Facebook

Is this website destroying social activity? recent discussions with people have helped me come to this conclusion.

From the relationship messages to the status updates, everyone know everything about everyone so what is there to talk about?

One person said last week to me " i'm sick of social networks, i'm either talking to someone on facebook or in real life talking about something we said on facebook"

Someone else also said " I have to lie to people sometimes because they know what i'm doing because of facebook"

So why use it? there is no doubt it's good to pass the time at work and it's cheaper than texting people but now with the twitter feeds also it feels like everyone needs to watch everyone all the time.

Are they just a fad? Myspace clearly was, thoughts?

They're all really run by the governments of the world to keep track of us and funded by global corporations so that they know what we like. You think those tests we make up about ourselves are for fun, but the amount of information we're simply giving away is unbelievable.

Social networking sites should only be for fun if you're seriously bored, not a way of life. I'm actually getting told off at times for not updating my facebook - fuck that! Got better things to do. I also know people who have been dumped cos they spend too much time on Facebook/Myspace and not enough with their partners, even their kids! That's when there's a definite problem with your life and how you perceive everything - putting whether you're a fucking zombie or a werewolf before seeing your kid's first steps.

It all started with mobile phones though. I am notoriously shit at answering my phone, but to be fair, it's usually someone texting me at 11pm (when I have a kid asleep in the next room and a pregnant mrs trying to rest), to say "I'm in the pub lol how ru?" or, even more often, to tell me they're going to be late for something.

Remember when you were younger and mobile phones/facebooks weren't about? You'd say to your mates "see you next Friday outside the statue at 8 O'clock". Sure enough, come 8pm Friday next week, there they all were! I don't WANT a mobile, a facebook or a myspace, cos they're just an excuse to invade people's privacy or be late -but you kind of get forced to these days. However did we all manage before they existed...?

Chris -x-

ps- Yeh, that's another fucking thing on a related subject; don't you hate it when people write in text speak when it's on a computer and thus a pointless display of laziness. eg - ru ok?lmfao.l8rz!

all that has been said here is true

right off to facebook for me, check me messages like

I've been thinking about this. It does have a profoundly negative effect on social life for sure. The amount of people who say 'nice garden' before I can even tell them is a bit silly and cause they've been watching my little blog on it they know all about it anyway. BUT one major plus side for me is people who I would never see or talk to, I actually can keep up with them and stay in touch really easily where as before I may not have seen them ever again.

the internet in general has killed alot of social skills in humans

how often do you see young uns with their head buried in their laptops and all you get out of them is the odd grunt?

facebook seems to just be a website to have open to watch what people are saying to each other. it could probably be checked weekly and ignored... if at all. ive been close to deleting my facebook a lot of times, but then id have nothing to stare at at work.
even for sharing photos, whats wrong with just sending them to people, or actually getting them printed to SHOW people...

i'll admit im always logged on to both, mainly because i dont log off from my phone and sometimes people actually contact me.


im blaming facebook for the fact i still have about 10 assignments need finishing, hopefully by tomorrow (yeah ill go now)

One negative is breaking up with someone when you're both all over each others facebooks and myspaces and with all the tagged images etc. And then when you see how either depressed or happy they are and how they're getting on, it's difficult to maintain a distance so you can get over it, there's always constant reminders there which keeps it on your thoughts for longer than normal, or you see somat which maybe bums you out a little.

Maybe we should just sack off the internet!

or changing your facebook status to "single" and EVERYONE wanting to know why, what happened, is it a mistake, are you ok...

Facebook does have its uses, like Myke said, it's great for keeping in touch with people that you might not have been able to like old college mates. Pictures are also a good and easy thing about it, it's nice and easy to share your experiences with people.

But i think it's the status side of things that is killing it, no longer can you talk to people in real life about your opinion because they already know! you're basically just going over what you've already said.

Facebook is wicked for advertising gigs and remembering birthdays though, that's for sure.

thats true...

downside is the amount of quizzes that get posted on your home page.
upside is the funny little popping sound when u get an instant message.

facebook definately keeps me from going mad at my desk at work, but yes, it kills the real life conversations.

as a relative newbie i like the way i've been able to get in touch with old mucka's i'd lost contact with, and it does save on texts or credit when you wanna message or chat to someone.

but the novelty has now wore off and i'm gonna be shedding the random folk who i don't know who have added me

quite disturbing are the occasional young females who add me and then wanna chat, who have no clue who i am, i'm too polite to fuck them off but its annoying to say the least.

i still find plenty to talk about in the real world

hide the quizzes every time they come up? along with everyone you dont care about... it works, my company blocked facebook because it had twice as many views as all the work related websites put together :/

when you work out how many people are in the company it was less than one view per person per day though

I keep getting the same people trying to add me as a friend, and they do not get the hint, FUCK OFF!

Yeah i hear ya, that and group invitations that i've decline a billion time cause i don't want the constant adverts.

if i didn't have event invites, i'd have no idea was was happening in coventry venue's.
next week...ladies night at lava. bingo and hunky men.

the things i could be missing out on.

how the hell did the world work before facebook, and why cant we go back to that!
i actually miss calling people to make arrangements, and going out flyering for gigs. that was always fun, until it became far too harmful for the environment.
What happened to mailing lists and venue websites?
I don't think ill survive uni if i delete my facebook because everybody has it and nobody has credit, ever. or seems to answer phones.

Clarey - see Drunk Dan's posts re: answering phones!

i never answer my phone and there are about three people i ever text. i have two people (one of which is my boss) that seem to text me at 2am simply saying "hi how are you" or "im drunk" i understand that thats pointless and a waste of time, i literally never reply. But as for organising to actually see people, a phone call or text message actually leaves something to discuss when you see people for a start!
whats the worst that can happen, if you miss a phone call, you miss a night out, or if youre not answering a call you might get a text, if youre interested in whats proposed, you might answer. Im not saying constant contact for the sake of it.
ive seen people ORGANISE phone calls via facebook. If youre gunna call someone, do it. If theyre busy, get them to call you back/call them back later.
A text message can still be read whenever, or an email...

all we gotta do is carry on with our king hermit/sound foundry boozy meet ups.
so not only will we be without facebook for a few hours, but we can also talk about our meet up the next day over status updates.
best of both worlds.

its not even easy to delete an account

Facebook is for mindless cattle who have such sad unexciting lives and so little intellect or imagination that they have to graze on other people's sad, boring little lives. God! We've become a species of cyber-space morons, barely able to function in the real world! (he says..... on an internet forum )

Get back to being HUMAN, people! And leave all this sad shit to the X factor/ Big Brother loving retards

is the internet just ruining life?