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Not Having a Facebook Now Considered 'Suspicious'

edited 2012-08-07 16:16:43 in General
We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, For the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year

Daily Mail article collecting some other articles that argue this point. 


Apparently, Facebook is now so ubiquitous among people that not having is a sign of social dysfunction. I really don't like to lapse into paranoia regarding social networking, but I'm really rather worried about this mentality spreading too far.


on the other hand, all the tired arguments against Facebook are getting brought again...

Comments

  • I'm a damn twisted person

    Isn't the Daily Mail generally known for being sensationalist and having lazy fact checking?

  • We Played Some Open Chords and Rejoiced, For the Earth Had Circled the Sun Yet Another Year

    there's not much to sensationalize, it's merely collecting articles referring to the idea.

  • >confuzzling psychopath and sociopath in opening title


    Yeah, not even gonna bother to read.

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    More reason to get a Facebook profile to maintain purely for publicity purposes.

  • I do hate the sentiment that everyone should keep up on their profiles.



    I want to TALK to people when I MEET them, goddamnitall.
  • Hrmph, why should I listen to what a paper in another country says? :P


    No but seriously, I don't see this becoming a thing, really. Facebook isn't the be-all/end-all/whatever amongst my friends anyway, and I have two well-respected good friends who don't have one. One never did but is quite tumblr-active (among other things), the other once had a normal, thriving but memory-laden one and deleted it in fall '09 (freshman year) after a bad breakup (she claims she was just really busy and needed to focus more) and never looked back. My dad refuses to get one and he's a well-respected surgeon in his late 50's, people aren't going to suddenly think he's shifty....


    Yeah, y'know, my dad's active in the choir at our synagogue and my mom, who only created hers to like one company page and does nothing else with it, volunteers as a tour guide at a historic house and is the secretary of our beach club...screw Facebook, that's real living!


    The article probably isn't talking about middle-aged people though, is it? Well I didn't bother to read it and I'm not going to because this is the internet and I can be petulant and contrary if I want to and no one will care, so there! >:|       

  • All the men my age (being soldiers with nothing to do) spend hours upon hours on Facebook.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    possibly related: http://www.technologyreview.com/featured-story/428150/what-facebook-knows/


    If that article goes behind a paywall, let me know.

  • "I've come to the conclusion that this is a VERY STUPID IDEA."

    Why I don't have a Facebook profile: I don't give a damn about your personal lives, nor do I believe I've done anything that would warrant anyone caring about mine.

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    I'm now imagining a Facebook group for people who refuse to join Facebook.


    Then I realized that Facebook groups don't work anymore and all you can do is "like" "pages".

  • I opened a facebook account and proceeded to do absolutely nothing with it for three years. How do facebook groups not "work" anymore?

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    First, they changed it so that it's far harder to see them on people's profile, so it was no longer possible to use one's group memberships to posture about one's allegiances.  For example, you couldn't join the "Red Sox Nation" group to show off your being a Red Sox fan anymore.


    Second (or possibly first), they introduced "pages", so that if you were a fan of something, you would instead now "like" its "page" rather than joining a fan club group for it.


    Third, groups are now done in such a way that they seem to be intended to be for people who actually socialize together rather than using the group as a way to get people together.  Let me explain:
    1. You can't join any group you want to anymore.  Someone in the group has to approve your joining.
    2. Members of a group can add other people into the group, without their consent.
    The result of this is that groups are now more for people who already know each other (usually as an extension of some sort of social context outside Facebook) rather than for people to get to know each other due to common interests.


    Also, no more "if 4294967296 people join this group there will be a buffer overflow" groups.

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    @Kraken: What do you mean "keep up on their profiles"?  Do you mean maintaining their own or monitoring others'?

  • yea i make potions if ya know what i mean

    I'm sorry to bump this thread without really adding anything, but



    'not having a Facebook account could be the first sign that you are a mass murderer.'



    el-oh-el 

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Incidentally, I deleted my Facebook today.

  • yea i make potions if ya know what i mean

    Don't touch anything that even looks like it might be sort-of Facebook related for about a month, or they'll reinstate your account without asking.

  • OOOooooOoOoOOoo, I'm a ghoOooOooOOOost!

    Yeah, I know. I've had that happen before -_-

  • edited 2012-08-09 16:48:23
    yea i make potions if ya know what i mean

    The only reason I have a Facebook (under a fake name, no less) is to keep in contact with some friends from high school.


    Otherwise, I pretty much take the approach of "if you want to be my friend you are going to actually have to say things to me, sorry." Doesn't seem to be too popular an approach nowadays. 


    edit: Oh, I also post random shit on my wall for the funneyz, but that's not really a "reason" per se. 

  • edited 2012-08-09 19:27:17

    The only reason I have a Facebook (under a fake name, no less) is to keep in contact with some friends from high school.



    Since most of the people I knew in high school are people I don't want looking me up, I never got a Facebook.


    Earlier today, I went on a killing spree, as Facebookless individuals are wont to do (apparently).  Great fun!

  • BeeBee
    edited 2012-08-09 19:40:09

    2. Members of a group can add other people into the group, without their consent.



    Needing admin approval to join was a good thing (my game design club had a group and we still get random dudes we've never heard of from across the country trying to join), but this one creeped me out so much when they put it in.  Like, I'm just waiting for some asshole to start adding random dudes to his white supremacist group or something.

  • GMH: Both.


    It's maddening.

  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human

    I just don't care lol.  I put on my profile a line saying that I don't like Facebook much.  I think I did.  Haven't checked in a while.


    Don't touch anything that even looks like it might be sort-of Facebook related for about a month, or they'll reinstate your account without asking.


    Yeah, I know. I've had that happen before -_-


    Wait, really?  I thought that was just a joke.

  • If you "delete" your Facebook account, it doesn't actually get deleted for quite a while.  Should you ever log in to Facebook in the meantime, your account will be completely restored and the deletion will be canceled.

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