Quote:
Originally Posted by hamster-bamster
I started reading the article, but immediately realized that the author is not aware of the self-selection bias problem. So I stopped. You cannot opine on such things without first acknowledging the issue of self-selection.
In regards to FB, I absolutely love it because it makes me findable on the web, and I have recovered the connection with my friend whom I have known since age 4, but lost touch with in 2008. She found me in January. The connection is REAL - we now talk on the phone and I will visit her in May (she lives in Chicago). The FB was used as a TOOL to reconnect. This girlfriend found ME, via FB. I myself have found an old friend, whom I lost touch with in 1997 (have already visited her in another state and talk on the phone etc. - so the connection is REAL and FB was used as a TOOL but not as a substitute for a REAL connection).
I have tinkered with GMAIL to filter out alerts about posts, photographs, and all kind of stuff that I am not interested in, in an effort to save time.
In other words, FB is a tool that can be used selectively to your advantage. Nobody is compelled to read posts that they do not want to read, etc. FB has lots of capabilities (I am not aware of most of them), so it should be possible to selectively use the beneficial capabilities (whatever they are and that would vary from user to user) while not wasting time on useless or harmful capabilities.
I can see though how someone would find no capabilities beneficial and then decide to delete the account.
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I wish that they would stop changing those tools on what seems like a daily basis. I used to be able to "silence" people. This eliminated the "why did you delete me from FB" conversation. I could live in peace without hearing the crap. Then I go to use that option and it is not there. My daughter told me that it still exists, you have to go to their page, do this, that and the other.
Which brings up an interesting point that I've never thought of before. Irl, I have no problem walking away from a conversation that I do not enjoy. But on FB, with my limited knowledge, I have to scroll past it. It's not always unpleasant things, sometimes its those dumb shares that everyone except me needs to do. I don't need to post this as my profile picture to prove that I'm against animal cruelty, child abuse, or that I love my husband.
Recently people have been posting things "help me find this person." I find that extremely troubling. If I do not want Jack the Ripper to know where I am, I don't need my friend from the third grade piping up saying "Oh, I know where she lives, 1234 Main Street" and get a warm fuzzy feeling that she's helped reunite long lost friends. People do not seem to realize the full impact of their actions online.