I feel as though it's impossible for anyone to write a thread on HN about Facebook without someone immediately coming in and saying that Facebook is stupid and they deleted their account years ago.
Yeah, me too. But you usually don't have to look beyond your immediate family to find someone that uses Facebook (or at the very least an FB-owned property) a ton. We aren't typical!
Fully agree, HN is absolutely not the place to get insight on population-level experiences with tech (or most anything else population-level; my pet peeve is people generalizing their education experiences). These population-level problems are far better understood by a process of deduction and looking at what the data says.
I always read these types of comments remembering the response to Dropbox [1] or Slashdot's response to the iPod ("No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.").
If quitting facebook is framed as impossible, then those who want to quit will feel helpless. Posts like the one above are helpful because they tell people that there is hope. You can quit facebook.
Should we tell alcoholics that they'll never quit and their plight is hopeless? Or do we amplify the voices of those who succeeded in quitting, in the hopes that others may find inspiration to do the same? I'll do the latter.
I grew up in "Small Town America" in a large family and was really one of the "few" to ever move away (if any). The "problem" for me is that there really isn't an alternative to Facebook for sharing pictures and videos of my son and family for my close family to be a part of. I could have a personal blog, gallery, etc, but my grandparents that are on facebook (my son's great grandparents) don't get to see how much all of their friends enjoy them as well, etc.
In that sense, it's really not so much a problem. It's been an amazing crutch to a sort of depression caused by thoughts such as "my son is lucky enough to have his great grandparents and I'm across the Nation chasing money," etc.
I guess I'm one of the ones really stuck in the rut.
I don't think that kind of usage is a problem. If you are actually using it to share stuff occasionally then it's just a more accessible blog (well besides the privacy issues).
If you are spending hours a day trying to attract attention then that's an issue. If you spend hours a day posting every detail about your life then it might be an issue it might not - it's just a matter of deciding how you want to spend your time.
> there really isn't an alternative to Facebook for sharing pictures and videos
I seem to manage; I use email and a website. These technologies have been working fine since around 1996.
The only "social media" account I've ever had is this one; and I'm pretty new here.
Consider teaching your rels to use straightforward technology that's been around for forty years (maybe since before they were born).
There's nothing special about Faceache; it's just a website with a messaging service (and an "app"). The only thing going for it is people who continue to use it, because they have "friends" who want to live in a Faceache bubble.
Look, that's cool; if you and your friends and rels think it's a good service, then you don't need any "alternative". I'm not going to beat you up for relying on Faceache.
But your ongoing use of Faceache, which you explain in terms of network effects ("but my grandparents that are on facebook") makes you part of the problem you yourself are complaining about.
What we shouldn't do is amplify the voices of people who were never addicted in the first place. That doesn't provide hope, if anything it works to de-legitimize how challenging quitting can be
Yeah, me too. But you usually don't have to look beyond your immediate family to find someone that uses Facebook (or at the very least an FB-owned property) a ton. We aren't typical!