in the Czech Republic and China, moved to the US (living in LA, St. Louis, Philly and now Detroit), had a heart attack, got married and just become a father for the first time.
Any tips on avoiding application spam (as well as inflicting it on others) would be welcome, though.
i have a lot of friends an family interstate and over seas, my family likes to see pics of the nieces/nephews and my friends and I use it to communicate with people in other time zones. I do hate all the farmville and redundant shit, but you can turn most of it off
Everyone needs to understand there's a good reason that long-lost friends are long-lost.
^^^^^THIS^^^^
I'm also the guy w/o a cell phone......not because I'm technophobic or have any philosophical problem with them.....but simply because I don't need my place of business to have access to me 24/7....they pay me for a 40 hour week.
I've also been told by my family that I'm a loud phone talker.....especially when speaking to someone overseas(C'mon, it's far away and I NEED to speak louder so they can hear me.)....so I don't want to be THAT guy out in public who annoys the shit out of me by letting everyone within a 50 foot radius what he had for dinner last night or what venereal diseases he just found out he has.
I've also been told by my family that I'm a loud phone talker.....especially when speaking to someone overseas(C'mon, it's far away and I NEED to speak louder so they can hear me.)....so I don't want to be THAT guy out in public who annoys the shit out of me by letting everyone within a 50 foot radius what he had for dinner last night or what venereal diseases he just found out he has.
I'm a loud talker too...not that I necessarily shout, it's just that my voice resonates.
I have a cell phone, but I never have my most involved conversations out in public. That's how you solve THAT problem. Out in the street, my end of a cell-phone convo might consist of "okay," "what time?," "I'll be there in fifteen minutes," "talk to you later," etc.. I'll save the VD discussions for home (or at least a secluded area). END OF THREAD DERAIL
I ride. more in touch with some old friends than ever.
and I LIKE when my friends make some corny "eating crackerjacks and watching Time Bandits" status update. It cracks me up. Because they are my friends.
important detail. if you actually like and know in real life all of your fb friends then it's not at all a nuisance. it's just a big show and tell on the internet. with pictures and ephemera involving people you know and like.
of course having real friends and real connection and interaction with people is infinitely more important and richer in life.
you can also accept their request and block them from seeing anything.
How do you do this? Do I have to start grouping everybody, or i can i just block a few specific people?
you can do both.
1) select 'privacy settings' from the drop down in the 'account' menu 2) select 'profile information'
there you can see there are a lot of privacy settings you can customize - everything from your status updates to photos tagged of you.
for ex, if you want to block specific people from seeing photos tagged of you, then select "customize" from the drop down menu next to that and either enter specific names of people you want to block from seeing it or actual whole groups (like if you made a group of work people)
when you are done customizing your privacy settings, click on "preview my profile" at the top right and you can enter the name of a person to see how they view your profile.
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
I'm past the Honeymoon phase with FB... and I think they are jumping the shark as of late, but it's still a great tool for keeping in touch with people, sharing photos and keeping heads updated with SS.
I do also feel that people are becoming desensitized by it. Dude can't return your phone call but can reply to a status update on the quickness?
Comments
I know dudes who spend more time bitching about how they'll never use facebook than I spend actually using it.
C'mon, get out there and live...whine about facebook with us.
WHY WON'T DUDES STOP TAKING PICTURES AT THE BAR TO PUT ON FACEBOOK SO WE CAN DRINK THESE BEERS AND PROPERLY BITCH ABOUT FACEBOOK?!
I have nothing against accepting friend requests from people I've never met, if we have the right friends in common. Probably the most surprising came from a member of Off Broadway, a legendary Chicago power-pop band who had two albums on Atlantic in '79-80. He is still active as a musician. I wrote him back thanking him, mentioning along the way that I was a fan of their On album in my teen years...he thanked me and replied, "sorry I inflicted that noise on you!"
sorry, but i thought this was a sad statement. shit is really not that bad, but to each their own.
(Defriending DB Cooper...now)
#18 on the list - I will admit to having seen quite a few of those!
(although not necessarily from "high school," but definitely from "a long time ago"...you're innocently [ha!] wondering how they held up, but then they fake you out with some vague-looking snapshot)
Likes this.
I think there's the rub...
and thus nay.
Anybody on here probably understands the value of social networking. From my experience Facebook is designed as such that it preys on peoples vanity. I canceled mine cause I didn't want to hear apathetic half-wit statuses and see shitty bar photos. Yes an event gets the word out but in the same respect it often gets lost among the countless other invitations to bullshit people receive. From my experience if people really care about what you got going on, they'll stay connected. The internet makes this easier than ever why do we need one cluster F*ck of a website to spoon feed us in glossy print?
I ride. more in touch with some old friends than ever.
and I LIKE when my friends make some corny "eating crackerjacks and watching Time Bandits" status update. It cracks me up. Because they are my friends.
There's nothing wrong with either unless you're being self-righteous about it.
Any tips on avoiding application spam (as well as inflicting it on others) would be welcome, though.
How do you do this? Do I have to start grouping everybody, or i can i just block a few specific people?
JUSTIN NEEDS HELP FIGHTING SUPER SPACE NINJA PIRATES IN MAFIA WARS. CLICK TO HELP!
Yeah, How? I can't figure out how to do this. I need to put some work friends over there.
^^^^^THIS^^^^
I'm also the guy w/o a cell phone......not because I'm technophobic or have any philosophical problem with them.....but simply because I don't need my place of business to have access to me 24/7....they pay me for a 40 hour week.
I've also been told by my family that I'm a loud phone talker.....especially when speaking to someone overseas(C'mon, it's far away and I NEED to speak louder so they can hear me.)....so I don't want to be THAT guy out in public who annoys the shit out of me by letting everyone within a 50 foot radius what he had for dinner last night or what venereal diseases he just found out he has.
I'm a loud talker too...not that I necessarily shout, it's just that my voice resonates.
I have a cell phone, but I never have my most involved conversations out in public. That's how you solve THAT problem. Out in the street, my end of a cell-phone convo might consist of "okay," "what time?," "I'll be there in fifteen minutes," "talk to you later," etc.. I'll save the VD discussions for home (or at least a secluded area). END OF THREAD DERAIL
important detail. if you actually like and know in real life all of your fb friends then it's not at all a nuisance. it's just a big show and tell on the internet. with pictures and ephemera involving people you know and like.
of course having real friends and real connection and interaction with people is infinitely more important and richer in life.
the internet and real life are different.
you can do both.
1) select 'privacy settings' from the drop down in the 'account' menu
2) select 'profile information'
there you can see there are a lot of privacy settings you can customize - everything from your status updates to photos tagged of you.
for ex, if you want to block specific people from seeing photos tagged of you, then select "customize" from the drop down menu next to that and either enter specific names of people you want to block from seeing it or actual whole groups (like if you made a group of work people)
when you are done customizing your privacy settings, click on "preview my profile" at the top right and you can enter the name of a person to see how they view your profile.
TAKES COOL PHOTOS AND POSTS THEM ON FACEBOOK
Yay +1.
edit: By which I meant Edith.
I do also feel that people are becoming desensitized by it. Dude can't return your phone call but can reply to a status update on the quickness?
Yeah, i know a couple Relentless, Disingenuously Humble Self-Promoters (#1) outside of Facebook.