Is social networking ruining your good time online?

I wanted to ask this question to my fellow ATS'rs. Is social networking ruining your good time online? For me, it is. I don't use any social media website on purpose. I say on purpose because I deleted my facebook over a year ago but I have a gmail which wants to force google+ down my throat every chance it gets.. so about every other day when the ToS changes I get a nice big message to make my google+ better. The best part is, the part to skip it so it doesn't continue to harass you, is as tiny as it can be. I wanted to make this thread about posting comments online and not about google+ specifically though. It seems like a lot of sites decided that instead of having their own login they require a facebook or a disqus account. Which for me is a hassle. Besides being tracked on the same IP though, it seems like corporations are intentionally funneling us to specific social media. To track us? Perhaps. Maybe it's a marketing scheme. I really don't know but I wanted to discuss it because I don't see anyone else doing it.

reply to post by Antipathy17


For me anytime the "next big thing" comes around I almost always ignore it unless I CAN'T live without it.
I can live without facebook,twitter google etc etc.

Alot of people are led by the nose to do what everybody else is doing...these are the people I think don't have an original thought or bone in their bodies.

Social networking has no basis in my life because quite simply...i am too busy LIVING my life without worrying about what my friends are doing or about how they feel about what I am doing.
If they want to talk....I have a landline with no voicemail or call display.
If I am home I will pick up...if I am not home....too bad for you,I'll call you back when I have time.

I am extremely turned off by people with their Iphones and the need to be connected 24/7.
(smart phones for dumb people)
My belief is that people are mental,why do what everyone else is doing....it will only make you as mental as them.

Only thing that ruins it for me, is when one social network wants me to connect it to another. I have a facebook, but only to see pics of my grandchildren, and keep in touch with family at a distance.
My main addiction is Pinterest, but it always asks me to log in with my Facebook, which I have never even connected to it. Can't stand twitter. Tried the blogs, Deviantart, stuff like that.
I get turned off when they want too much personal info, like my cell number " in case my account is compromised". Not a chance.

I have a facebook profile but rarely ever check it. The only reason I haven't deleted it yet is because I can use it as a backup means of contacting people in times when I don't have my phone. Also to keep track of bands that don't have corporate backing (pretty much the only bands I listen to). I've just got bored of worrying about it. Not to mention you have to watch what you say on it, so it sucks all the fun out of it. Now it's just another corporate whoring product that businesses use to flood your eyeballs with advertisements.

Antipathy17
I wanted to ask this question to my fellow ATS'rs. Is social networking ruining your good time online? For me, it is. I don't use any social media website on purpose. I say on purpose because I deleted my facebook over a year ago but I have a gmail which wants to force google+ down my throat every chance it gets.. so about every other day when the ToS changes I get a nice big message to make my google+ better. The best part is, the part to skip it so it doesn't continue to harass you, is as tiny as it can be. I wanted to make this thread about posting comments online and not about google+ specifically though. It seems like a lot of sites decided that instead of having their own login they require a facebook or a disqus account. Which for me is a hassle. Besides being tracked on the same IP though, it seems like corporations are intentionally funneling us to specific social media. To track us? Perhaps. Maybe it's a marketing scheme. I really don't know but I wanted to discuss it because I don't see anyone else doing it.

I'm sick of social networking. FB is like something that lives in the blood, like hepatitis, and Google+ is the same. Would that I could turn it off.

reply to post by Antipathy17


Yes definately. I`m sick of been asked to link my google/facebook/youtube/Imbd accounts almost any time I want to register an account on another website. I think it`s meant to be for our convenience (yup) but to me its just the opposite. I don`t want to be followed by facebook just because i have a profile with them to keep up with relatives and friends. I don`t want google+ to see what i`m watching on youtube or have full access to my personal blogs, it actually makes me a bit paranoid to write and browse as freely as I could even 5 or 6 years ago. But as we all know now big brother is well and truly up and running, what we once used for entertainment and information is now our personal tracking device to let them see what the last movie we went to watch at the cinema was right down to what kind of toilet paper we prefer to wipe our backsides with.



Id love to upload a picture about a journalist who actually found out what google thought they knew about him, it`s scary but my ats has just switched over to the new version, so i`ve no idea how upload image.

It's not ruining my online activity much at all, because I keep as far away from social networking as I can. I hate it with a passion that mere words cannot describe. As the previous poster said, I'd rather live life, rather than just tweet about what colour of socks I just put on or what I just ate. (or worse, read about what someone else just ate or put on their feet)

This comic, which I saw in the newspaper a few months ago, sums it up quite succinctly.

I deleted my facebook a few months ago, best decision i've made.

No one "needs" facebook or any social site, though i can't bash it since i'm using ats....

I have found since not using facebook i'm able to relax more and not worry about what soandso thinks, or have to see that john smith is gearing up for friday etc.

I have a small group of friends i keep close, and that's all i need.


If you are worried about your privacy op, there are some other options out there besides gmail!


"Those who are meant to be in your life will be, the ones that aren't won't be." - Me.