Why you should deactivate your Facebook Acct

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

There are no pics of me on the net

And Katsunami just shows why it is a good rule to follow.

+ 1 .

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Those are the kinds of things I would probably normally comment on, but because it's also an 'author' type of page, I can't. There is no glory in being political or thoughtful when you're an author because you will alienate someone. Even the most innocent of comments can alienate people. I think a lot of family members are the same way. They already know they don't agree with so-and-so on X,Y and z so they simply refuse to be drawn into discussions on anything that isn't "funny" or "banal" or trivial.

It seems that for businesses Facebook is just part of the must do/have business activities (and I include being a published author as a business) and so therefore the mood or tempo of the Facebook or whatever account would more closely be aligned to business principles and etiquette.

And I can understand why you wouldn't use that Facebook account to have general discussions not directly relevant to your business (authorship).

I can also understand and identify with the second part of your post - as family members do usually know 'the buttons' that trigger their nearest and dearest, so why antagonise in writing stuff that'll just trigger them off on Facebook or other account.

For my part, being an observer of Facebook users whilst not being a member myself, it seems that businesses have set themselves up as targets for comments, good and bad, when all they initially thought they'd be getting was more publicity.

Two edged sword business Facebook accounts when consumers go viral and post what they think about the businesses attitude/conduct, eh!

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by ApK

I think you mean a duck.



On FB you have (in large part) a mass of people who just want to virtually hang out without aim and talk to other people, and broadcast stuff about themselves.

On a forum, you have a group who share a specific interest and are there primarily to discuss that shared interest.

The difference between FB and a forum is the difference between meeting people on a street corner vs meeting them at a special interest group meeting.

Either can be a significant interaction, I think the latter has a better chance of being so.

Some people want to spend a lot of their time talking to people on street corners. I don't.

+1

Personaly, I prefer the feeling of a well run forum to my (admittedly limited) Facebook experience. Knowing the Banhammer of the Mods is around to take care trolls, spammers and the generaly unruly counts for a lot with me.

[kizi2]

These information helps me consider some useful things, keep up the good work.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by WillysJeepMan

I find it interesting that so many are paranoid about Facebook and yet have no problem posting personal stuff on various forums, such as this one. Or that using Facebook must be an all or nothing proposition. Just because one uses FB doesn't mean they must post every piece of information about themselves... they don't have to "Like" or "Join" or post anything that they don't want the general public to see.

As hard as it is to believe, anyone even mildly interested in finding someone could do it fairly easily before Facebook.

Having said that, regardless of whether anyone uses Facebook or any other social media, never, never, NEVER trust their privacy policies! ALWAYS assume that anything you post will be seen by everybody.

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

The owners of this forum don't try to connect my identity to my other activities online, nor do they attempt to push ads at me based on my activity here.

My identity here doesn't connect to my bank account, my phone number, my employment history, my address, nor my education history. It doesn't even give a good representation of my reading habits--there's no checklist of books or genres to be downloaded; someone who wants to learn what books I like would have to read many individual forum posts.



Well, no, but to be useful to connect with friends, you have to post personal information that I'm not comfortable with strangers--especially strangers who are shoving ads at me--having.



This, yes. Never post anything online you're not willing to have seen by:

1. Your employer,
2. Your mother,
3. The New York Times.

Not that you'd be *happy* with any or all of those seeing your posts, but if there's anything you absolutely can't handle any of those three seeing, don't post it online. Even privately... sometimes, security settings go off; private posts get accidentally re-set to public when companies restart their servers, or emails get forwarded to the wrong person.

+1 to what Elfwreck says.

@ WJM
Yes. But.

Yes: I think most of us are fairly aware of the fact that privacy as such became threadbare due to the rising interconnection of activities in everyday life.
It might even be arguable whether the level of privacy intended to be granted to us by our countries' constitutions or the respective supranational human rights declarations is still maintainable.

Yes: The ammount of data a person might(!) find about me by cleverly combining various search methods with common sense is something I always try to take into consideration. Especially since I've done such background searches myself several times

Yes: Said ammount of useful data becomes even hair-rising if someone is willing (and financially able) to get it processed by sociological, psychological and statistical analysts.

Yes: add the power of governmentally driven organisations to all of this (realtime access to existing raw data regardless of its public availability) and the term "World Wide Web" becomes nightmarish.

But: There's a hucking fell of a difference between all of the above and Serving all of it on a silver plate to literally everyone who knows how to type my name.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Sydney Morning Herald online published this reprint from Mashable this morning:

Why you should deactivate your Facebook account

I could never give up my Facebook account. It's my link to the world. It's the only way I can stay current on my family back in St Louis. I just found today my niece who just got married in June is now expecting her second child as she posted it on her Wall. I would have no other way to find out information like this otherwise. I am huge supporter of social media. It has brought our family closer and keeps me in touch with friends who I would have lost contact with.

Other than that I find it a great way to stay up to date on authors publishers and other events. It's like a great big RSS feed for interests and news. You can find sales, good deals and alot of freebies using it this way. Another great use is for Weather. Our local meteorologists use Facebook to alert people when there is really bad flooding or weather to look out for. It has save lives in this area in the past when we had Tornadoes roll through here in the middle of night. Then there is the Amber Alerts that can be shared in a matter of minutes thousands can see the alert.

Facebook isn't about playing games and people posting every little thing they've done. It's sooo much more than that.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I could never give up my Facebook account. It's my link to the world. It's the only way I can stay current on my family back in St Louis. I just found today my niece who just got married in June is now expecting her second child as she posted it on her Wall. I would have no other way to find out information like this otherwise. I am huge supporter of social media. It has brought our family closer and keeps me in touch with friends who I would have lost contact with.

Sarcasm?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I could never give up my Facebook account. It's my link to the world. It's the only way I can stay current on my family back in St Louis. I just found today my niece who just got married in June is now expecting her second child as she posted it on her Wall. I would have no other way to find out information like this otherwise. I am huge supporter of social media. It has brought our family closer and keeps me in touch with friends who I would have lost contact with..........SNIP..........................
Facebook isn't about playing games and people posting every little thing they've done. It's sooo much more than that.

I'm with you on this one. As an ex-pat living 5,000 miles away from family, it's a perfect way to stay in touch with people all over the world. And even though I live in a small city in a Third World country, I used Facebook to buy a dozen different items to furnish my home, from other ex-pats leaving the area and not wanting to ship things back, especially electrical items that use a different voltage. I just bought a motorbike through a Facebook contact, watch my grandson grow though daily pics put up by his parents, made contact with three new residents of this area who want to get together to play folk music, and even located a remote temple along the Burmese border, and found a 'good' local dentist.

As you say; 'Facebook isn't about playing games and people posting every little thing they've done. It's sooo much more than that.' We do get a choice in how we use it and what we see. This thread reminds me of the people who look down their noses at fast food chains, and think that everyone who walks through those doors does so three times a day, every day of the year. Unfortunately, some folks don't understand that life is about 'choices.'


Stitchawl

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Sarcasm?

My nieces have there life. I have mine. We don't really talk since they grew up. I still love them of course and would love to be apart of their life but they are just so busy and young. At that point of your life you don't really think how important family is. Thanks to Facebook I can at least click like so they know I am interested in their life. I can post little messages when I think their Aunt needs to impart some of her life's wisdom into their situation.

My only other way to find out family news is through a unreliable source that loves to embellished and I can never get the facts straight. I no longer have to go through them thanks to Facebook.

Alot of my family kind of grew upset when I left home 13 years ago. They felt I abandon them. It just wasn't a healthy situation to be in thanks to Facebook I can keep inform and not put myself back in that mess.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Blossom

My nieces have there life. I have mine. We don't really talk since they grew up. I still love them of course and would love to be apart of their life but they are just so busy and young. At that point of your life you don't really think how important family is. Thanks to Facebook I can at least click like so they know I am interested in their life. I can post little messages when I think their Aunt needs to impart some of her life's wisdom into their situation.

My only other way to find out family news is through a unreliable source that loves to embellished and I can never get the facts straight. I no longer have to go through them thanks to Facebook.

Alot of my family kind of grew upset when I left home 13 years ago. They felt I abandon them. It just wasn't a healthy situation to be in thanks to Facebook I can keep inform and not put myself back in that mess.

I understand that Facebook works for communication, I just don't understand why email or skype wouldn't work.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I understand that Facebook works for communication, I just don't understand why email or skype wouldn't work.

I don't believe anyone suggested that they wouldn't.

There is no need to limit oneself to only one means of communication. Facbook is a tool. We can use it or abuse it. We have the choice. Personally, I use all three, plus other forms of communication, depending on the circumstances. They are convenient tools to be used. Nothing more.


Stitchawl

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I understand that Facebook works for communication, I just don't understand why email or skype wouldn't work.

If you are close to someone you can use email or Skype. I've never used Skype but I know what it is. I don't think anyone in my family uses it. You need to have the program and other equipment to use it.

I would say that email or Skype is too personal for my situation. I would use it talk to my sister or mother but the rest of the family wouldn't like me bugging them. If I comment on Facebook or send a quick message to them that isn't seen as intrusive as emailing.

I've been on the internet a long time. I remember Instant Messaging was the way to communicate with everyone now there's Private Messaging or Chat through Facebook. Email is something I can say I never use much anymore. I check my email maybe twice a day. It's just more convenient to use Facebook or phone texting to talk to them even my mother who wouldn't know how to write a email but she knows how to do about everything on Facebook. Sometimes this isn't a good thing she stalks my posts clicking like on every one.

The quickest way to get a hold of me is Facebook or MobileRead's PM. If you email me you may get a response in a few days. I get so much email that real emails are often overlooked.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I don't believe anyone suggested that they wouldn't.

So you interpret this differently than me:

Originally Posted by Blossom

I would have no other way to find out information like this otherwise.

Originally Posted by Blossom

If you are close to someone you can use email or Skype. I've never used Skype but I know what it is. I don't think anyone in my family uses it. You need to have the program and other equipment to use it.

I would say that email or Skype is too personal for my situation. I would use it talk to my sister or mother but the rest of the family wouldn't like me bugging them. If I comment on Facebook or send a quick message to them that isn't seen as intrusive as emailing.

I've been on the internet a long time. I remember Instant Messaging was the way to communicate with everyone now there's Private Messaging or Chat through Facebook. Email is something I can say I never use much anymore. I check my email maybe twice a day. It's just more convenient to use Facebook or phone texting to talk to them even my mother who wouldn't know how to write a email but she knows how to do about everything on Facebook. Sometimes this isn't a good thing she stalks my posts clicking like on every one.

The quickest way to get a hold of me is Facebook or MobileRead's PM. If you email me you may get a response in a few days. I get so much email that real emails are often overlooked.

What makes email more personal than Facebook?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I would say that email or Skype is too personal for my situation. I would use it talk to my sister or mother but the rest of the family wouldn't like me bugging them. If I comment on Facebook or send a quick message to them that isn't seen as intrusive as emailing.

I have many old students, now grown up with families of their own, with whom I've re-connected through Facebook. Cousins who, when I was living in the States, I'd see once or twice a year, and co-workers, forum members, and old friends that use Facebook, people that we might not want to write a whole letter too every few days or weeks, but a small comment on Facebook to let them know that you are still part of their lives and they part of yours, is nice. It's not intrusively demanding that they pay attention to you or what you say, or require a response. It's simply a convenient way to say 'hey, I hear ya.' Or, on the other hand, they hear me. If more needs to be said, or if a long reply is wanted, there is always e-mail, Skype, or the telephone. We have a choice.


Stitchawl

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

So you interpret this differently than me:



What makes email more personal than Facebook?

Well for one you would need their email address. If I ask for it they would just say leave me a message on Facebook. One thing I hate about email is getting a bulk email. Nothing irritates me more and if you do a BBC it will go into your spam box. On Facebook you post one message and everyone on your friends list sees it.

Only my personal close friends have my email but they contact me through Facebook. I don't want to say email is on it's way out because I know business wise it's still needed but for personal communication not many I know still use it. It's really all about convenience. People live busy lives and Facebook helps makes it easier for them to stay in contact with people.