Facebook rant

mistanfo wrote: 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.

I sent a cousin of mine a PM on Facebook about my mother's death last year so she could tell my aunt (my mom's sister). Turns out my aunt had died months before.

Facebook is depressing.

Facebook is kind irritating. I joined to keep up with the local SCCA crowd. If people used it for actual communication I would probably check it more often. The senseless narcissistic posts drive me batty. I really don't care what you had for breakfast lunch or dinner or if you cat crapped on the couch.

Facebook could be a good tool, but posting a death before making a phone call definitely makes a person a tool.

Facebook IS Skynet. I have proof.

Appleseed wrote: Facebook IS Skynet. I have proof.

Shhhhhh! Skynet is watching!

Appleseed wrote: Facebook IS Skynet. I have proof.

bravenrace wrote:

Keith wrote: Your complaint isn't with Facebook. It's with a person.

Facebook IS people.

so is Soylent Green, that does not make it any better.

FB is good for quick communications, but serious matters are best handled person to person, not as a status.

Like any tool, it's as good as the people using it.

Me, I find it a really valuable tool for keeping up to date with people in my industry - I'd say 70% of my friends' list is somewhat work-related. It's a good venue for an online portfolio, and I post links to all my published works. You can choose to filter out the inanity, and block the truly offensive.

Jensenman wrote: My biggest complaint with FB is all the invites to Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc. Sorry but I'd rather do something else.

When you get one of those, there is a little X at the right side of the update. Click (or right-click, I forget) and you can hide them individually or by category. Say "Hide All Farmville" or whatever and never be plagued again.

Duke wrote:

Jensenman wrote: My biggest complaint with FB is all the invites to Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc. Sorry but I'd rather do something else.

When you get one of those, there is a little X at the right side of the update. Click (or right-click, I forget) and you can hide them individually or by category. Say "Hide All Farmville" or whatever and never be plagued again.

So there are switches for all the details that people find objectionable? I can turn off all of the annoying updates, I can turn off all of the ads, and only be left with very specific people sending me messages- as if they are sending me e-mail.

After a while, facebook doesn't really do much, does it?

If you don't like it, don't use it. If you do like it, do use it. Isn't everything on the berkelying planet that way?

Duke wrote: If you don't like it, don't use it. If you do like it, do use it. Isn't everything on the berkelying planet that way?

Exactamundo !!!

I say vote with your dollars/feet/time... don't like something? don't buy it, go there, or participate !

Kinda like censorship on TV... don't like what they program? change the channel (or turn it off)

Duke wrote: If you don't like it, don't use it. If you do like it, do use it. Isn't everything on the berkelying planet that way?

I don't.

But get e-mails way too many times telling me that I should. That makes me angry. Sell it to me like it's some kind of great thing, when it's really just e-mail when you turn off all of the crap.

For all of the free advertising that FB gets and e-mail I get, I enjoy pointing out that it's 1) basic communication and 2) getting you to pay someone money for nothing (advertising, games, etc). Yea, it may be pennies for you. But I note that people have become billionaires thanks to FB. Which, again, is lazy, spammy, group e-mail (or advertising).

Eric

It's like an email discussion group with automatic threading, yes. With the addition of semi-private Flickr pages.

I don't find it spammy. I turned off the Farmville notifications aeons ago and it seems that none of my friends are interested in various crap. So I don't get notifications for anything other than what's been posted by my friends.

We have a FB page for Flyin' Miata. It's a good way to make a more personal connection with some of our customers. It's not evil. It's not necessary for everyone. But it does work well for some people.

Keith wrote: We have a FB page for Flyin' Miata. It's a good way to advertise with some of our customers. It's not evil. It's not necessary for everyone. But it does work well for some people.

FYP.

the fact that they don't see it as advertising.... well.

but it is.

Then again, there are people out there who are happy to put stickers all over thier car for stuff they BOUGHT, when they should be paid to advertise. Somehow, suppliers have tought people how cool it is to advertise.

Making a personal connection with customers can be viewed as advertising. Is it so terrible for potential customers to realize that a company is made of actual human beings? Like Soylent Green :) But it's a conversation, not a one-way broadcast, that's the difference.

If you view any communication between a vendor and a potential customer as advertising, then that's what it is.

You'll be glad to know that I have a tendency to debadge my cars. You know, I wouldn't want to have those stickers on something I bought Why would I want that pesky Ford badge?

I think Keith has it right. It's a dialogue between businesses and customers, but customers can't spend money there. I'd concede that facebook is an advertising medium when I see a revenue stream attached. Marketing, yes. Advertising, no.

I go back and forth on Facebook as a whole. Sometimes I think it's the best thing ever (like when trying to post updates while at an event) but usually it's just a distraction to me. It has offered an opportunity to run into old friends from the past.

And I'm not picky about who I add, so hit me up if you're trying to build your friend count.