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 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 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.
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
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'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....
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.
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
That's interesting. I'll remember that the next time I have a huge swath of common interests to talk about with people I've just met at a weekend convention - common interests we discovered not through weeks or months of guessing, but with a quick glance at a public profile. I'll remember that the next time I see my cousins and we talk about all the shared experiences with have with out kids - spurred by our keeping in-touch through FB and seeing our kids grow up. I'm sure I felt that reconnecting with an old college buddy online was totally non-social. It was so non-social that he used FB to let me know he was going to be in my town for a night on business, and we get together at a pub and killed a couple of pitchers of Guiness over the course of a long evening. I met a woman from England at an event about 4 years ago. We see one another - at most - once a year. But when she comes to the states it's like we've been best buddies the whole time and we always have a fantastic time together with friends.
Social media, in general, is about keeping in touch with people and interacting. It doesn't take the place of face to face meetings - it bridges the gaps between those meetings. If you're not closer to your friends with social media than without, you're doing it wrong.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
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 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:
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
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.