I Quit Facebook
erickarjaluoto.com
erickarjaluoto.com
Many people have closed their facebook accounts, it's not a big deal, you just announce you're going to do it, get whatever contact details you don't have from connections then do it. Others never opened one. Life is fine without facebook, if you feel you want to close your account, do it. Footage at 11.
But the true article title is "I Quit Facebook—and You Should, Too", that is more obvious
> Many people have stopped gambling, it's not a big deal, you just announce you're going to do it, get whatever money's left on the table then do it. Others never started gambling. Life is fine without gambling, if you feel you want to get out of gambling, do it. Footage at 11.
I am always shockingly impressed at the lack of empathy and open-mindedness some people or group thereof are reliably able to show, here failing to recognise that this mind trick minefield can have devastating effects and act at the very least as a dramatic catalyst in loss-of-balance situations. The underlying, untold, insulting judgement is basically "damn this guy is weak/an attention seeking whore".
I found the article articulated quite well the issues he faced, his reasons (which extend beyond Facebook's carefully engineered attention seeking madness) and both of his strategy and tactics to get out of the hole he found himself in (which extend beyond Facebook and social networks). Writing about one's problems help a lot in internally processing them. Making a public statement helps in committing oneself to improvement, and help others in a similar predicament to relate and hopefully even proceed to action.
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-...
I don't care for Facebook, I doubt they cause you heart disease etc. Not sure how empathetic it is to those who've watched people they love die in a cancer ward to suggest a website is equivalent. But hey, make the case if you want to...
After all a couple of thousand bucks of Russian advertising on Facebook decided the election. Facebook admit it with no ulterior motive at all.
Think of it a small thing and it probably is. Maybe it will be as big as MySpace one day...
Been there, done^Wdoing that. Fourth attempt in progress, each time I'm inching closer to be done with this crap for good.
> I don't care for Facebook, I doubt they cause you heart disease etc
Mind disease surely. By receiving constant stimuli and dopamine hits the mind is plasticly shaped to expect regular, immediate, worthless rewards and can't contend anymore with long term effort for bigger, worthwhile rewards, whether physical, social, intellectual or spiritual. IOW it makes you feel like shit for even trying to do anything that matters.
Indeed. Quite disappointed with the article.
A: They'll tell you all about it.
I have the feeling facebook is slowly dying, but I'm probably wrongly generalizing my own experience (is this called a "false consensus bias"?)
My sister (early 40s) and her peers are still using it on a regular basis, but the content could easily be on twitter or instagram.
The real demographic that is in love with it is my parents' generation, ~67+. They follow a lot of the '%city% then and now' and other nostalgic groups. Along with those, their feeds are filled with goofy videos that were going around a while ago.
I don't see Facebook going the way of myspace in the near future, but I do think they'll have to shift their focus a little if they want to draw us back in.
What I don't understand is why facebook isn't going head first into online dating. They already have a lot of information on everybody -- where a lot of us like to eat, locations we frequent, events we like, etc. For a lot of us the data would be slightly outdated, but I bet they could give some solid suggestions.
That's something I really don't see happening.
Only people I know ever mentioning facebook are (as mentioned in the other reply) middle-aged upwards.
They're not leaving Facebook, just switching from one Facebook property to another.
It's strictly a loss for Facebook, unless they can figure out how to monetize Whatsapp to the same extent as their main platform.
It's just a Web site.
I'd rather just keep my account and post as little as possible in order to just recieve that information. Even if I personally do not like facebook, pretty much everyone else does. What can you do?
To message every single one every time and ask would be too much of a task. Of course you could create a mailinglist but then you'd have to convince everyone to use that instead which I know would be impossible.
But to answer your question, yes.
This is the beginning and the end of all the thought that should be put into this matter. Missing things is not the end of the world, since there is so much to do in life anyway.
More importantly, I think the benefits of fb are greatly exaggerated. In Europe at least, it seems the de facto standard are whatsapp groups of close friends, and that's where things get arranged. Even wedding invites are generally sent out over emails nowadays.
Finally, I never get the point of keeping in touch with a zillion people. I prefer not being in touch with high school friends. The endless comparing yourself to others and the 2 AM binge facebooking take a huge toll. Better to get in touch once in a while with old friends and have no idea what they've been up to. It's so much more of an enjoyable conversation. And after it's done, you have the lingering benefit of being able to retire to your cozy, slightly-more-solitudinous-than-normal existence.
> This is the beginning and the end of all the thought that should be put into this matter. Missing things is not the end of the world, since there is so much to do in life anyway.
Missing out on things isn't the end of the world but what's the big deal of keeping up with what's going on? It's minimal effort to be signed up to Facebook so you can receive messages and event invites.
> More importantly, I think the benefits of fb are greatly exaggerated. In Europe at least, it seems the de facto standard are whatsapp groups of close friends, and that's where things get arranged. Even wedding invites are generally sent out over emails nowadays.
So if Facebook was the de facto standard for communication where you live you'd be OK with it? My point is just use what your friends are using to keep in touch and don't make a big deal about it. If Facebook, WhatsApp or whatever is having a large unhealthy influence on your life that's something you should fix about yourself.
...full of human connections. Which people tend to enjoy.
Thinks Twitter failing to discipline President Trump because he violated the don't-threaten-people policy over North Korean missile launches is a grave double standard.
Not a quality article.
I'm keen to understand what you mean by this, in context.
In all fairness, this is a reactionary "definition". It's not useful when looking at this behavior as an actual condition and discerning the causal elements.
There's a segment of the population that seems to amplify their own disgust with a celebrity's manners/message/actions/writing/etc, to the point that they see every facet of a personality as caustic. Bibi, Linus, Trump, Mencia, and probably countless others. It's only brought to light when an individual from this population happens to have a media pedestal, so the locus is usually some conservative.
This is getting very, very close to the fallacy fallacy.
I will never be able to understand these articles as ALL (with some exceptions) my friends are on facebook, and it is the only way I have to keep touch with all of them. This is a huge problem for people like me who travel a lot and have no other ways of getting in touch with someone.
They don't have telephones or e-mail, or even home addresses?
Granted, it might not be as convenient, but people, including friends, do not cease to exist outside of facebook, or are facebook-friends friends of convenience only?
I don't know everyone else's use cases for Facebook, but in my case it's just a way to be able to keep in contact with people I'd otherwise be losing contact with.
1. they live in different countries
2. what am I going to do with an home address?
3. people change phone, email and home address all the time unfortunately. A Facebook account is surprisingly more reliable.
> Granted, it might not be as convenient, but people, including friends, do not cease to exist outside of facebook
I could in some case contact someone who still have them on Facebook, but sometimes I just don't have any friend in common with them.
> or are facebook-friends friends of convenience only?
No, I value my friends. I just met a lot of people traveling in my life. I still meet friends I haven't seen in decades when I travel every year. This would definitely not be possible without Facebook.
I'm not just arguing for the sake of arguing. Last month alone I met two of them. In Stockholm and realized I had a Swedish friend there, that I hadn't seen since 2009. We barely talked since then, we didn't really remember what friend we had in common (Facebook helped) but we sure had a good time back then so we were super happy to meet again. In Lisbon I met with a Portuguese friend I hadn't seen since 2009 as well. If it was not for Instagram she wouldn't even have noticed that I was there. We had dinner together and it was awesome. Just felt like old times.
The question I have for you, is why the negativity? “Have the balls to fucking do it…” Seriously? Why do you feel the need to emasculate me over a personal choice to not use a social network?
Some people found the post useful; others didn’t. What I’m curious about is why you seem to take this so personally. You needn’t take it as an affront; and it certainly wasn’t intended that way.
It does not reflect on your motives, writing style, or whatever.
You're right though, and my apologies. I found your post grating and it rubbed me the wrong way. I really dislike this recent trend where everything is a Medium article. Oh your startup failed? Better post on Medium. Oh, you're firing people? Better Medium it. Oh, you're quitting social media? Better announce it everywhere. I know you recognise the irony, and mention it as such in your post. But I'm just one random man on the internet, and my vitriol is a reflection of my thoughts, not a reflection on you.
Like I said in the post, I’ll sign in one more time in the weeks ahead, and delete the account altogether.
As for the company/project pages, it’s not as though I intend to use them again. (I did delete a few outright.) That said, I also didn’t want to leave those urls/names open for someone else to grab—and spam from.
I understand your frustration with folks posting on Medium—and turning life/work events into a type of promotion. That said, while some do this purely as a marketing ploy, I think some just want to share their experiences.
Personally, I just like writing. I enjoy thinking through an argument/idea and seeing if my thoughts hold up. That’s part of why there were so many links in the post; they served as a way for me to force more research and find the gaps in my thinking—which, typically, there are many.
I try to be honest in my posts, and share the struggles I’ve experienced. To me, this adds a cost to them. For example, in this one: http://www.erickarjaluoto.com/blog/in-pursuit-of-mental-plas... I admit to past beliefs I’m deeply embarrassed by. I know some will probably think less of me for even acknowledging such biases/stupidity, but without such admissions, I’m not sure the writing is worth much.
I’m carrying on, which perhaps also reinforces your point. That said, I read your initial comment and just felt shitty. I didn’t write this post to sell anyone anything, or trick anybody. It was just something I felt I needed to write down somewhere, and I thought others might also find the reasoning useful.
South Park is spot on as usual. “Who invited Mark Zuckerberg to town in the first place?”
My other social media (Twitter, Instagram) have notifications turned off, and are silently — and non instrusively — waiting for me when I decide to glance at them (usually once every 2-3 days). You end up forgetting about them and only remember when you're bored, it works wonders.
I believe we’ll look back in 10 years and realize that this generation (like most generations that are first to adopt something new) was ridiculously over attached to social media.
If I hear something’s going on, I’ll open un the TT section and get some instant insights from it. They way I see it, Twitter is useless most of the time, it comes in handy only when some event is taking place.
I use Facebook to keep up with friends and arrange events. It's a useful communication tool and I don't get caught up in it any more than that.
If you're the type of person who HAS to know what other people are doing, then 'yes' Facebook will take over your life.
I'm always so busy (and can careless of the day-2-day of people) that I'm barely on the platform. And when I am, its probably for 5-10 mins every month (unless someone Messages me).
I'm thinking that closing your account may slowdown your addiction, but there are other apps, sites, avenues to be 'in the know'.
Maybe Facebook in this case means all social networking apps?
Anything that has a quick action->dopamine-response loop can be addictive. Facebook is purposefully tightening that loop in its product.
Where's the love, HN?
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-unfollow-everyone-on-Facebook...
Yet he also goes to CNN, which was shown to be colluding with the Clinton campaign (and runs overwhelmingly slanted coverage. Something like 90% negative on Trump, hugely positive for Obama.)
He's picking his preferred poison. But he's not getting a balanced world-view, if that's what he's after.
As for the CNN reference, you’re cherry-picking. I also note going to HN and Bless This Stuff. I provide these as honest examples of where I find myself going to waste time. I didn’t at any point say these provided a more “balanced world-view”.
You can do more and more with Facebook Account it's just just scary to lose control over my profile.
Which you absolutely should do if you work there. Facebook has an obligation to its shareholders to maximize its profits, which (possibly) means its strategy of monopolizing everyone's social identity is a valid one (though hopefully it could be mitigated through anti-monopoly laws, see the recent trend in the EU).
But no talented programmer has an obligation to help Facebook fulfill their strategy. If you care about freedom, don't help its opponents.
Too bad he couldn't find a way to post his medium page on Facebook. He would have gotten more attention that way.