EvilSmoothie
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Facebook is toxic and society would be better without it.
- Thread starter EvilSmoothie
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We need not shoot the messenger. Toxicity depends on the user. Make the best use of it if it increases your productivity or knowledge. Its totally left to your discretion. Its like saying liquor or smoking is toxic. No hard feelings. Just my 2c. I am not a great fan of facebook, if that makes you comfortable.
FSAVA
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I generally tend to agree with the OP. It can be toxic and it does have a negative effect on society. Influencing people who don't know better for sure.
We already had excellent examples such as Cambridge Analytica and the like. Overall it does more harm than good. But I also agree with the comment saying "Toxicity depends on the user. Make the best use of it if it increases your productivity or knowledge". It is up to the user to filter at his discretion and only use, absorb the best parts or whatever works for them. There's indeed a world of content!
For instance, I love to be connected with all my friends in Italy, people who I grew up with and I haven't seen in 20 years. But I never get involved in politics, religion, etc. It really is a waste of time. It did give everybody an opinion to voice to the world without consequences and repercussions and that has become a new lifestyle for the younger generations who were born with it. I guess that as a GenX, I too have to adapt and make the best of it.
We already had excellent examples such as Cambridge Analytica and the like. Overall it does more harm than good. But I also agree with the comment saying "Toxicity depends on the user. Make the best use of it if it increases your productivity or knowledge". It is up to the user to filter at his discretion and only use, absorb the best parts or whatever works for them. There's indeed a world of content!
For instance, I love to be connected with all my friends in Italy, people who I grew up with and I haven't seen in 20 years. But I never get involved in politics, religion, etc. It really is a waste of time. It did give everybody an opinion to voice to the world without consequences and repercussions and that has become a new lifestyle for the younger generations who were born with it. I guess that as a GenX, I too have to adapt and make the best of it.
EvilSmoothie
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HappySquirrel
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@HappySquirrel In principle I agree with you 100% but with the exception of closed groups inside Facebook. In the town I live in people don't have resources for expensive Websites, so they use and are also super experts on running their business with a Facebook page. People get to these pages through legitimate groups that have closed memberships - i.e. they have to be vetted to get to be a member of the group and fake news is not tolerated. Any mischief and they're blocked from the Group.
Outside the safety and security of those group communities I agree that it's a chaotic world of low quality spam and also fake news. If I had a child I'd hate for them to get carried away with that.
Outside the safety and security of those group communities I agree that it's a chaotic world of low quality spam and also fake news. If I had a child I'd hate for them to get carried away with that.
HappySquirrel
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Travel back in time about 75 years, and your original post could describe television. (...It's totally uncontrolled...)
Sure, there were/are some standards, and there's a barrier to entry from a broadcasting standpoint, but from a consumption standpoint, there's nothing preventing anyone from viewing any amount of nonsense. You either dive into the polluted waters, or you build your own pool...
Sure, there were/are some standards, and there's a barrier to entry from a broadcasting standpoint, but from a consumption standpoint, there's nothing preventing anyone from viewing any amount of nonsense. You either dive into the polluted waters, or you build your own pool...
blanewaxman
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EvilSmoothie said:
I agree that facebook is toxic. Facebook however is highly censored. In Fact alternative platforms like Minds and Gab have grown their user base by millions since popular platforms like Facebook, Google, reddit, etc began heavily censoring and editorializing content. Facebook is one of a small number of sites that see the majority of website traffic. I can remember the days when people just used email and even still wrote letters to each other. I prefer this. People generally gravitate towards social networking sites because they are bored and lonely. Seeking friendships in the digital realm rather than pursuing meaningful relationships in real life. When I see a sign at a coffee shop that says. Wifi is broken, talk to each other, it makes me happy.
You can tell your friends and family members to start using something like MeWe.com its pretty much pionner social media, was created years before Facebook and it values on privacy and the user, there are no ads, no tracking which is a plus.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnsc...private-alternative-to-facebook/#3d42dd2cf092
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnsc...private-alternative-to-facebook/#3d42dd2cf092
I agree to an extent. I think Facebook can be a toxic site to spend time on, but it's mostly because of the social bubble that it puts users in. Their algorithm only shows people what they already agree with and what they already want to see, magnifying certain views and sometimes introducing new views by association. It's dangerous to our perspectives, and it's all about using people's emotions against them. If the platform were to appeal to a reasoned approach, people wouldn't get as addicted to the emotional highs and lows of participating there, they would spend less time there, they wouldn't click on as many ads, and... you see where this is going. It's all the result of the "money over social responsibility" attitude.