Am I the only one who avoids social media?

[Christy76]

Lately I feel pressured into joining Facebook. I don't like social media, to me some people on their seem fake Some people like to start arguments and then there is the like and dislike button. Now I can see if you said something really nasty about a person or group of people. I could see people giving you dislikes but on Facebook you can get fifty thumbs down by PS4 fans for saying you own an Xbox One. It's trivial and it's mean.

Then there is the privacy issue. The various social media sites can say what you are posting is private but we all know it isn't. We have all heard stories of people getting into trouble when some private post went public. The sites themselves collect data on you and sell it to advertisers. Mention you went to Wendy's today and you can expect ads for Wendy's frosties and cheeseburgers for the next six months.

I'm also old fashioned in that I believe getting to know someone means spending time with them and forming a bond. While it is true that some people have actual friends on social media many also have tons of people they have never met on there. Now people just post little bits of info here and their and it's just not the same. Sure, I like the funny cat picture but just because we've shared several funny pictures doesn't make us friends. Today everywhere you look people are on their phones checking their facebook page or texting away. Some of my best memories of my younger days are role playing with a group before smart phones and social media. We got together, no facebook, no internet and even no TV and we played Dungeons and Dragons or Shadow Run. We all sat around and talked face to face.

When you say you want to sit around and talk face to face today people look at you funny. I've been told that people communicate through social media now. I guess friendship has changed. I wouldn't mind social media so much if it were something people did for an hour or so a day for fun but today it's non stop. Trying to get people to focus and talk to each other is like pulling teeth because we have forgotten how. I don't know, I'm only 39 but maybe that's too old.

[Dena]

I am a bit older than you but I have been in computers all my professional life and I refuse to join Face Plant. I know I am pretty public on this site but I would prefer not to be on that one.

I don't feel like construction  a web page to communicate when I have a phone or I can do it in person. I find using the web pretty impersonal.

I now have another reason to be upset with them as well. Somewhere I clicked on a link that took me to Face Plant and they put a tracking cookie in my computer without me agreeing to their privacy agreement. They have been tracking my activity all over the web when I contact a Face Plant partner site. I can only imagine what they might do if I signed their worthless privacy agreement.

[Christy76]

Glad to see someone agrees with me. Just wanted to let you know that if you are using windows you can download Spybot. Clear your browser history, make sure Spybot is updated and though the scan may take a while depending on how much stuff is on their it should get the cookie you are talking about as well as any others.

[BeverlyAnn]

I've had a Facebook account for several years but probably hadn't been on it for at least three years.  I just went back on there simply because I wanted to reconnect with some transgender people I knew in other parts of the country.  I had lost the e-mail address they all knew for me that had been mine for many years.  It was a prodigy.net address to show you how long I had it.  So the only way I knew to get back in touch was Facebook.

[Dena]

I use a Mac and cookies are easy enough to pop out. The point is they didn't have permission to plant them. The police don't have permission to place a tracking device on your car without a court order, why should a private company be allowed to track your web activity?

[Christy76]

I hear you Beverly. I once used a Twitter account to get in touch with someone but once I had, I stopped using Twitter.

Dena: I agree with you whole heartedly. Tracking cookies should be illegal. What's scary is the number of people willing to knowingly download them so they can use Facebook. "Sure I'll exchange my privacy for the use of social media." I recently came across an ad for a TV show in which a woman described a man like this "You don't use Twitter, you don't use Tumbler, you don't have a facebook account. You might as well not exist." That's how many people today feel. If you are not on social media then you are nobody.

[Katiepie]

I never got into the hype of social media. I have a fully working cell phone, others have a perfectly working cell phone. If someone needs to get ahold of me, I am just a phone call away. If I have a picture on my cell phone someone else wants they can easily ask for me to send the picture their way.

Easy right?

Kate <3

[Jenny07]

Facebook, what a waste of time.
The world got on just fine without it and will when it is gone.

I refuse to be a techno zombie.
Just stop and take a look at most people, they are more disengaged than ever yet pretend they are more conected.
80% of people staring at their phones and unable to stay away for more than a few minutes.
It really is a modern day addiction that people are in denial of.

Don't give in to peer pressure.

Brains I want brains....

[FreyasRedemption]

A few years back, my mother persuaded me into making a Facebook profile. At first, I put up a webcam shot as my profile pic. A friend said that I look like a "handsome gentleman". I promptly changed my profile pic into a picture of a squid.
A few weeks later I quit completely.
Nobody in there even noticed, and continued posting stupid pictures of cats and celebrities, links to bad music videos and creating groups for silly or hypocritical causes.

[Tossu-sama]

I don't have a Facebook account and I don't want one. Years ago my mom joined Facebook and it was then that I promised myself that I would never join that site myself. It's become kinda like a principle over the years now so there's no way I'd join now.

I do have other social media accounts, though, but I'm pretty lazy with them and get active on them periodically. I prefer forums and message boards.

[TG CLare]

I got along fine without Facebook and the like and I'm still doing fine without it.

Love,
Clare

[diane 2606]

I'm a Twitter user. I follow a few people whose opinions I value on technology, my favorite NFL team, and world affairs. A few people follow me. I make sure it's not a steady stream of tweets by not being afraid to unfollow.

Facebook is evil.

[Karen5519]

I do not do social media for any number of reasons.  I am a private person and do not want to let everyone on the planet know what I am doing every minute of the day and the fact that I have lived stealth for the most part since I transitioned I just am more comfortable blending into the world as just another woman.  In my line of work I am "out there" to a degree but I can control it to a great extent.  With Facebook and such you can't really do that.  Twitter?.....not on your life.  The number of people who have made fool a of themselves on Twitter is to high to count.

[audreelyn]

I use Facebook!

You just need to know the rules. Profile pics are all public, if you use the app, it'll sync contacts and suggest friends... And any apps you use can be visible. I don't use the app, but the web browser, and I only have one profile pic that doesn't show my entire face. If you're my friend then you can see my regular posts. I also try not to add people who post melodrama. After all, we choose who are friends are, right?

I think it's a great place to communicate and share photos and events. It's also a great backup in case your phone goes down or you have friends who only have Wi-Fi.

With any tool, it's about how you use it. Though it may have a ton of shortcomings, it's not a deal breaker.

Audree

[diane 2606]

Twitter?.....not on your life.  The number of people who have made fool a of themselves on Twitter is to high to count.

Alcohol and Twitter, as well as arrogance and Twitter, do not mix. I'm deep stealth. I don't mention anything about my past anywhere online except here. None of the 20 people who follow me would freak out if they found out, but I have no intention of that happening anyway.

[Kylo]

I only use things like Facebook as advertising venues for my business, and to talk to my SO while he's at work because the company computers allow use of Fb during lunch. Otherwise, I don't see the fascination with it, or why something like that should manage to kill off forums. However I don't use my real name or pictures on Facebook. All my friends on there know who I am by pseudonyms and particular avatars. I'm not giving FB my personal information, lol.

For the record, I loathe Twitter.

I definitely agree that all this social media that has supposed to have made communicating easier... hasn't. People are lazier than ever when it comes to keeping in contact. I've got family & friends who are too "busy" to send a five second message in years. ¬_¬

[BlonT]

I feel no need to hang out my life to the world so no i am not.
Dena  do not forget the flash cookies !

[barbie]

Facebook is a great place for transgender people to come out. My Facebook friends are very supportive of me as transgender or gender minority. Especially women are more supportive of me, although a few hate my posting of bikini photos.

On the other hand, Facebook is used as a way of promoting myself as an educator. Some of my Facebook friends can have a job interview with some of my students in the near future. At least, they know me, what I am doing as a researcher and an educator, and my university name. Without Facebook, they will have no idea of what kind of education my students have got, as I live in a relatively isolated island.

The average monthly number of Facebook user is about 16 millions in my country (South Korea), ca. 1/3 of the entire population. Because of this reason, the mainstream newspapers and TV stations are investing a lot in promoting their sites through Facebook.

barbie~~