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?
Just be an old codger like anyone with a 5 digit UID. They don't expect that much of us. If we can handle email then we're doing better than our elected representatives.
And, if you don't mind, off the lawn.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
I created a LinkedIn profile soon after a potential employer told me that my "social networking footprint was too small". I've had a dormant Facebook account for years... apparently, that's not enough.
Some things need to be said...
Only reason I got onto facebook was to see what my daughter could be doing (in terms of privacy settings, etc). Still no twitter, linked in, etc. But I do have a /. account (obviously), fark.com, a few forums, etc. None using my real name of course.
Guess you could always get your own domain, host it yourself, and install fingerd. Then just tell the folks that think something is wrong to finger you....
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
I get having a "professional" social media profile (a la LinkedIn) but no way in hell is a personal profile going to be up for discussion in any job interview I have. My private life is my life, not my employer's or prospective employer's. If they can't understand that I don't want to work for them anyway.
I don't give a shit, in my personal life if people "expect a facebook". I don't even have all my real-life friends associated with my one social media profile, I'm sure as hell not handing it out to every person I meet at some bar or party.
"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional."
I put things on LinkedIn because I know what's going to happen with those things. They'll be distributed to clients, employers, colleagues, headhunters and other buy-in advertisers, and of course NSA. On the other hand, I don't put anything on Facebook, and I ask people not to take pictures of me at events, because I have absolutely no idea where that will be going and who will be watching it. Besides I don't want or need to catch whatever stupid it is that drives people to waste a whole monitor on Facebook at work and at home.
Facebook is just the latest incarnation of Compuserve / AOHell / MySpace / BBS.
It is nothing new or inventive or special and the fad will blow over in a few years and get replaced by the next BBS wonder of the day.
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.
Or a phone, for that matter.
You can always send a letter. It's not like it's a big deal if we can't get to you TODAY. Anyone who doesn't plan more than a few days ahead is just asking for trouble anyway. The US was founded in a time when it could takes months to get a response from Europe.
So, no, it's really not necessary.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
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
Is living without social media possible in 2015?
Stupid question. It's not only possible, it's easy. I've never had a Facebook or Twitter account and frankly it hasn't mattered a bit. Those services offer me nothing I value. If someone thinks you are odd or "recoils in horror" that you don't bother with Facebook then that tells you everything you need to know about them right there. Someone who looks down on you for ignoring the latest fad is an idiot you probably don't need to associate with. You don't actually need to know the banal details of everyone's Facebook account to have an active social life.
You do not need Facebook to have friends.
Nobody really cares what you say on Twitter.
You can get a job without LinkedIn.
Plenty of ways to share photos without Instagram.
Have we forgotten how to function without Facebook?
No. Seriously Facebook is NOT and never has been a necessity for most people. If Facebook entertains you then by all means have at it but it is unequivocally not a necessity. Email might almost be a necessity though even that is debatable.
I'm a hard worker and I don't waste my time at work on the Internet preening myself on FB so I can get a bunch of "likes". Off of work I like to spend my time going out and interacting with people in real life face-to-face.
And besides, if you want to see my online presence, you find me on any chan site in /wx/ and /gif/.
I don't have a FB or LinkedIn account and get along just fine.
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.
... and yet I do have a LinedIn account... and I still have a few active circles in Google+
I ended up at LinedIn just because it was the easiest and simplest way to keep tabs on people I used to work for and with. It's handy for that.
As for Facebook, I just don't have any reason to use it. I like my current active circle of friends and we call and email each other directly when we want to be in touch. I'm not interested in the time-sink that it is for so many people. I keep hearing tales from friends about the politics of "friendship" and all the goofy crap they get from people they really don't know, or don't want to know anymore.
I also don't want to share a whole lot of stuff with the wide-wide world. I don't want to read what other people are sharing. I just don't care about that crap.
This notion that Facebook is a kind of adjunct to a resume is a little disquieting. I mean, if someone wants to know more about me, all they have to do is suggest that we go out for a long lunch or maybe a beer after work and I'm happy to talk about just about anything. No window dressing, nothing in print. If someone wants to get to know me, they can do exactly that, with me, in real life.
Fortunately, I am also old enough that not having a Facebook page isn't so unusual in my age group. So at least I have that.
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
I have never signed up for Facebook. I can count of the fingers of one hand with some fingers missing the number of times I have had someone say anything about me not having a Facebook account. I have seen online groups, where they have their own site nonetheless, where some of the members make meeting preparations or discussions on Facebook. I find this to be bizarre and completely rude to others. Why not keep your discussions on the site that was made for those discussions. If I want to communicate with people, I will use email or text messaging, or even a phone call. But then again, I don't want to broadcast my life to a bunch of strangers, so I must be weird and suspicious! I do have a Linked In account as that serves a different purpose. It allows me to keep track of work contacts for future use. Facebook has no use to me though and I will not get an account there.
-- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
Personally I don't care for yet another thing to maintain. But I do maintain a profile on Facebook to keep up with family and friends. I don't have it linked to my phone so that all pictures get uploaded, I don't like that. Any pictures/content gets uploaded manually. Having an account doesn't have to mean your private life is now public. But having an account can have advantages too. I liken it to dinner parties and other social venues. You get invited, you may not want to get dressed up and go but you go anyway.
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 using social media is like never using a knife. Both are dangerous, but when used properly and with care can be exceptionally useful.
Are there times I'm careless with social media? I suppose there are certainly times I could be more reserved. But the more you [properly] manage your social media accounts the more you can gain from them. While you do open yourself up to a certain degree of transparency, you also offer an opportunity for people who offer you something beneficial to find you (ex: old friends displaced by time and distance, other hobbiests who share your passion).
If you don't own and never use a knife or other sharp-edged tool, you'll never have to worry about cutting yourself while using one. You'll also find that there are many tasks which are far more difficult to accomplish without one. And despite what you read in the news, you're pretty unlikely to kill, or even severely injure, yourself if used properly.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I must be "special" or "exceptional" or something like that. I have a FB account, which I log into on a rare occasion. Check up on one of the kids - check my supervisor's page when inclement weather threatens - just the odd thing now and then.
And, I don't see advertisements on FB. I've little idea what FB scripts might be offering, but I see none of it. As for posts - I don't. Once I began to figure out just how much FB capitalizes your every post, I simply stopped. Screw them.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
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.
1) Set up a personal web page - a blog, works, but it doesn't ahve to be one. You can put whatever you want on it. This gives people something to check online - but gives YOU the full control over it. No one linking to you, posting to your page, no advertisers steeling your information.
2) Maintain weekly contact with your friends by hand. Pick a single day - Sunday, whatver - and email (or call your good friends) all your actual, real friends about what you are up to and ask questions. If they are really your friend, they will email you back.
3) If a potential employer asks an inappropriate question be polite but call them on it in a way that makes you look good. "How often do you drink?" should be responded to with "I don't drink at all at work - do you have a problem with people drinking on the job?" Any question about your sex life should be politely taken as if they hitting on you. "I really don't think it's appropriate to date potential coworkers".
4) Be ready for questions about Facebook and have a good answer to it. Something that sounds sane, rather than crazy. If you are female this one works VERY well "After I found out an X stalked me on Facebook, I decided to delete my account. I get so much more work done now." It also works for men, but not as well.
Be prepared to lose some fair-weather friends/work. Just as a TV Producer would lose jobs if he decided to no longer watch TV. But your real friends and most worthwhile jobs will still like you. (Except with Facebook - if you want a job with Facebook, JOIN FACEBOOK)
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Nobody but nobody cares whether or not you have a facebook account.
FLAC - Free Lossless Audio Codec
BBSs were actually useful (mostly due to the population on them at the time). The rest I agree about.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
Have a FB account don't use it. Have Twitter don't use it. Maybe I'm just super boring -- but I have nothing I feel the need to broadcast or share online. But seeing how we've invented words like "overshare" -- I suspect most people fail to realize that very little actually merits a twat or wallposting
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,
You're a fool. Utterly. Either that, or this is some kind of troll to make people wonder if they are crazy or "doing it wrong" if they don't sign up for linked in or facebook. Since the post contains the words "busy advancing your career", I have to think the latter. In fact I _hope_ for the latter, because it hurts to think that people are this gullible.
You do not need a social media account anywhere. Any employer who brands you as suspicious, or who insists on a linked in profile to even talk, is not anyone worth working for.
Stop being a mental slave.
You too, slashdot, this discussion is beneath even you.
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
I would wager that 80% of my social circle all don't have a Facebook account. (age 28-36), non-tech people primarily [doctors, grad students, mechanic, cooks, artists]; all university educated, and well-learned.
It's generally not viewed as a "safe" item to have, or to participate in.
We are the transitory age of people where the internet kinda took off during high-cshool, and for me, the huge dot-com crash happened the year before I entered college, so I was completely isolated from that entire scenario, and have no real context for it. But, it presumably shaped how our education was, and to be taught to be suspicious of consolodating information online, because "anything you say can and will be used against you"
I would wager that 80% of my social circle all don't have a Facebook account. (age 28-36), non-tech people primarily [doctors, grad students, mechanic, cooks, artists]; all university educated, and well-learned.
It's generally not viewed as a "safe" item to have, or to participate in.
We are the transitory age of people where the internet kinda took off during high-cshool, and for me, the huge dot-com crash happened the year before I entered college, so I was completely isolated from that entire scenario, and have no real context for it. But, it presumably shaped how our education was, and to be taught to be suspicious of consolodating information online, because "anything you say can and will be used against you"
I don't have any presence on Facebook. If asked why not, I point out the similarities between Mark Zuckerberg and Satan's representative on earth.
However, my wife is on Facebook - she friends the children and handles any mass communications that must happen over there.
To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
Ok, I'm old - pushing 50. I don't use any social media sites, but I do have a vanity site where I put up pictures for my friends to see.
I'm an introvert, and I think that the pressure to keep up with people on facebook would stress me out. I'm happy just seeing people IRL. I do miss out on some things, but you can't have everything.
I'm lucky in that I've always worked for small companies and this hasn't hurt my job prospects at all.
So, yes, it's certainly possible.
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...
The thought that someone actually "literally recoiled in horror at the idea of someone not being on Facebook" makes me metaphorically recoil in horror at the thought of associating with such a person. Seriously? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given how overreactive people seem to be these days (just now, I almost typed "how overreactive everyone is", what an overreaction that would've been!).
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 was challenged 3 months ago to deactivate my Facebook account after lamenting to a friend how I was in a shitty mood because of an argument I was having on it. I took the challenge and worried about all the stuff, especially events, I was going to miss.
To my knowledge I missed one thing I would've liked to have gone to had I known about it, which I would've if I still had Facebook. However, I couldn't have actually done it that day, so, maybe that's a null loss? I've made plans with the usual friends I make plans with, I've resorted to e-mail to share funny links. This has actually worked out great as it seem sending a specific e-mail to a few specific people that would enjoy it gets more than a like and has resulted in conversations. One such conversation is being turned into a YouTube video for animators because it had so much 'good' in it. I think the conversation wouldn't have happened if I shared this on Facebook, which would've relegated it to one liners and replies with cat *.gifs
I do NOT miss it.
For a hot second I become more interested in all other social media, but that interest has developed into something unexpected.
I thought, "Who will I share this photo with now? I really want to share this photo!" So instead I made a Flickr account, but the fact that it's filled with photographers has resumed my interest in my cameras and I'm so pleased to report I'm once again taking my 35mm with me places. I ended up making new friends in a different department at work because they saw it and were apparently film hobbyists themselves!
I thought, "I want to talk about art some, but how will I get in contact with all of them..." Now, my Instagram is filled with work related art stuff and the dumb #hashtags that got no response, but I felt socially encouraged to add, are replaced with specific ones that get likes and comments from artists I've never met. Coincidentally I fragged all my photos of food and concerts and have made it work/art centric. I'm now integrating this and a Tumblr I just made on my website, something I would never have done before when my Instagram was just the typical, social junk. Even my Twitter use has become more specific.
For me, what happened was that taking away Facebook removed the steady stream of unimportant, though entertaining, time consuming crap from my daily grind. My fears of missing out were unjustified, it hasn't happened.
So now, when I'm I'm bored or have a moment, I can't get a 'hit' from Facebook. That loop is gone and the energy instead goes somewhere else, usually towards a personal interest and not just laughing at a cat photo. I definitely get back from taking a break at work quicker and said breaks are usually outside instead of on Facebook at my desk. Total win!
I'm not free of social media, it's important to getting jobs and sharing my work, but hot damn, I don't need Facebook to do any of that.
I think it's much less necessary than we think. I think you can live and be happy without it, but I know it serves a purpose, just make sure it's serving you and not the other way around. I was unaware how much Facebook truly sucked until I stopped using it.
I'm not on Facebook. I've just never felt the desire to keep up with what dimly remembered friends from High School and College are doing (the last time I peeked in, there was some post about how so-and-so was quitting the 20-yr high school reunion committee because of all the drama... seriously? Who still has high-school era drama 20 years later?), and I see all my current friends often enough that there's really not a need.
If I was applying for a job, I suppose I'd build a profile on LinkedIn, but I'm not, so I haven't.
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?
The only winning move is to install noscript.
Or redirect their entries in /etc/hosts to 127.0.0.1.
That way myspace, digg, reddit, twitter, google+, pinterest, linkedin, and every other social site that's managed to get tracking scripts installed in other sites won't be able to track you.
file:
Linkedin kept sending me requests to join because some friend of a friend got my email address somehow and keeps trying to get me to "link" to him or whatever. I don't know the guy, and he's a musician and I'm not (at least, not professionally). So anything from Linkedin gets deleted automatically.
Some guy on Facebook put my email address in mistake, and I started getting all kinds of emails in what I think is Hindi. I sent an email to Facebook support asking them to rectify it, and they basically told me to fuck off. So anything from Facebook gets deleted automatically.
I do have a Google+ account, mostly to store my contacts for my phone (I was a truck driver for a few years and kept my deliery addresses and phone numbers on there - I lost 'em all when my iPhone hit the pavement at 75mph). A few family members are on there. All I see if I check it is crap like "So-and-so reccomends some crappy phone game!" twenty times in a row. It's wonderful how Google has gotten my own family to spam me. Oh well, at least it doesn't send me emails.
Twitter's not so bad, except during their signup process they try to get you to follow half the damn world. Once I figured out it wasn't actually required, I canned 'em all. I follow three people and pretty much never post. My only real bitch is that Twitter had some kind of issue a month or so back and had to email me fifty times to tell me I should log back in with my phone. I don't bother with twitter on my phone.
So if a poptential employer asks me why I'm not on , my answer is "because they're more trouble than they're worth."
Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
Facebook, et al. can only "put out" as much as you put in.
No, Facebook can only "put out" as much as everybody else puts in. For example my classmates from primary school are a tightly connected clique and since some of them have told Facebook they went to the same school, Facebook has correctly deduced that everybody in that clique probably went there too and is asking me to confirm it, but they basically know anyway. Another relative of mine did some genealogy thing and basically drew up the whole family tree for Facebook. Same with people tagging you in photos and checking you in and whatnot, even though you can hide it from your own timeline or even untag yourself Facebook knows that when a friend tagged you it was almost certainly correct. I doubt they really forget anything.
And most annoyingly, Facebook often knows when I send email because the one I send to has shared their address book/inbox with Facebook. There's no other way some of those "friend suggestions" could turn up on social media, so even when you try to keep a life separate from Facebook it's no good when the other end is being a tattle-tale. And I don't know if it's just my friends, but my impression is that you don't reach out and actually tell friends about the things that friends normally get told about. They post it to Facebook and expect people to have read it there, that's more or less the expected way to socialize. Not reading Facebook gets you the "Oh sorry, I didn't know you were stationed on a nuclear submarine under radio silence" looks.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I technically have an FB account... under a pseudonym but I don't use it nor 'friend' other people, and demure when they ask if they can 'friend' me, same with Twitter. And no LinkedIn at all. I've never once been asked for any of that for any job interview despite the fact that I have virtually no obvious findable online presence, and I live in Seattle, techno-Central-North these days.
I can understand a certain level of 'transparency', or personal promotion uses for LinkedIn professionally, and there are uses for social media personally, specifically event invites (or the 'knife' argument above). Twitter is useful for news updates. But there are plenty of us who stay anonymous or don't have accounts with nyms linked to our real names, and we are doing just fine.
Job wants to know info? Read my resume/CV, call my references.
New potential friend shocked I'm not on FB? They are probably too lame a human being to really engage with anyway. Ask them if they've ever been outside the USA (have YOU ever been outside the USA?), or know how to build a fire, or speak another language.
City life done made y'all soft...
One would be interested to know more details about the original poster... who IS this person, anyway? Cui bono?
The youth are not embracing facebook. Facebook is a brand, and it is hated by too many taste makers. Facebook doesn't taste good. Any employer that likes facebook is already behind the curve, pun intended.
Most people on facebook are not on facebook. They have inactive profiles. They may check to peep those who are active, but beyond that, there is very little utility or upside to those who quit caring. And this is always a simple function of time; everyone quits caring eventually. Facebook will continue to insist these peepers are "active" but no, this bluff was tried by Google+ and it won't fool anyone. Those looking for a job might clean up their profile just in case, but this doesn't mean they're on or using facebook.
Facebook will become the next myspace. That's why Facebook, being run by people who know this well, is buying what could be to facebook what facebook was to myspace. That's why Instagram and WhatsApp needed to be purchased.
Facebook is moving beyond a platform. Social media to them is now about real estate. You can move off from facebook to instragram like one would from Santa Monica to Venice. But your landlord is still facebook.
Here is one concrete example of why Instagram is amazing and Facebook sucks. When a brand posts something on Instagram, there is no "promoting" their post, there is no "mining impressions", and there is no "paying for likes". There is no machine learning optimized feed. Instagram pushes a photo to everyone instantly, and the response is also unencumbered and immediate. And it has no ads. Unlike facebook, Instagram does not stand in between you and your followers. All their efforts into the quality of what facebook should be doing on facebook, yet the answer was to not be there at all. The presence of the "host" is not welcome in any social setting, not online or offline. We don't need the waiter or waitress to feed us at the restaurant while reading ads. That's facebook.
Seriously, facebook sucks. It's future is dead. Even just for the reason that my mom has twice as many friends than I do and all her peers love it. She just turned 70.
Zuckerberg plz go.
Have gnu, will travel.
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.
Don't look for a job from an employer who requires you to sell/provide your personal information to a third party company. Aaaaand that pretty much sums it up. Can an employer force you to do a garage sale? Same logic applies here.
I do have a Linked' account, but otherwise I am able to run a mid-sized IT shop unfettered by the useless timesuck. Linked' is an addressbook for many. Frankly, the author's experience in frightening. We switched off most of the social sites for our network, with no adverse effect on our business for our 450 employees. Social media is an option, a tool, but not the only tool in town.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Go off the grid. Best way to enjoy life.
I think comparing Facebook to a chainsaw is a more suitable analogy.
I quit all social media a couple of years back, and have encountered literally zero problems as a result. As a bonus, it improved my life in several ways.
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!
Good analogy, and I'd propose another one: social media is like alcohol. If you never go to a bar you may miss some situations where interesting people are met and friendships are made, and if you use it too much... well we know what happens. Also some people are naturally very attracted to it, and some not at all, while some have to force themselves to stay away.
I think it's best to drink the FB booze in very small amounts. Have an account, but don't put anything of value in there, just a couple of pics and a few irrelevant article shares. That gives you access to people without being much giving much information away, or requiring you to engage.
I stopped posting almost anything after I noticed in my daily life I was doing or seeing things and I thought about posting them -- it was taking mental energy away. I still check FB at least 4-5 times a day, and sometimes I see valuable stuff, probably still worth the small exposure to the overall FB toxicity.
You'll also find that there are many tasks which are far more difficult to accomplish without one.
Such as? This is a serious question. I'm trying to think of anything that is more difficult to accomplish without social media, and I'm coming up blank.
I have to ended my fb relationship two years ago. However, I still have and will keep my business related accounts on LinkedIn, Xing and ResearchGate. I never had a problem with this policy. If I would be forced to have an fb account I would only friend people I really know this time and who do not post rubbish. That would most likely leave me with an fb account without any friends. Which would be creepy. Therefore, I am better of without one.
I'm with you. I've seen it on LinkedIn when people boast about the amazing lunch at the amazing convention/tradeshow full of amazing people.
Trolling is a art,
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.
All of my friends and family know that I don't have any such account, so they wouldn't be fooled in the first place. Even if they were, they'd certainly ask me about it! I don't see any real risk there.
I haven't used any kind of social media over the last decade and it hasn't impacted my life one bit. People who need to get ahold of me just call, text, or IM. This idea that we somehow need social networking is misguided. We don't.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
My wife uses Facebook Religiously - does that count?
Seriously though - I've got no Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. and I've managed just fine. :)
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
It's also fun to fill such profiles with obviously false or inaccurate information. I'm always amused by the birthday wishes I get on New Years day, when I'm supposedly turning 114 or some such.
Both are dangerous, but when used properly and with care can be exceptionally useful.
Not really a great analogy... People without knives (but who at least know of their existence) can immediately see their utility, regardless of their danger. Although some people without Facebook pages may avoid it out of some variety of fear, I dare say that the majority of people without them simply don't want one.
I think as a better analogy, you might compare FB to a sous vide machine - Yes, it serves a (very, very niche) purpose, and yes, we can all see what it does; but let's not kid ourselves, all the people rushing out to buy one only do it because it counts as this year's cool kitchen gadget (and more importantly, all their friends have one).
Facebook only has as much lasting power as it does because its utility has a certain "stickiness" to it - Once you join and all your friends join, it takes effort to have all your friends update their contact information for you; but if you never joined in the first place, it really doesn't "do" much you can't get elsewhere. The "wall", okay, you can't really get that anywhere else (without having all your "friends" go there as well), but far from appealing to me, I consider that an annoying feature. "So your friend wrote that to you?" "No, FB just thought I might like to see it" "So wait, does it randomly post your messages to other people you don't know?" "*crickets*".
you also offer an opportunity for people who offer you something beneficial to find you (ex: old friends displaced by time and distance, other hobbiests who share your passion).
I don't really see that as a selling point, though - I have stayed in touch with everyone from my past that I wanted to, and I have no shortage of opportunities to make new friends based on shared interests in the real world every single day. Meanwhile, that cute girl from my sophomore history class now counts as a soccer mom in her mid 30s and we have literally nothing in common beyond that insignificant footnote from our distant pasts.
I just don't do it mediated by a glowing screen and run through computing systems.
Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
I have no social media presence... Never had, never will.
Why do you think you need to willingly give up all your privacy, information, list of friends, hangouts, etc to a third party company? If facebook was a .gov and it was the elected few collecting all this information, would you still give it up? Why not? At least the government has many LAWS in place protecting you and what they can do with the information, a private company has none of these.
As far as my social life goes, I still attend parties all the time. I still attend events often. There still exists a thing called a "telephone" and "mouth" which are great tools for communication.
Today, Employeers and the government alike can request you friend them, or otherwise just buy/obtain all your information and make life-altering decisions about you based on that information. Today, Facebook is testing their "suicide prevention" scanning. That's something easy that they can get the heuristics right, before they switch it to other things: identifying drug users, minorities, people who belong to the wrong party, those who don't practice doublethink, etc.
"Everyone else is doing it" is hardly good reason for anything. Think for yourself. Be a person. Or don't, it's your choice. For now.
An employer that asks for anything else is not even worthy of my contempt.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
When they ask for your Facebook profile give them your Github profile instead.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
" Others have literally recoiled in horror at the idea of someone not being on Facebook. " I have not seen that in big firms, or in established firms with somewhat middle aged people. In younger start up maybe, but If a firm is suspicious because I don't use facebook, then frankly it is not a firm i want to work with : they are being suspicious of innocent things, so their paranoia will probably extend to worst things once you are in.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
This is what I thought to. I can't think of anything that is harder without facebook.
Fuck so-called 'social media'. For something that claims to 'connect people', I have never seen anything so effective at giving people an excuse to not connect, never see each other in person, and otherwise just stare at a screen. Don't get me wrong -- I have always lived a technological lifestyle, I've been building my own computers since before the IBM model 5150 (The PC) was even dreamt of (soldered together circuit boards with wirewrap wire for my very first computer), and have worked in IT and hard electronics my entire life, and currently work for 'a major microprocessor manufacturer', so you can't call me a Luddite by any stretch of the imagination -- but shit like Failbook is just plain insulting, intrusive, false, misleading, and sometimes downright illegal. Who the fuck needs 10000 'friends' (with an lower-case 'F', mind you) who you have NEVER met, NEVER will meet, and NEVER want to meet? What the actual fuck is that shit anyway? In this life, if you have half a dozen decent, in-real-life, see-them-in-person Friends (with an upper-case 'F') that you can actually trust, have common interests in, and hang out with on a regular basis? Then you're doing pretty damned good. You don't NEED 'social media'; it's just yet another way for corporations, governments, and nosy people who have no business being in your business, to mine data about you, make (usually comically incorrect) assumptions and draw (almost always tragically wrong) conclusions about who you are and what you're about, and otherwise turn you into a product, like you may as well have a gods-be-damed UPC barcode tattooed on the back of your necK. Me? The day that I decided that posts on Failbook of mine past a certain age needed to go away for good, and I discovered much to my horror that it would not allow me to delete anything permanently, and would put them all back the next day? That's when I concluded that It Was Up To No Good, deleted my account, and vowed to never go back to it or anything like it ever again. I recommend you all do the same and start actually connecting with people in real life, work on those social interaction skills, and stop giving away all the details of your lives to these asshole corporations and nosy ne'er-do-well 'friends' who don't give a rat's ass about your well being, only what they can SELL you to someone else for.
Please, bring the hateful comments, now; every one of you who posts your insults, bald-faced hate, and other negative, spiteful, derisive shit, just convinces me more and more that I'm right an you're just either the Sheep or the Wolves (not sure which is worse).
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
I confine my activities to the antisocial media, such as Slashdot.
And pretty much the only thing correct about it is my name. According to it, I'm probably the best that could probably happen to you when you run into a security problem.
Of course it is nothing I'd direct you to. Especially not if I was to get into a business relationship with you. Lying about credentials is very unprofessional. Second only to trying to spy on a potential business partner.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I have a Facebook profile. It's fake, but hey, if you try to data mine me, expect me to fuck with you.
And yes, I'm aware that I'll go to that interview in vain when I tell them "No, I'm not really Bruce Schneier's best buddy. And if you went with the information I gave you instead of trying to snoop behind my back, you wouldn't look like creepy stalkers now". But, let's be honest here, do I want to work for a company like that?
If you want information about me, there's a Xing profile and you'll get the link to it with my resume, where the information will be accurate, honest and complete. If you want to get nosy, be prepared to get that nose hit.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
... a chainsaw that has teeth on the handle, but not on the business end.
The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
No, I have not. Nor shall I. Don't have it, don't want it. Don't those California employers realize you can just as easily plant all kinds of BS on FB as you can spout out in person? Do they not realize that people putting stuff on a wall might also be posting BS? What is real? Oops, forgot. We are talking about California...
Although results are admittedly mixed and vary widely depending on the ability/savvy of those running/maintaining it, having a performing/touring/recording band FB page....or not...can make a difference these days.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
How everyone on LinkedIN is a driven successful professional and everyone on Facebook is blissfully happy?
One can find such a form of the name on FB, that wouldn't be straightforward to navigate to. Having said that, I must second getting rid of it altogether: deleted profile myself couple of months ago, and life became so much cleaner. It was worth, perhaps, to experience phenomena that it is, but this chapter was closed with as real a pleasure. Next step was to end with one major news concentrator, and life is obviously being claimed back. Slashdot tends to sound professional, thus firmly on board.
In the age of information abundance and free-flow, our real challenge is to tame it.
Servant of karma
I think I'm going to click that "Share" link at the bottom of your post - hey! Facebook's there!
On second thought, maybe I shouldn't.
Fine by me, the only thing I have shared are free deals and coupon officers.
I got my jobs and internships before LinkedIn by going to storage conferences, job fairs, and keeping tabs on old colleagues that moved onto work at big companies (references). Those techniques and events are still there and companies love to recruit via those channels. But you can _augment_ this with LinkedIn, which is like an interview machine. My brother graduated recently and could not find a job. I went through all the recruiters that harassed me on LinkedIn and systematically e-mailed all of them with something along the lines of: "I am not available but my brother is a genius, here is his info". My brother called me the next day and he had a couple weeks of interviews lined up already. Now he works on a prestigious tech team and makes damn good money. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn has quantifiable and immediate value to the end-user.
So is it possible to function in society without social media? Absolutely, except for LinkedIn, that is exactly what I do. Does it put you at a disadvantage when competing in the job market if you do not learn to use and master these tools now that they have become prevalent? Absolutely.
--"You are your own God"--
Nonconformism is always viewed with suspicion by the masses.
True and so I can understand why an employer might ask (although frankly I think it is more to do with finding things out that they cannot legally ask about). What shocked me was that grad schools wanted to know this. Speaking as a prof who has no Facebook profile whatsoever I could literally not care less about whether a prospective grad student has a Facebook profile. What I look for is someone committed enough, interested enough and lastly smart enough to do research. So if a grad school asks you this I would strongly recommend that you go somewhere else because clearly they have some strange priorities and those priorities will be determining who else is in your research group.
Wastebook? Isn't that right in with MyFace?
I don't know any using either anymore. Folks have moved on.
People also seem to be interacting more, instead of avoiding each other and lying online.
Life has also gotten simpler again, instead of needing to try to contact someone on Twitter, SMS, email and phone, you can just shoot them a message on Google+ and whichever way they prefer to keep notified is what gets pinged.
Ivory towers are useless, all these things had their shelf life.
I'm proud to say I don't even know what UID you social weenies are bragging about and I have lots of friends and almost all of them are human.
LinkedIn used to have InMaps, which drew graphs of how all your networks were connected. It used some graph theory to cluster the people who knew each other together.
At a conference I got a printout of that drawing on large format paper. It not only clustered every school and social scene I've participated in, it even figured out who introduced me to the new ones when that happened. They stuck out as the middle point between the clusters.
Right now Facebook keeps guessing where I work, and it's cycling through each company I have a number of friends employed at. it's impossible for Facebook to figure it out, but the guesses are very good. It's still not as scary as when I look at a picture and it guesses the identity of everyone who isn't tagged in the picture.
I saw the disease for what it was, and while having a low ICQ account number - I'm proud to not have been a facebook or myspace nitwit.
All you bottom feeders of facebook and myspace finding the intraweb need to be shot. And the folks that killed Napster - they need to be shot.
And get the hell off of my lawn.
Altho, my lawn is presently muddy. and most folks will wait for warmer weather to see the lawn - but most likely won't go past the thorn bushes I planted to deter people from the lawn.
So I'll just shake my fist.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
Slashdot is full of stupidity and you are here too. You also cannot say any thing remotely intelligent without some smart ass making some sort of remotely and supposedly intelligent snark comment. Also most of the times, they think they are so smart that jump to conclusions - I think if does matter much to them if they are true or not, to the point it gets boring posting something here, or at least taking care to read the reply. This post is also the perfect proof of that.
Forthe less code-savvy among us, can you recommend a good tutorial on how to accomplish this?
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
I am missing things because of not having Facebook. Specifically communication with the folks back home [immigrant here].
The reason I never subscribed is that I was suspicions from the beginning that it is a trap and once it becomes popular they'd abuse the data they collected. Which of course happened. Otherwise I'd happily participate...
That's all there is, really.
Reading the post and associated comments reminds me that the uptake, continued use, and internalization of technology is influenced by generational 'norms'.
Of course the Millennial is flabbergasted you don't have a Facebook, Linkedin, and 10 other flavor of the month social media whatz-its... his/her life being both focused on their network of friends, and the assurance that they can find anything online to answer any question about newcomers.
The Gen X-er shrugs, and goes back to trying to make money (making on average 12% less then their fathers/mothers and trending down - yet optimistic to the end), and thinking about his next job hop and who from his fraternity can get him in touch with the hiring manager.
The Boomer rails at the dangers of social media, and the lack of independence of the Millennial, counting email as sufficient for all contacts less formal than a letter.
Realizing that all generalizations are less than useless, I sit here in the corner loathing you all.
Lodragan Draoidh
The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it. - Mark Twain
I shut down my Facebook, don't use Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ (who does anyway?), and don't even have a smartphone. I'm doing just fine and just got a great faculty job.
Incipiamus, fratres, servire Domino Deo, quia hucusque vix vel parum in nullo profecimus.
If your using it to 'win friends and influence people' that more or less puts you into 'self-interested salesman' category.
I suppose there might be same saints out there, who only want to influence people for good, not for self interest. I've never met one. I have met many self deluded who believe they 'only use their powers for good', they should be kept well away from anything important.
Friends help you move, real friends help you move bodies. They are not people you schmooze with for a minute.
If you think you have 100 friends, you likely have none.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
I really don't get the big deal over Facebook or other social media. The only thing there is what you put on it. For me the value of FB vastly outweighs any possible privacy concerns. I have my account pretty locked down to friends and family, so the worst that is going to happen is that I might see some ADVERTISING. OMG! End of the world!! (and it isn't that bad with AdBlock installed either)
If an employer asked for my FB account, I would happily tell them that it is for private use. I even Google myself from time to time to make sure it stays that way, but I also watch my mouth when I post things. Keep it light, friendly, and absolutely no politics.
If my friends and family care, they will see on FB that I ski, bike, go to the gym and occasionally go out to eat at a nice restaurant. If they don't care, they don't have to look.
Facebook has allowed me to reconnect with long lost friends, 'missing' cousins and lots of other people I might care about. It isn't some deep friendship or family bond, but it is more of a relationship with those people than I had before Facebook came along. That alone is worth something.
-Necron69
I stopped using Facebook because it just didn't seem like it was improving my life. It hasn't made any difference at all. I have never used Twitter. I have a LinkedIn profile, but I haven't looked at it in months. Nobody cares. As far as I can tell, TFA is not describing a typical experience.
I say this to all. Social media is for those who want to use it. Whatever the usage might be, it's a choice.
Bragging about not being in social media only makes you look passÃ, and you probably are anyway as tech and knowledge moves way to fast for us to keep up. You can try all you want but the fact is that you will be obsolete by the time you finish reading this message.
Enjoy your life at your private cabin, off-the-grid, and keep feeding the bears. Your time is only important to yourself.
This sig can be distributed under the LGPL license
I have a LinkedIn profile, purely for career purposes. I pretty much only deal with it when it is time to look for a job since relocating 5000 miles from home. I've updated it twice. I have no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no whatever other crap there is out there. I do just fine. Don't miss it, don't want it, not going to have it. I also do not use text messages, they are blocked from my phone. If you want to reach me, you can email (preferred) or call. I ditched pay TV in 2009 too. Don't miss that either.
Have an account, but don't put anything of value in there, just a couple of pics and a few irrelevant article shares. That gives you access to people without being much giving much information away, or requiring you to engage.
This was how I used Facebook for a few years, but is also why I eventually deleted my FB account. My friends and family would expect that I actually paid attention to the thing, and would think that I was ignoring them when I failed to respond. Also, they'd think that a FB posting was sufficient notification for events and such.
In short, I was being deceptive by have the appearance of a presence without actually being present. All of these problems were solved by deleting my account. Now I talk with them more directly and they are aware of whether or not I've heard a given bit of news or whether or not I know that we're meeting at the pub for a game of pool.
I'm surprised no one mentioned the disgusting interface Facebook has. It really seems badly made and unsophisticated. There are virtues in simplicity, but Facebook's take on interface is pauperism.
I really think it's sloppy and it really is something that has not had much thought put into it *at all*. I guess some people remain non-plused.
Not to mentioned the other stuff commonly mentioned: walled garden, unethical (experimenting with user's mood? WTF?), huge time waster (do I *really* have to pay attention to what 200 people are doing?).
Main difference between the BSD license and the GPL license: one is from California and the other is from Massachusetts
Using noscript does lead to some compatibility/useability issues, as a lot of the interactive crap built into websites works via calling scripts from other sites. There is an option in the noscript toolbar button to temporarily enable scripts from individual sites. By carefully allowing temp loading of scripts from (non-social media) partner or CDN domains, usually most of the functionality can be regained, while still not loading the tracking scripts from social media sites.
For the /etc/hosts part, there is a tutorial that covers multiple operating systems here. Another alternate hosts file, minus the turorial part, can be found here.
file:
I was aware of NoScript and run in on my browser. The /etc/hosts bit was new to me. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein