tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30268243.post4824581726543403400..comments2013-12-12T21:46:35.109-08:00Comments on chainlynx / c|-|41nl`/n><: Facebook SucksUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30268243.post-60534690695659953212008-01-07T19:35:00.000-08:002008-01-07T19:35:00.000-08:00I second Patrick, good post danny. I agree with it...I second Patrick, good post danny. I agree with it and enjoyed it, however, I am compelled to bring up two random valuable points about Facebook because there are communities out there it serves. The first community is comprised of people who have not yet found a place in their physical communities. Facebook – or any virtual social networking for that matter – brings people in touch with other people “like them,” even if they have never met. More specifically, I had a friend who came to this country as a refugee and was placed in middle-of-no-where, VA – basically, your quintessential small town, and she had nothing in common with anyone. Upon getting Facebook, she realized there were others just like her who survived a war, came to this country, learned English, and worked all the way to a prestigious university. For her, this was not only empowering, but it also brought her in touch with a community of her own. This was a brand new community created by Facebook, not an old high school community or middle school friend she lost touch with. So, while random, they are still valuable friends.<BR/><BR/>Secondly, you mention the Facebook user becomes less interested in Facebook over time; random friend requests and silly applications like, “which Les Miserables character are you most like?” mount up and desensitize the user to the initial excitement of Facebook. For you and I that is very true, but I think there is a group of people out there that finds enjoyment in these trivial quizzes, rankings, requests, and applications. They may even seriously consider the different values and uses of the poke vs. the superpoke. Sure, I say this with sarcasm, but when I came back on Facebook after 6 months and was bombarded with all this new crap, I was even more shocked to see some of my friends had actually loaded up to 30 different mini applications on their profiles. And they are still using them. What a ridiculous waste of time. But plainly said, we can’t all be STIA majors. America needs people to watch MTV, to tape daytime soap operas, and yes, even to click on Facebook ads. Our economy needs it. And, I whole-heartedly agree: “a lot of the people on Facebook are really annoying.” But those people who annoy you on Facebook, probably annoy you in class too. Facebook doesn’t make people annoying. It also doesn’t make pirate and ninja identifiers out of exceptional minds, Facebook just offers a different look to a certain type of mental exercise or activity people are either interested in or not interested in. While application overload is boring to some, it is all the rage to others.<BR/><BR/>These are just minor points to a much larger debate. I think the overall worth or quality of something like Facebook is hard to assess. Like everything in a postmodern culture, it may become a staple of consumerism and superficiality - another abused tool. Sadly, I have noticed it has become more and more about ourselves and less about friendship. Applications to find out if people would secretly date you, see who has a secret love for you, or see who ranks you the best listener or hottest, etc, etc, only fuel our interest in hearing about ourselves some more. But it can also be a tool to add a new twist to the ever-changing nature of social interaction. Is Facebook also helping to mobilize change? <BR/><BR/>As far as the privacy thing goes, it is rather unfortunate. I agree it is untrustworthy.natbravohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15956174001479887668noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30268243.post-3068841229747738372007-12-10T15:38:00.000-08:002007-12-10T15:38:00.000-08:00Good rant. I agree with most everything thing the...Good rant. I agree with most everything thing there. I've come very close to quitting facebook twice, and one time giving it up for a month. What keeps me quiet and connected to the great matrix-eque hub that is facebook, is the unlimited upload space for photos and the 300mb limit on videos. Even YouTube caps those at 100.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11120945586421023450noreply@blogger.com