Facebook rant

In reply to bravenrace:

Where's that sarcasm smiley?

i am on FB, but am not "friends" with any family members or current coworkers. yes, some pix from HS have surfaced, and in my defense (1) it was the eighties so my hair and clothes were contemporary when the pic was taken, and (2) drinking age was 18 back then.

But there's nothing about Facebook that requires you to use to, say, announce the death of a family member instead of calling. That's the choice by a person, Facebook has nothing to do with it. 100 years ago, you'd have heard it via gossip at the barbershop instead of a drop-by visit. That doesn't make the barbershop evil.

Thanks to Facebook, I reconnected with a friend from high school. We've always been the sort of friends who can pick right up where we left off after a long absence. And last summer, I was the best man at his wedding in Australia. Facebook helped make that happen by putting us back in touch again. Sure, we could have hunted each other down, but it was facilitated by FB. That's not a bad thing.

Facebook also allowed us to give Turbodog a good sendoff recently, which was a huge source of support for his mom and dad. Again, I could have put it all together on our own website, but FB made it much easier.

I'm picky about who my friends are. They're all adults, and they tend to post about interesting things instead of just what they had for breakfast. Nothing wrong with the tool, just the users.

I've found Facebook is a great way to maintain contact with past acquaintances for professional purposes, while not having to hang out with them frequently and be reminded that while they are respected at their places of employment, outside the office they still act (and live) like an 18 year old.

I don't even mind the people who post about their crummy day, as long as they post what happened. I cannot stand the people who just post "This is the worst day ever!", or the 9 people who indulge their cry for attention in the course of an hour asking "Uh Oh, what happened?" or "r u okay??????".

IT's really more of a comment on society than anything else. I get texts from my staff all the time telling me that they will be late or whatever but there are times when I just flatly tell them that we will finish the conversation face to face. I think that FB or whatever is used to avoid conflict by the week-kneed.

internetautomart wrote: I am on the book of many faces. It makes it easier for me to keep up with people who I would likely not keep up with otherwise.

This. I have gotten in touch (or had people look me up) with people I am glad to catch up with but would never bother/be able to find easily elsewhere.

For instance, I had a great friend around 1976 who I lost touch with. His dad used to build and sometimes race Sportsman and Modified dirt track cars. My old friend got on Facebook and looked me up. Turns out he is a NASCAR crew chief and makes custim golf clubs in the off-season. That's pretty cool. We caught up on the intervening 30+ years. I never would have done that another way. I've got dozens of similar stories.

If people I don't know try to friend me, I just ignore them. If someone tries to recruit me for their stupid game, I ignore that. I have a Gmail account I use for all my internet interactions like this, so I don't get any spam.

It's not evil, nor is it the end of civilization. Nor, however, is it the future of civilization. It's a convenient tool and a way to kill a little time.

Keith wrote: Facebook also allowed us to give Turbodog a good sendoff recently, which was a huge source of support for his mom and dad. Again, I could have put it all together on our own website, but FB made it much easier.

Slightly off topic but are y'all going to do a run of Turbodog shirts?

The "Rat Fink" drawing will be turned into a shirt. I don't have a timeframe for that yet, I'm still catching up from the holidays. Maybe we'll offer a special for our facebook fans

I agree 100% Keith, perhaps I should have titled this FB User rant.

FB itself is not the problem, its the way some people use it. Overall I find it to be very usefull for keeping in touch and sharing information. The majority of my "friends" are car geeks and its a good way to share quick project updates and keep in touch. It helps me reconnect with some family that I dont see much any more and stay up to date on events. I dont even mind when people want to put a rememberance to a loved one who has passed. One of my good friends from the VW club passed a few months ago and his family keeps his FB page active as a "living memorial" people will occasionally pop on and add a favorite photo or story to share, its great. Its just not the way I want to find out that it happened. FB cant control that, not their fault. But I wish my thick headed relatives and in-laws who we have specifically chided on the matter would get a clue. My wife even went to the trouble to organized a family phone tree so contact could be made quick and simple and orderly.

For some unknown reason my wife's friends keep adding me and get offended if I dont add them or if I remove them. The inane chatter from some of them is painful and I've come close to offending a few in a PWD state (Posting while drunk) So finally, since they give my wife grief when I delete them, I just left them there and did an auto hide of all their comments so I can pretend they dont exist.

Got one a few months ago, rarely ever look at it.

I'm absolutely shocked at some of the stuff people post up on their, blatantly racist/homophobic/expeltives/etc.

I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, I guess some people haven't figured out how easy it is to "find" all of this "incriminating" info on you.

I think there is a way to block certain people on your "friends" list from being able to comment or "like" your posts. I'm pretty sure there are sub-lists for friends so not all will see all or be able to comment on all. You may want to check that possibility out.

I'm going to get dated again, but a lot of the comments on here FOR FB sound like the comments my friends had when everyone and their sister got CB radios. For those not old enough to remember, there used to be a time when only truck drivers and a few other folks had CB radios and they used them the way many folks use cellular 'phones now....to communicate when a 'phone call could not be made, like from a moving vehicle. Before FB we were all able to communicate nearly instantly with anyone...using cellphones. Then that wasn't enough, we NEEDED texting and then crap like TWITTER.

The reasons I don't belong to FB? As others have said: endless SPAM, security issues, and sometimes there are folks you DON'T want to hear from...at all.

Don't use technology as some kind of excuse or crutch for not being human. SHEEESH.

Phones did this to face to face conversations, texting did it to phone calls, and now the internet is doing it to everything.

FB is a tool. Do people misuse it? Obviously. Some people have problems talking to people about serious things. Plus, imagine the pain of making phone call after phone call and having to keep talking about the bad news. I'm not saying I agree with it, but it can be difficult.

Like everything else on Earth, FB is what you make it. Want to post pictures of your breakfast, or post about how you like cats? Go for it! Or you can use it to keep in touch with friends who you don't normally talk to.

I've sent a death notice via FB, in a PM. It was for a distant relative of the person that was getting the message, and since they were away on vacation, the only way I knew to get the info to that person. They DID appreciate it being delivered, not that they could reasonably have made the funeral.

A time and a place for everthing.

Ok, I give what is this Facebook anyway? I thought it was a movie.

I object to these people in the news lately who lose a child due to their own negligence (leaving a gun on the bathroom sink so your 5 year old can shoot himself???) then post a RIP message on FaceBook within 20 minutes of the death. You just lost your kid or wife or whatever, is your first priority really to update your status? Amazing.

T.J. wrote: Ok, I give what is this Facebook anyway? I thought it was a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr1EC3zwPf0

uh... wait, what was the question?

I send death updates before it happens so everyone can be prepared... I include time, place, circumstances, outfits to wear... etc.

To be contrary: When I am grieving I don't want to talk to everyone and have to explain to them that I am OK even though it sucks. I know the obvious answer is don't tell anyone what happened, but they all want to know and expect me to notify them. Their need to tell me how bad they feel for me is their need not mine. So in an odd way telling people about something sad in a fairly non private way allows me to deal with the situation more privately. Hows that for a clear justification?

Well, is certainly justifies that you are, in fact, contrarian.

SVreX wrote: Well, is certainly justifies that you are, in fact, contrarian.

No I'm not.

I am on the Book of Faces but only small time, it has allowed me to contact people I haven't seen in a long time. Of course I make sure the statute of limitations has run out first. My biggest complaint with FB is all the invites to Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc. Sorry but I'd rather do something else.

On that subject, I see that you can buy Farmville etc 'recharge cards' FOR REAL MONEY. If my life ever gets so meaningless that I have to spend real money on fake real estate or play golf for fun, please just take me outside and put a slug between my eyes. Do it fast so it doesn't hurt.

Jensenman wrote: If my life ever gets so meaningless that I have to spend real money on fake real estate or play golf for fun, please just take me outside and put a slug between my eyes. Do it fast so it doesn't hurt.

suddenly realizes that I have in-fact purchased virtual real-estate and automobiles as part of iRacing... hangs head in shame

I wonder when Facebook is going to implode.

People will get over it and leave..

They sure do get a ton of money though.. But not from revenue or sales of anything..

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

Jensenman wrote: If my life ever gets so meaningless that I have to spend real money on fake real estate or play golf for fun, please just take me outside and put a slug between my eyes. Do it fast so it doesn't hurt.

*** suddenly realizes that I have in-fact purchased virtual real-estate and automobiles as part of iRacing... hangs head in shame ***

[Ronald Reagan] 'Well, you got me there.' [/Ronald Reagan]