7 reasons to quit Facebook ?
Godfather.
Posts: 12,504
Ten years ago Facebook was just cresting as the cool new social media site that helped you keep in touch with the people you didn’t actually like in high school. We fed it our thoughts and feelings, shared our meals and locations and our top ten movie lists, kept it up-to-date on our relationship status, political views, favorite links, and personal information — all in the name of staying connected, and all without a thought to our security. But with a decade of questions regarding how Facebook makes money now answered, and a general understanding of how sharing information online can be dangerous (while the platform constantly updates its security protocol), we continue to use it anyway, even though many of us are just checking in as ritual and have threatened our exit from Facebook for years.
Of course, screen time in moderation is, for the most part, perfectly acceptable, and social media can offer a few genuinely beneficial uses. But before you log in or tap that app on your smartphone again, here are a few reasons to quit Facebook in 2015.
It Wastes Your Time
It's estimated that the average casual user (17 minutes per day on Facebook) who has been active on the site for 10 years has wasted upwards of 40 entire days of their lives scrolling and liking and commenting on pictures and posts. And more engaged users, who spend at least an hour a day on the site, have clocked 150 days feeding the Facebook beast during the same time. Think about how long you spend on the site each day, and what else could be a more productive use of your time.
Facebook Uses You to Sell Stuff...
In 2012, the site manipulated posts from 689,000 accounts without consent in an experiment that examined whether or not it could affect your emotions by making a few edits on your page. The study was done, according to Facebook, to "improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible." Skeptics think it was really used to discover the monetary benefit of a Like. COO Sheryl Sandberg later apologized, adding that they "never meant to upset you."
RELATED: Three Simples Steps for Keeping Photos Out of Hackers' Hands
And Targets You with Advertisements
One time you wanted to buy a thing, and then you searched for that thing, and six months later Facebook is still reminding you that you should think about buying that thing, even if you already bought the thing. Yes, most sites do this thanks to embedded cookies, but only Facebook seamlessly posts these ads in your timeline with enough regularity that you can only assume your friend has an odd obsession with the latest Norelco razor.
It's Bad for Your Health
Facebook isn't just a harmless website dedicated to cataloging your vacations, poor wardrobe choices, and myopic thoughts on sporting events (which can both define or destroy relationships), it can actually do you harm. Studies hint that it can impact your immune system and inhibit the release of growth hormones, impair digestion and vision, limit thinking and kill creativity, and affect sleep patterns and happiness.
"Who Are These People, Anyway?"
The average adult has 338 friends on Facebook and probably doesn't know more than 10 percent of them anymore, or at all. Many of them likely have new lives, some have new last names, new passions, new facial hair, and new humans they're now responsible for keeping alive (read: babies). These are not the friends you knew, and semi-casually keeping up with them is a waste of time that could be better spent with new, real friends. Or on Twitter.
RELATED: Why Apple Pay Will Take Over the World
"But I Don't Care About Privacy"
Fair. That's your right. But the problem is that we're setting precedent for the future without yet understanding how it will affect the free and open Web, and simultaneously creating an internet that relies on you having a Facebook account to access sites that are not Facebook. As one of nearly 1.2 billion users to date, odds are decent that your account won't be hacked by someone with ill-will toward your family. That doesn't mean that permitting easy access to your information goes without consequence, both immediately and decades from now.
Nothing You Post Actually Matters
Very few people care what you're doing, whom you're with, where you're eating, or what you just bought, and the people who do were probably right next to you when you did it. We all saw that funny Ice Bucket Challenge video, and if we didn’t see it, it's fine. We're all fine. You'll sleep well without knowing which childhood toys you owned are now worth a fortune, and you will absolutely "believe what happened next" on Upworthy, because someone took time to write about it. These articles only exist because you share them on Facebook, and you only share them because they exist. So, instead, just invite a friend over to talk about how much you both loved Save By the Bell. The internet can only take so much nostalgia.
Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/collection/why-were-getting-off-facebook-in-2015-20141231#ixzz3crysJHOF
Follow us: @mensjournal on Twitter | MensJournal on Facebook
Of course, screen time in moderation is, for the most part, perfectly acceptable, and social media can offer a few genuinely beneficial uses. But before you log in or tap that app on your smartphone again, here are a few reasons to quit Facebook in 2015.
It Wastes Your Time
It's estimated that the average casual user (17 minutes per day on Facebook) who has been active on the site for 10 years has wasted upwards of 40 entire days of their lives scrolling and liking and commenting on pictures and posts. And more engaged users, who spend at least an hour a day on the site, have clocked 150 days feeding the Facebook beast during the same time. Think about how long you spend on the site each day, and what else could be a more productive use of your time.
Facebook Uses You to Sell Stuff...
In 2012, the site manipulated posts from 689,000 accounts without consent in an experiment that examined whether or not it could affect your emotions by making a few edits on your page. The study was done, according to Facebook, to "improve our services and to make the content people see on Facebook as relevant and engaging as possible." Skeptics think it was really used to discover the monetary benefit of a Like. COO Sheryl Sandberg later apologized, adding that they "never meant to upset you."
RELATED: Three Simples Steps for Keeping Photos Out of Hackers' Hands
And Targets You with Advertisements
One time you wanted to buy a thing, and then you searched for that thing, and six months later Facebook is still reminding you that you should think about buying that thing, even if you already bought the thing. Yes, most sites do this thanks to embedded cookies, but only Facebook seamlessly posts these ads in your timeline with enough regularity that you can only assume your friend has an odd obsession with the latest Norelco razor.
It's Bad for Your Health
Facebook isn't just a harmless website dedicated to cataloging your vacations, poor wardrobe choices, and myopic thoughts on sporting events (which can both define or destroy relationships), it can actually do you harm. Studies hint that it can impact your immune system and inhibit the release of growth hormones, impair digestion and vision, limit thinking and kill creativity, and affect sleep patterns and happiness.
"Who Are These People, Anyway?"
The average adult has 338 friends on Facebook and probably doesn't know more than 10 percent of them anymore, or at all. Many of them likely have new lives, some have new last names, new passions, new facial hair, and new humans they're now responsible for keeping alive (read: babies). These are not the friends you knew, and semi-casually keeping up with them is a waste of time that could be better spent with new, real friends. Or on Twitter.
RELATED: Why Apple Pay Will Take Over the World
"But I Don't Care About Privacy"
Fair. That's your right. But the problem is that we're setting precedent for the future without yet understanding how it will affect the free and open Web, and simultaneously creating an internet that relies on you having a Facebook account to access sites that are not Facebook. As one of nearly 1.2 billion users to date, odds are decent that your account won't be hacked by someone with ill-will toward your family. That doesn't mean that permitting easy access to your information goes without consequence, both immediately and decades from now.
Nothing You Post Actually Matters
Very few people care what you're doing, whom you're with, where you're eating, or what you just bought, and the people who do were probably right next to you when you did it. We all saw that funny Ice Bucket Challenge video, and if we didn’t see it, it's fine. We're all fine. You'll sleep well without knowing which childhood toys you owned are now worth a fortune, and you will absolutely "believe what happened next" on Upworthy, because someone took time to write about it. These articles only exist because you share them on Facebook, and you only share them because they exist. So, instead, just invite a friend over to talk about how much you both loved Save By the Bell. The internet can only take so much nostalgia.
Read more: http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/collection/why-were-getting-off-facebook-in-2015-20141231#ixzz3crysJHOF
Follow us: @mensjournal on Twitter | MensJournal on Facebook
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Comments
Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.
Brilliantati©
Godfather.
Facebook wastes your time: PEOPLE choose to waste their time.
What society should say: "Your time is limited and precious. Consider how you want to spend each minute, and treasure them."
Facebook uses you to sell stuff: BUSINESSES look for weak-minded, non-observant sheep looking for simple pleasures, willing to not think but only to consume.
Re-branded message from society: "Be critical. There's no such thing as a free lunch - always decide whether the cost is worth the pleasure. If you don't see the cost, make sure you think about it until you do."
It targets you with advertisements: This is called marketing. You find the right customer for the right product, and you try to match the two. You try to propose what hole in your life the product will fit, and hope this leads to a sale.
What to teach: "When businesses are marketing to you, they are looking out for themselves. They will often try to tell you about what's missing in your life. Did you know this was missing in your life before they told you it was?"
It's bad for your health: Along with cigarettes, copious consumption of alcohol, working too much, working too little, enjoying too much, enjoying too little, over-spending, frugality, etc.
A better message: "Life has all sorts of pleasures and pains. Some short-term pains lead to long-term pleasures, and some short-term pleasures lead to long-term pain. Learn to live a balanced life. Think about the sacrifices you will make for the things you go back to on far too regular a basis."
Who are these people, anyways?
Message from society: "Think about the quality and quantity of your friends. Usually, it's hard to find both, and usually you only need one. Gravitate to the people who will care about you, and who will bring out a desire to care for them. Don't waste time on anyone else."
But I don't care about privacy.
Suggestion from society: "Privacy is your right, and caring about privacy is your obligation. You can surrender some privacy, but be cognizant of it. Realize that this surrender is taking place. The minute we as a society stop caring about privacy, is the minute those with self-serving intentions take advantage of this fact in devious and deceptive ways. Sometimes these might even have monetary costs associated."
Nothing you post actually matters.
Society says: "Since we're all being aware of how we spend our time (see point one), our posts should be met by virtual tumbleweeds. If they're met with comments, then it probably was matter. Freedom of expression grows us personally and societally, so why discourage sharing these sentiments?"
My opinion is that this article is correct in some ways, but the author needs to zoom out and look at what poor societal traits Facebook represents, and how we can start to change them.
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
(plus, should I feel the need to post pictures of our cats, I do it here
Yes it is annoying in all the usual ways, but if you don't like Billy's posts about what he is eating you can easily avoid it. It is tops for keeping up with family and friends from a distance, it can't be beat. I'm not going to email all the relatives and friends regularly and they won't either, it's too much hassle, but having one site where we all go to post our pictures, our thoughts, our day to day life allows us all to keep in the loop without any extra effort. I can hop on and look at the latest artwork by my neice in art school in Boston, see how my cousin in Colorado is doing with his new wife and latest business venture, talk to my mother who lives in Colorado, and look at pictures from my Army buddy's kids in Kentucky... And all of that vice versa with my baby boy, whom they are familiar with and a part of his life even if they haven't met him yet.
That's pretty amazing.
If you really want to let others know how you are doing make a phone call.
When parents have almost stopped communicating with their children via phone and the preferred method is facebook to me that is a signal of how botic we have become.
Send actual printed pics to your friends and family you'd be amazed how uplifting it is to receive physical mail. Pics of children and vacations on facebook are boring now not novel.
Pick up that phone!
2009 - Toronto
2010 - Buffalo
2011 - Toronto 1&2
2013 - London, Pittsburgh, Buffalo
2014 - Cincinnati, St. Louis, Detroit
2016 - Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Ottawa, Toronto 1
2018 - Fenway 1&2
2022 - Hamilton, Toronto
2023 - Chicago 1&2
2024 - Las Vegas 1&2
As cool as it would be to be trolled by my 10th grade girlfriend,clients and a bunch of other people I choose not to keep in touch with,I think it's a waste.If I wanna talk to someone from my past or a family member I'll reach out the old fashioned way and call them!
"Hey Brian, did you enjoy the mail I sent you?"
"What? Did me and Joy see the Mayall set too? No, haven't been to one of his shows in years!"
Still a big fan of cards and letters. Only catch is, you have to know the lost art of writing by hand.
I agree, Last Exit, email is just as good only I have family who don't use email anymore. I'd rather have some kind of communication on Facebook than nothing.
Facebook was created as a marketing tool. Buy buy buy. I do a quick check, ignore the ads, and then off I go.
Do you call your Mothers every day?
Do you expect a busy college student or new parent to send out a dozen emails and check for replies?
Do you keep in touch with cousins who live across the country on a daily basis?
Of course it is less personal than other forms of communication, but it enables a frequency of involvement that I guarantee isn't happening for those without social media.
If you don't care about pictures of people's children and vacations on Facebook so you really mean to imply that paper makes all the difference?
No one puts forth the effort anymore to print (develop) a print anymore.
Remember our parents had framed pictures of kids all round the house? How did that happen?
Wall space is limited in the physical world, my FB wall can hold a ton more pictures.
I can see how that means nothing to folks who do nothing, but with a lifestyle like mine it is priceless!
Have you sent physical pics of your new one to friends and family yet? or is it on the list to do?
They would love to get physical pics, go to it!
Of course, screen time in moderation is, for the most part, perfectly acceptable, and message boards can offer a few genuinely beneficial uses. But before you log in or tap that app on your smartphone again, here are a few reasons to quit the message pit in 2015.
It Wastes Your Time
It's estimated that the average casual user (17 minutes per day on the message pit) who has been active on the site for 10 years has wasted upwards of 40 entire days of their lives scrolling and liking and commenting on pictures and posts. And more engaged users, who spend at least an hour a day on the site, have clocked 150 days feeding the the message pit beast during the same time. Think about how long you spend on the site each day, and what else could be a more productive use of your time.
The Message Pit Uses You to Sell Stuff...
Ten club has constantly unloaded useless merchandise on members knowing they will buy it as soon as they see it's for sale on the message pit. The stuff is sold, according to Ten Club, to "Share the love of Pearl Jam and to make the merch people see on the message pit as relevant and engaging as possible." Skeptics think it was really used to discover the monetary benefit of cash grabs. COO Tim Biermen later apologized, adding that they "never meant to upset you."
And Targets You with Advertisements
One time you wanted to buy a vault release, and then you searched for that vault release, and six months later the message pit is still reminding you that you should think about buying that vault release, even if you already bought the vault release on CD. Yes, most sites do this thanks to embedded cookies, but only the Ten Club seamlessly announces their merch onto the front page of The Porch with enough regularity that you can only assume your friend has an odd obsession with Pearl Jam.
It's Bad for Your Health
The message pit isn't just a harmless website dedicated to cataloging your concerts attended, poor music choices, and myopic thoughts on lyrics (which can both define or destroy relationships), it can actually do you harm. Studies hint that it can impact your immune system and inhibit the release of growth hormones, impair digestion and vision, limit thinking and kill creativity, and affect sleep patterns and happiness.
"Who Are These People, Anyway?"
The average adult has 338 friends on the message pit and probably doesn't know more than 10 percent of them anymore, or at all. Many of them likely have new lives, some have new last names, new passions, new facial hair, and new humans they're now responsible for keeping alive (read: babies). These are not the friends you knew, and semi-casually keeping up with them is a waste of time that could be better spent with new, real friends. Or on Facebook.
"But I Don't Care About Privacy"
Fair. That's your right. But the problem is that we're setting precedent for the future without yet understanding how it will affect the free and open Web, and simultaneously creating an internet that relies on you having a paid Ten Club account to access even post a thought on the message board. As one of nearly 1.2 million-divided-by-100 users to date, odds are decent that your account won't be hacked by banned members with ill-will toward your family. That doesn't mean that permitting easy access to your information goes without consequence, both immediately and decades from now.
Nothing You Post Actually Matters
Very few people care what you're doing, whom you're with, where you're eating, or what you just bought, and the people who do were probably right next to you when you did it. We all saw that funny Mi Nombre Es Eddie Vedder video, and if we didn’t see it, it's fine. We're all fine. You'll sleep well without knowing which vinyl you owned are now worth a fortune, and you will absolutely "believe what happened next" on the setlist threads, because someone took time to write it out. These articles only exist because you share them on the message pit, and you only share them because they exist. So, instead, just invite a friend over to talk about how much you both loved No Code. The internet can only take so much nostalgia.
It's funny, I thought your av was Bogart and thought it a perfect end shot to your post.
But since it ain't him, here ya go, sir.
The people with Facebook can go to just about any store and print them off themselves if they really want them.
and who are these chicks I've never heard of posting sudductive pic's of them selfs trying to "friend " me ?
Godfather.
EV
Toronto Film Festival 9/11/2007, '08 - Toronto 1 & 2, '09 - Albany 1, '11 - Chicago 1
Pics get texted and emailed,so we still stay up on that.
By following my interests on Twitter,I get my news,sports,concert,band info w/o the book of faces platform and nonsense.So yeah I bet it's more along generational lines.