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Post by cato on Aug 20, 2017 22:33:26 GMT
I deliberately place this in the religion category as I believe it displays many of the characteristics of a religion or to be more accurate a religious cult.
In some social circles I notice it is simplyassumed Facebook is something you do or belong to. It is like Sunday Mass in the 1970s - we all do it, it unites us with likeminded people and those who don't do it are well .... human beings but somewhat odd. When I say I am not on Facebook as a deliberate choice I usually get surprised looks of unbelieving bewilderment.
My fundamental objection is the artificially perfect view of life it creates. No one posts the bad photos or the hangovers or the family rows . It is all sunny and perfect. And my life is better than yours! It breeds competition envy and appeals to the desire to show off. It is unreal. It is false. My sister coined the term or at least told me it is really a Falsebook ie artificial and untrue. The mental health damage it can do alone is a reason to be highly sceptical about a powerful force which is a significant part of modern existence.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 20, 2017 22:51:43 GMT
I don't use it any more for many reasons. I could write a long essay giving all the reasons. One of the things that bothered me was the amount of Catholics who were always promoting left wing causes but never defended Church teaching on controversial matters. And all the baby/cat photos.
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Post by Tomas on Aug 21, 2017 8:30:53 GMT
I´m still hanging on there despite the fact of having been highly sceptical of that forum from day one (7-8 years ago). The artificiality is only a single thing and it has other drawbacks also. It´s a strongly liberal form of a forum too so not as much suitable for conservatives in my opinion. Another thing I don´t like is the fact that every single click somehow gets monitored and preserved and thus that each user whether they like it or not kind of supply immense bodies of most personal feeds of information to their monstrously gigantic "database extraordinarie" (fertile ground for both various kinds of psychologists and, more chilling, developers of Artifical Intelligence devices, arguably not the best of trends in a world lacking Christian Faith and the virtues of sound moral compass alike).
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Post by kj on Aug 21, 2017 8:37:23 GMT
Well, gentlemen, I must respectfully disagree.
I resisted joining FB for a number of years, until a younger friend more or less foisted it on me.
The key, I think, is knowing how to use it tactically. In order to avoid the happy-clapping, 'my life is great' crap, simply un-follow most people on it. This does not mean unfriend them, it is something different, namely that their posts won't pop up in your feed. Also, limit the number of 'friends' you have on it. I had a cull recently and felt much better for it. I've noticed that the most thoughtful people on it rarely have more than 100 or 150 friends.
I have found that the most thoughtful people on it are Americans. I think this ties in with the importance they place on free speech. I have had, and continue to have, excellent debates on the medium and for those of us living abroad it can be a life-saver in terms of social interaction. I have met people in real life that I first talked to on FB and they have become good friends.
As for there being no right-wing or conservative Catholic groups, you are simply not looking hard enough! There are dozens, if not hundreds, all traditional loyal Catholics. There are many superb groups devoted to the Latin Mass, Theology, Church architecture etc.
Also the medium is very useful as a kind of electronic postbox. Recently some relatives whom I had not heard from in decades contacted me through the messaging service. That was the only way they had of contacting me.
Sad and all as it may sound, my life would be poorer without it.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 21, 2017 8:57:00 GMT
Disagreement is allowed!
Of course, there are a million things to say about Facebook, and it has its good sides. But here is a non-exhaustive list of why I decided to leave:
1) I did find it somewhat addictive. I am always bubbling over with thoughts (stupid thoughts, no doubt) and Facebook is a good outlet for them.
2) It's true that there are groups of every persuasion, but when I complained about liberal Catholics, I was talking about private individuals. And these were the kind of people who would rush to condemn racism, sexism, Islamaphobia, creationism etc., but would stay very very quiet whenever it came to the Church's teachings, or to the excesses of political correctness. For instance, right now I'm sure they are making fun of anyone who is upset at a female Doctor in Doctor Who. I got very impatient at these people.
3) Following on from that last line, my own temptation to jump into online debates, and how unrewarding these were. Especially when they were with people with whom you were generally friendly.
4) My right-wing Catholic friends could be just as bad in their own way as my left-wing Catholic friends; being extremely disrespectful of the Pope, for instance.
5) All the patronizing consciousness-raising memes. "Here are three things you should never say to someone who's disabled!". "This is how to talk to an introvert!". "How to be sensitive to a friend with a peanut allergy". They drove me nuts (no pun intended).
6) The pointlessness of so many posts. If a major celebrity has died, I think everybody is going to hear about it within minutes, if they are awake. Really, you don't have to announce it and it's unlikely you have anything to add.
7) The constant baby and child pictures. Can be very tough on some people, depending on life circumstances.
8) Even "keeping in touch" with people from your past is not so great. Don't get me wrong, I believe very much in loyalty to old friends, but there is something natural and organic about drifting away from other people. I think everyone has people in their past amongst their Facebook friends who they don't want to unfriend but they also don't really want to keep in touch with. It might not even be a permanent thing-- they might be people you would gladly re-acquaint yourself with someday, but...not yet. For whatever reason. The awkward friend request showing up on your Facebook page is a fairly common experience, I'd say.
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Post by kj on Aug 21, 2017 9:13:13 GMT
I would say that nearly all of those problems can be avoided by a shrewd use of one's a/c settings. Make FB work for you.
I follow very few people I know in real life. That way I avoid the 'babys and cats' plague.
Most of my newsfeed is from philosophy/theology/politics groups. Thus I get mostly reasonably intelligent material coming up.
Also, a very important setting is in the "Who can post on my page?" thing. Set it to "Me only", that way no one else can intrude on your page and embarrass or annoy you.
As for disagreeable people, well, that will simply happen everywhere. Just ignore and do not engage.
FB is like an electronic version of Ulysses that writes itself every minute. Maddening to some, but an invaluable window on the world, in my opinion.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 21, 2017 9:48:38 GMT
Don't get me started on Ulysses...  Yes, my inability to make FB work for me is more a reflection on me than the website itself, I agree with that. I also think many of the criticisms of Facebook are over the top. I read one opinion piece writer, writing about stress in modern life, say that having to update your status is stressful. Come on! I don't think Facebook has fundamentally changed the human condition. (Though I think it could be argued that Twitter has added a new terror to death.) |
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Post by kj on Aug 21, 2017 10:02:47 GMT
I would say FB reveals the human character rather than adds to it. What it reveals and highlights is the essentially trivial and fleeting nature of so much of human life and thought. I think Conservatives may not like it for this reason, as it undermines any nobler view. Much the same reason why many Conservatives hate Ulysses:-)
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Post by Tomas on Aug 21, 2017 10:53:00 GMT
The fleeting nature of it are certainly among the things I dislike in the bargain. The good stuff gets outweighed not only by the trivial stuff but it also tends to get "drowned in the maelstream". If you use the settings wisely (which I don´t) it might be better off. I think my objections puts me closer and closer towards an grumpy old men attitude?
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 21, 2017 10:55:08 GMT
We are all grumpy old men (and women) here!
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angelo
Junior Member
Posts: 67 
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Post by angelo on Aug 21, 2017 10:58:17 GMT
I use FB to mind other people's business but I rarely post anything significant about me. FB aims at profiling users so that they can be targeted by advertisement. In order to make my profile fake I have filled it with wrong information about myself. The sad side of this is that I get more "happy birthday" wishes on the wrong date than on the real one.
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angelo
Junior Member
Posts: 67
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Post by angelo on Aug 21, 2017 10:59:20 GMT
We are all grumpy old men (and women) here! Speak for yourself. I'm quite young.  |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 21, 2017 11:00:52 GMT
We are all grumpy old men (and women) here! Speak for yourself. I'm quite young. You make up for it in grumpiness! |
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Post by kj on Aug 21, 2017 12:04:57 GMT
This is one of the few sites where I can be a grumpy curmudgeon and I am very grateful to Maolsheachlann for setting it up!
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 21, 2017 12:09:30 GMT
Why, thank you. I'm grateful to everyone for contributing.
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