Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Living Without Social Media In 2015?
An anonymous reader writes On Slashdot, we frequently write derogatory comments regarding social networking sites. We bash Facebook and the privacy implications associated with having a great deal of your life put out there for corporations to monetize. Others advocate for deleting your Facebook profile. Six months ago, I did exactly that. However, as time went on, I have fully realized social media's tacit importance to function in today's world, especially if you are busy advancing your career and making the proper connections to do so. Employers expect a LinkedIn profile that they can check and people you are meeting expect a Facebook account. I have heard that not having an account on the almighty Facebook could label you as a suspicious person. I have had employers express hesitation in hiring me (they used the term "uncomfortable") and graduate school interviewers have asked prying questions regarding some things that would normally be on a person's social media page. Others have literally recoiled in horror at the idea of someone not being on Facebook. I have found it quite difficult to even maintain a proper social life without a social media account to keep up to date with any sort of social activities (even though most of them are admittedly quite mundane). Is living without social media possible in 2015? Does social media have so much momentum that the only course of action is simply to sign up for such services to maintain normality despite the vast privacy issues associated with such sites? Have we forgotten how to function without Facebook?
I don't use Facebook. I am on LinkedIn but I never update anything. And I don't care. If an employer wants my years of experience they will take me as I am. If they are going to reject me because I don't waste time on Facebook, then I probably wouldn't last long there. Their loss.
tl:dr - use whatever internet system that has the functions and control of your data that matches your requirements
First, employers are not demanding LinkedIn pages or broadly looking down upon applicants without a facebook...and the idea that they mentioned it in an employment situation, with all the laws in place about fair hiring, *multiple times*...it seems like exaggeration...
However, the question of what kind/how much of your life to share on the internet is definitely a worthy question.
The answer is the understand the function and complexity of the system, the internet in this case. Facebook is one system of many. It has characteristics. One is the default to "sharing".
Instagram is another system...it has less information and simpler controls on "sharing"
**your instagram or twitter can hook into your facebook**
so, a person could use exclusively Instagram, Twitter or even a blog of their own creation, and have it **auto-post** to facebook...thereby having dynamic content on their page without ever going to facebook.com regularly.
the answer is CONTROL
what "social media" internet system should you use?
the one that has the FUNCTIONS you need and gives YOU the CONTROL over your data at a level you are comfortable with
Thank you Dave Raggett
Nonconformism is always viewed with suspicion by the masses. Either you have the courage of your convictions or you don't. Any company that's going to judge me based on the lack of a Facebook account isn't someplace I'd want to work.
The reason employers want everyone to be on social media: They can use it to gather information about you that would be illegal or inappropriate to ask in a job interview.
Whenever someone asks why you don't have a social media account, all you need to tell them is:
I'm not a narcissist.
You don't believe your life is anyone else's business, no need to show them pictures of your latest adventure, no need for gratification from the unwashed masses. You are who you are.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Seconded. it's illegal to ask about family and religion at a job interview in the US because it permits discrimination based on whether you think someone will ask for extra days off. Employers skirt this and other equal opportunity laws by asking for your Facebook info instead. If they're playing that kind of game I don't want to work for them.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
Same here... I ended up filling in a bit of detail on it too, so it's now my online CV. However, I don't use it like a social network, just as a place for people to find my employment info.
Facebook? Never had an account, never plan to, and never missed it. My social life is already busy enough without it thank you.
I'd like to know why people consider Facebook to be the epitome of social media when Slashdot's been in the business for way longer.
Really... take a look at someone's profile on here sometime. You can learn a lot about a Slashdotter with an account. No need for Facebook.
Not to mention the fact that Slashdot accounts get ranked at the top of search results....
FB / twitter/ myspace/friendster/ whatever are the exact opposite of 'social'.
Reading people's status updates, or liking a photo does not constitute being social. Having people over for dinner, meeting for coffee.. that's social. Basically; interacting face to face is really the only acceptable definition of the term.
Things like FB detract from that, giving a very poor simulacrum of social interaction -- all the while further removing ourselves from actual social interactions and pushing the boundaries of autism ever outward.
Civilization has existed for ~12k years, human beings have not changed. Social interaction has not changed -- deluding ourselves into thinking that "Social Media" is somehow a surrogate, or worse a replacement, is top shelf idiocy.
That's what I don't get... If you don't have a Facebook account then you're probably not going to be wasting time at work on Facebook...
When I was relatively young in the world of work I had listed my social club memberships on my resume as I had held officer positions in those clubs at times. Now that this social crap appears to be a problem I think I'll have to leave such memberships there so that I look 'well rounded' without having to deal with an online presence.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
From where I sit it marks people as obviously more intelligent. Both services are little more than negative lottery tickets for most people. They gain nothing on the upside and open themselves up to the wrath of the mob. http://digg.com/2015/shame-and... .
If an employer has trouble with that. Just ask him if he wants to risk the splash damage of outrage directed at his employees, because they had the misfortune to say something that mobs of village idiots were waiting to misconstrue, or people who were looking for things to take offense at happened to find ?
Not really. Facebook has embedded themselves deeply with so many third-party websites that they can infer a lot on you simply as you use your browser after having used Facebook in the past.
The only winning move is not to play.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
...difficult to even maintain a proper social life without a social media account
Don't try to socialize with fucking morons.
Facebook: Actual friends and interests you have.
LinkedIn: Keep it strictly business.
Twitter: To follow the odd interest.
Google+: So you can say "I'm on Google+!"
I hate it when you see someone posting the same tripe across all their social networks. No one on LinkedIn cares what you ate for lunch.
Trolling is a art,
Businesses need to be mindful that employees can ignore them in any communications medium that the employee has access to.
I get a cell phone stipend through work. As such, if they want to get ahold of me in-real-time they call me. No other medium has an instant confirmation that that they've reached me upon actually doing so. If you need me right now don't e-mail me, don't SMS-message me, call me. I might be in a building that makes for poor service. Odds are if calling me doesn't result in my answering the telephone, I won't be able to receive text messages or e-mail either.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I don't bother with facebook, twitter, linkedin et al because it does not serve my purposes. It is sort of like working a part time job and not getting paid for it. I don't see anything that productive coming out of it. Though, I am considering using alternatives like Quitter, Diaspora, among other GNU social alternatives. However, they do seem to require a lot of effort and am not sure I want to invest in my time that way. Things like Vimeo and Flickr make more sense (to me) as you can work on video and image stills and share with a community to get critiques on your work. As for employment, while some may not hire you if you don't do social media, people also lost their jobs because of social media. It is a sad commentary that people may not hire you because you don't have a bloody linkedin account. I've been spammed mercilessly by linkedin and recall a time they used to go through user contact lists on e-mail clients. (come to think of it, that is how they spam people...) I understand why linkedin does this, but it is also terrible etiquette.
"SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
Well, as a 5-digit ID owner, I can confirm that the only thing that not being on Facebook has brought me is more free time. I do have a Xing profile and that one is the only thing professional contacts ask to be linked to. For all others, email and/or phone number is quite enough. Of course, I am doing the "technical career" thing, where I actually improve my skills and capabilities and it is important what I can do, not who I know. If you do the bullshit/old-boys-club career, then things like Facebook may be critical.
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Never had any of these "social" site profiles nor even any firm presence since the dial-up BBS days since none of them would make me any more sociable or charismatic since I'm a boring geeky nerd that only hangs out with other boring anti-social people. Instead I reach out of the people that I still keep in touch over direct communications methods or in-person and when I need to organize or attend a group even I send direct invitations or get them directly without broadcasting them publicly. Seems to work just fine and it's more direct and personal to keep in touch. Other people show up and disappear from my life if we don't communicate directly and that's normal part of life, the ones that keep reaching out to you or you to them mean something more and those relationships last longer.
Judging from what I hear and I've seen about social media it seems like a waste of valuable personal time on mundane and boring things that people end up posting and others end up reading. If something is important enough for you to hear someone will tell you about it the next time you actually communicate with them directly.
Old Codger Signing Off... +++...ATH...
A facebook account is useful for a few things, like event invitations, birthday reminders, and getting in touch with some people who seem to use it as their principal means of communication.
You can have a facebook account, and just keep tight control over what is on it, or even not post anything at all, or delete what you post after a while. This is basically what I do. I rarely post and sometimes go through and delete old posts. I also don't post any photos of myself on my profile, and don't allow tagged photos to be posted either.
You can control most of this. You could basically treat your Facebook account like your LinkedIn account and keep it clean for a general audience. Get closely familiar with all the privacy controls as well.
In other words, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I really can't take this seriously. It seems like someone who works for Facebook wrote this.
Millions of people have perfectly normal social lives without facebook or with really minimal facebook use. I know a lot of people who log-in once a week. I know a lot of people who go long periods of time without ever using facebook.
I think the fact that the author thinks its almost impossible to live a normal life without it says more about him/her than it does about facebook.
When I read the headline, I sincerely thought this was an April Fool's joke, but then realized it's the day after. How sad. I'll knock out some of the more egregious lines from your submission.
"Employers expect a LinkedIn profile"
I've interviewed on site (and was hired on with some) with Google, Amazon, Blizzard Entertainment, SpaceX, StackExchange, Lockheed Martin, Siemens, Disney, and more. Not a single one of these groups has ever referenced my LinkedIn profile at any point during the interviewing process. Where are you getting the idea that it's expected?
"people you are meeting expect a Facebook account"
Who? I meet my wife, friends, family, and their extended colleagues regularly without ever referencing Facebook. You need to elaborate.
"I have heard that not having an account on the almighty Facebook could label you as a suspicious person"
You know what they say about rumors and opinions.
"I have had employers express hesitation in hiring me (they used the term "uncomfortable") and graduate school interviewers have asked prying questions regarding some things that would normally be on a person's social media page."
Anything on a person's personal social media page is off limits during a professional interview. LinkedIn? Sure. Facebook? Why would they even ask? What kind of "prying" questions are they asking? What's your favorite movie? Are you married? Fortunately, you can easily turn these idiots down by rejecting their questions.
"Is living without social media possible in 2015?"
Yes. Next stupid question?
What can I say?
I *am* antisocial. If I'm outside walking/cycling/skiing/whatever, I don't want to be telephoned. Interactions are face to face or not at all.
I may have a google+ account (it came with the gmail address, which was a necessity when I bought an Android phone) but that does not mean I have ever used it, or the gmail account. No Facebook, no Linkedin, no Whatsapp, no whatever-the-other-one-was-which-Rupert-Murdoch-bought. I don't see a problem.
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
If I don't have a FB account, people think I'm suspicious. If I do have a FB account, people KNOW I'm suspicious!
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
Agree completely. Don't deal with any of those and have a good social life. I think a lot of people are mistaking drive-by one-second chats or texts with "social life". It's not, really.
Facebook, Twitter, Google+... All of them require a signup before you can use them. Well, how am I supposed to know if I want to sign up, if it's worth signing up, if I can't try before "buying"?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Agreed - I have no facebook account, no twitter account and I don't do the iggy either... (Simpsons ref) (Don't have a 5 digit UID But I'm old enough that I have to start qualifying my pop culture references coz you young whipper snappers probably weren't even born when the reference was made!) I've got old friends that decry that they can't keep me informed with their lives because I don't have a facebook account. (Hullo, I HAVE a smart phone and you can call or text me... Is that too much of an effort for our relationship?)
I've got a LinkedIn account that's strictly professional and that's as far as it goes I don't even really communicate on it other than to answer the recruiters or to hook up with some ex-coworkers (which I then take off line). I am amazed at how many people keep sending me personal or political information (all flavors) on it as if employers wouldn't care about that when hiring - The adage is still true - Don't discuss politics, religion or the Great Pumpkin in polite company.
Dab nag whippersnappers! Get off my lawn!
The alternative to limited government is unlimited government.
The knife in my pocket is an elemental tool, serving very old and basic purposes. The downsides to using a knife are few. One of the huge pros of having and using knives is that they don't collect and resell the personal information they gather through their use.
Social media companies primary goal is not to provide you a platform on which to build your social life. It is to bait you into giving them information they can resell to slobbering marketing types eager to insert themselves into your rectum.
But besides those significant differences .. well... your analogy is still utterly s*&t.
Too many people wanted to vouch for my skills.
This is what makes LinkedIn 'references' bullshit. People have recommended me for skills they can't possibly know I even have. It devalues the whole system.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
This.
I've been told a couple of times that calling/emailing/texting me is too hard, that they do all their socialising via facebook, and it's inconvenient to contact me any other way.
Setting aside all the privacy implications, If you can't be bothered talking to me as an individual rather than as part of a herd, I'm not really interested in anything you have to say.