The Facebook Phenomenon .

a reply to: ~Lucidity

Just realized how ironic or at least odd my use of the word virtual may have been. They're unrecognizable to me in real now too. I mean it changed them.

a reply to: intrepid

Alternate title. The Death of Individual Thought.

Or stillbirth. I'm of an opinion that individual thought has and continues to be a rare commodity in the first place.
As I see it, humans have, for the most part always been collective in their thought patterns. Group-think, thinking the same thoughts as ones neighbor, watching the same tv shows listening to the same music, going to the same churches and sending off all the little Johnnies and Mary's to get schooling from the same teachers. We can chase this idea all the way back to tribal times.

Look at how the favorite names for babies flows like a wave, names flood to the top of the favorite list for a year or two and then fall away to be replaced by another. This is not individual thought, though the parents would like to think it is. How about fads, like the hoola hoop or the pet rock or what have you. Fads catch on and so many go nuts over them, only to fade away and be replaced by the next in a long line.

I think you are right in that Facebook does not promote independent thought, but I think that is is only a magnifier of an already existing human condition. For those of us who can see the group think of Facebook, I think it only accents the collective nature of human thought that the present 'cult of individuality' denies.

a reply to: Phage

1963 I was 14 and the promise of two girls for every boy was almost to much to handle. I lived in the east bay of SF and for us Surf City was Santa Cruz. I knew it was a fantasy, but oh, what a fantasy.

originally posted by: DonVoigt
I think you are looking at it from the wrong perspective, think of it as sharing in part to the hive mind mentality. You have access to any knowledge you desire, within reason. With our busy work and immediate family lives, we are now missing out on the timevwith our extended family, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncle's, cousins, friends, as well as having a business presence there to as well. You might have a perspective on something that helps out your aunt. Or you might stumble across a really good cure for sinus problems.

We are the BORG, lower your shields and surrender your ships, resistance is futile



Perhaps today is i good day to die!

a reply to: intrepid

I was thinking the other day, I'd be more than OK if we ditched cell phones and Facebook.

I liked the way I grew up, it was healthy and far less narcissists to come across.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Then I'd have to entertain my daughter all through summer vacation.

a reply to: intrepid

You know when it comes to Facebook it all comes down to who you have on your "friend" list. I have "friends" whom I appreciate for their entertainment value but I also have "friends" whom I value for their insights. I have been involved in many, many serious debates on Facebook. The key is to cull out your "friend" list regularly and to recognize which of your "friends" are just into the likes and laughs and which ones can give you serious, thought provoking discussions. It is possible to have both.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Actually, she's doing quite a lot of that too.

Hoping the wind dies a bit next week, been too windy for the runabout. Our "portable beach." Room for me, her and two of her friends. No wifi.

Would it be too much to ask to stick to the topic? BTS is..... that way.

a reply to: intrepid

My wife uses Facebook to keep in contact and updated on friends and family. Fortunately for me I don't have any friends or family that I don't see regularly in my RL. I can't imagine myself willingly helping the NSA gather data on me, but to each their own.

originally posted by: Phage
Facebook, and others, have also contributed to the loss of "secret places." It used to be that if you found a nice trail or waterfall you might tell a few friends about it and go there with them. Now, you post selfies, directions, and GPS coordinates to the world. Now, that waterfall has 50 people there when you next go.

This^

That is one of the worst aspects of it IMO. The entire world knows about every gem now and anyone can get there with no skill needed. Also many crappy people have no respect for said gems and they get obliterated in no time.

U're so right. It seems like this was planned to be like this on the first sight. They want us to get divided into groups and 'sides'. Just to not be 1 as humanity. We're too strong if we would be 1.

Well if the Russians start WW3 and/or civil war happens in the USA it won't be long before they turn off the Internet and cell phones for the little people or just blow it all out with an emp...no more Facebook for you kiddies enjoy your summer vacation now ! Ha!

a reply to: intrepid

People were always like that though, right? Facebook just amplified it. Before the internet, society often thought alike. Individual thought was never really a popular concept.

If anything, I'd believe that individual thought is at its high point. Society has never been big on individual thought. People were often killed or tortured for their unique thoughts.

We are in a very open society today. With all the flaws and censorship of facebook, we still have a lot of freedom. A LOT of freedom.

If one pranced around as a transgender 50 yeras ago they would be thrown in jail.

Facebook is polarizing and reinforces the absolutist, black & white thinking that is really hampering constructive bi-partisanship and cooperation in today's world.

Until very recently you could ONLY "like" something. Even now you can only "like" or express some sort of emoticon emotion like laughter, love, sadness or anger.

So if you didn't like something someone shared, for most of Facebook's history you couldn't say so. Even now, you really don't get to give something a "thumbs down" or "down vote".

So, what did people do? They unfriended people. They stopped following people and unsubscribed from them. They stopped seeing things they didn't like (because they couldn't really express that they didn't like easily/quickly). People began to create little hug-boxes of confirmation bias around them. People began to insulate them with like-minded people, distorting their realities.

Seriously.

I clicked on the profile of a guy who posted some racist crap on a MSNBC news post. I was FLOORED. The memes. The stories. The posts and photos. I was left wondering, "How does this guy have a Facebook profile still, and why aren't the FBI arresting him? This is some grade-A militant racist and extremist crap!"

...

The thing is, I started to research some of the organizations he mentioned and he's not alone. The stuff he posted is all over, but since I don't keep company like that it never crosses my desk. I never see it. I didn't even know it existed.

When you don't even realize or understand the breadth and depth of someone else's ideologies ... it becomes damn near impossible to meet in the middle. We look at one another from vastly different ends of the spectrum and wonder where in the hell the other came from.

That is what social media is doing, it is allowing us to put our heads into the sand and create confirmation-bias hug boxes with reality distorting properties.

originally posted by: intrepid
a reply to: Observationalist

I understand that BUT I've seen it with people in RL. It's expanded beyond the Net.

For sure, the behavior becomes trained and poor communication habits develop. Their mindless reactions in real life seem normal as they are only anchored to themselves. The foundations of common decency that once held firm are eroded by the waves of superficial relationships and fragmented speech.

I remember life before remote controls for TV, at least I have a reference point to fall back on. Sadly the generations to come will be relegated to careless communication, only capable of output with no patience to do the fundamental component of communication, listen.

Here is a link to a TED Talk that discusses how we are Loosing our Listening

From the Transcript

I said at the beginning, we're losing our listening. Why did I say that? Well there are a lot of reasons for this. First of all, we invented ways of recording -- first writing, then audio recording and now video recording as well. The premium on accurate and careful listening has simply disappeared. Secondly, the world is now so noisy, (Noise) with this cacophony going on visually and auditorily, it's just hard to listen; it's tiring to listen. Many people take refuge in headphones, but they turn big, public spaces like this, shared soundscapes, into millions of tiny, little personal sound bubbles. In this scenario, nobody's listening to anybody

facebook is a tool nothing else. can be useful or not- depends on you. doh

1 created on a computer, millions of false FB accounts, 2 print shares , 3 sold shares , 4 became a billionaire. remove the paragraphs 2 and 3 = print money on a computer

originally posted by: introvert


I'm not an old fart and I have people act shocked when they ask me to friend them on facebook and I have to tell them I do not use facebook. They tell me to "get with the times". I tell them I am a grown man. Perhaps they should grow up as well.

i too get looks of confusion when i say i don't have a social media account.

they ask, "why?"
i respond, "i like my privacy and i don't trust social media."