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Do you still use Facebook? Why?!

Never used a long dormant account before closing it, but found a sibling recently after 40+ years with another recent (anonymous?) FB search.
 
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olbriar said:
I was an early adopter of fb and formed a couple of private groups there. I've since joined a couple of private groups.
They are all genealogy related. Other than that, I never saw much use in the platform. My life is boring enough. Sharing it with others would make a bad read. :)
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I know the feeling, mine is not unique as my web site made it glamours for me :D
 
olbriar said:
I was an early adopter of fb
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Me too. At first it seemed okay, but very clunky and non-user friendly. Then at some point I started hearing rumblings about its covert sharing of users' personal data. Then the rumblings became earthquakes. After doing my due diligence, I decided in 2009 that it was not something I needed in my life. So, poof!, I deleted my account...or so I thought.

As I added to my OP, I later heard (from a trusted online friend on one of my Linux boards) that by hitting a 'like' button--anywhere online--your "deleted" account would be reactivated. Naturally, I had to try for myself! Yep, some five years after deleting my account, there it was, in its entirety, just as I'd left it...reactivated. I was not pleased.
and formed a couple of private groups there. I've since joined a couple of private groups.
They are all genealogy related.
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Ancestry.com has a vibrant genealogy community, to say nothing of its millions of records. Of course, it's not free.
Other than that, I never saw much use in the platform. My life is boring enough. Sharing it with others would make a bad read. :)
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:D :D
 
A lot of my work related announcements come through FB from their page, so yeah I need to have it because the FB post often comes hours before I receive their text (crap IT dept IMO).
I also have a lot of friends that i can only contact on FB. The only things I have on FB anyway are stuff I decided I want to share, so it really doesn't matter if they get to that because it's stuff I wanted to share anyway. Most of my pictures up there are just memes.
 
chanchan05 said:
The only things I have on FB anyway are stuff I decided I want to share, so it really doesn't matter if they get to that because it's stuff I wanted to share anyway.
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Right...but that's not what fb is (was?) covertly sharing with other companies. We're talking personal data from your account (name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, whatever you have in there).

Along with that, they're tracing/tracking your every move online as in my OP.
 
MoodyBlues said:
Ancestry.com has a vibrant genealogy community, to say nothing of its millions of records. Of course, it's not free.

:D :D
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I recognized the internet as a valuable genealogy tool before there was an Ancestry. I was a heavy contributor to Rootsweb. They merged or were bought out by Ancestry many years ago. They took my tree which represented years of research.. walking grave yards, hand mailings, visiting court houses, and countless library hours and offered it for sale to their subscribers. Not only was my research taken, which I freely shared on Rootsweb, I then had to subscribe to edit or amend my work. It upset me a great deal!!!! It wasn't until a year ago that I finally broke down and subscribed to Ancestry. I wouldn't have subscribed then but their DNA testing has a very limited use unless you do.
They are a business and I understand. They do have great deal to offer and yes they do charge for that luxury. I grew up in an age where you helped someone with their research and in turn they helped another and someone helped me all free for the love of the quest. A different world now.

I don't think fb had intentions of becoming the information mining operation it's turned into in it's conception. Like most things.. if there is a buck to be made.. the game's afoot.
 
olbriar said:
I recognized the internet as a valuable genealogy tool before there was an Ancestry. I was a heavy contributor to Rootsweb. They merged or were bought out by Ancestry many years ago. They took my tree which represented years of research.. walking grave yards, hand mailings, visiting court houses, and countless library hours and offered it for sale to their subscribers. Not only was my research taken, which I freely shared on Rootsweb, I then had to subscribe to edit or amend my work. It upset me a great deal!!!! It wasn't until a year ago that I finally broke down and subscribed to Ancestry. I wouldn't have subscribed then but their DNA testing has a very limited use unless you do.
They are a business and I understand. They do have great deal to offer and yes they do charge for that luxury. I grew up in an age where you helped someone with their research and in turn they helped another and someone helped me all free for the love of the quest. A different world now.

I don't think fb had intentions of becoming the information mining operation it's turned into in it's conception. Like most things.. if there is a buck to be made.. the game's afoot.
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MoodyBlues said:
Right...but that's not what fb is (was?) covertly sharing with other companies. We're talking personal data from your account (name, address, phone numbers, email addresses, whatever you have in there).

Along with that, they're tracing/tracking your every move online as in my OP.
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Yeah that's what I meant. The address I have on FB is the one I rent near my workplace, not my actual house that my family owns. I have three phone numbers and the one I use on FB is specifically for online presence. Whatever I have there are stuff that people I know share as well. Nothing goes on there that I don't care to post to the world.
 
chanchan05 said:
Yeah that's what I meant. The address I have on FB is the one I rent near my workplace, not my actual house that my family owns. I have three phone numbers and the one I use on FB is specifically for online presence. Whatever I have there are stuff that people I know share as well. Nothing goes on there that I don't care to post to the world.
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Ah, okay, I see what you're saying. And as long as you're aware of, and okay with, your data being shared, you're all set. :)
 
Nearly only a quarter of my snapshots, I have saved onto my hard drive.
There is not much connecting with my cloud accounts either, I like to keep an extremely low key on uploading photos too.
 
I've had a few accounts over the years, but finally dumped it a month ago. It can be such a toxic place to be and if it's not toxic you have people posting utter crap daily... add being forced to install messenger (can work around that), the announcement that they will integrate Facebook, Insta and WhatsApp and I had enough.
 
JAy3001 said:
I've had a few accounts over the years, but finally dumped it a month ago. It can be such a toxic place to be and if it's not toxic you have people posting utter crap daily... add being forced to install messenger (can work around that), the announcement that they will integrate Facebook, Insta and WhatsApp and I had enough.
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Agreed, but that just sums up social media in general. It is as you say, utter crap.
And there's that whole issue of using your personal data - if it's "free", then you're the product.
 
And this comes on the heels of facebook admitting, and agreeing to stop, their discriminatory ad practices:

"After years of criticism, Facebook announced on Tuesday that it would stop allowing advertisers in key categories to show their messages only to people of a certain race, gender or age group.

The company said that anyone advertising housing, jobs or credit — three areas where federal law prohibits discrimination in ads — would no longer have the option of explicitly aiming ads at people on the basis of those characteristics."

Like I always say: #DeleteFacebook
 
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