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Thread: Facebook question

  1. #11
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Like frugalone and (I think) Gardnr, I've trained my eye to not see Friend or Group suggestions or the ads on the sidebar, and I'm getting better at skipping the promoted posts in my news feed. So far I still find more value in having Facebook than not, but I don't have to be their -- umm -- tool. If it's not possible to eliminate the cruft, at least I can ignore it.

    As for the posts you hide reappearing, what I discovered during the last election was that Fb did hide posts from, say, Breitbart, but that if someone on my Friends list posted or commented on a Breitbart post, I still saw content from them. Despite complaints to Facebook that I didn't want to see any of that crap (it applied to both sides, btw), there appears to be no way to shut off that firehose.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  2. #12
    Senior Member CathyA's Avatar
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    The only thing I really like about facebook is that I can keep in touch so much better with my kids and relatives.

  3. #13
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by CathyA View Post
    The only thing I really like about facebook is that I can keep in touch so much better with my kids and relatives.
    Thats funny.....this is exactly the reason why I hate it!

  4. #14
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    I like Facebook's newsfeed and special interest groups. I have no FB friends by choice.

  5. #15
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    This is an issue that's particularly on my mind today, as I unbox a new laptop and answer all the intrusive questions involved in getting it up and running. Why does Microsoft need to know my birthday? Answer--they don't, but I can't get my computer going unless I answer the question. Of course, I could try to figure out a way around this, but that would take time and effort, so I just give it to them. That's what they count on.

    I set up a Facebook account a couple of years ago at the behest of friends, but I hardly ever look at it. I was wary of FB, since it was clear from the outset that its business model depended on coming up with ever more nefarious ways of invading your privacy and colonizing your brain.

    I suppose I ought to cancel it, but I'm starting to wonder if there's even any point in trying to avoid getting sucked into the maw of big data any more. I feel like the corporate beast has us all in its clutches, and there's no escape short of going all Unabomber, moving to a cabin in the woods with no electricity or hot water, and in the process consigning yourself to a life of complete social isolation. And my social life is anemic enough as it is <sigh>.

  6. #16
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    I have been very happy cancelling Facebook and not using it, and it was not a big deal to do so. I think I posted here on how to do it, a while back, under different moniker.

  7. #17
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tybee View Post
    I have been very happy cancelling Facebook and not using it, and it was not a big deal to do so. I think I posted here on how to do it, a while back, under different moniker.
    Cancelling seems to be no big deal...I believe deleting is what might be shall we say problematic.

  8. #18
    Williamsmith
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldhat View Post
    This is an issue that's particularly on my mind today, as I unbox a new laptop and answer all the intrusive questions involved in getting it up and running. Why does Microsoft need to know my birthday? Answer--they don't, but I can't get my computer going unless I answer the question. Of course, I could try to figure out a way around this, but that would take time and effort, so I just give it to them. That's what they count on.

    I set up a Facebook account a couple of years ago at the behest of friends, but I hardly ever look at it. I was wary of FB, since it was clear from the outset that its business model depended on coming up with ever more nefarious ways of invading your privacy and colonizing your brain.

    I suppose I ought to cancel it, but I'm starting to wonder if there's even any point in trying to avoid getting sucked into the maw of big data any more. I feel like the corporate beast has us all in its clutches, and there's no escape short of going all Unabomber, moving to a cabin in the woods with no electricity or hot water, and in the process consigning yourself to a life of complete social isolation. And my social life is anemic enough as it is <sigh>.
    The Unabomber, as criminally homicidal as he was, did have lucid periods of commentary on the nefarious nature of technology. His solution was not isolation but the taking down of the entire technium.

  9. #19
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    Cancelling seems to be no big deal...I believe deleting is what might be shall we say problematic.
    cancelling suffices for any reasonable purpose, the account won't be visible (yea if you confessed a murder on fb that's on you, as fb has that data somewhere).
    Trees don't grow on money

  10. #20
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldhat View Post
    Why does Microsoft need to know my birthday? Answer--they don't, but I can't get my computer going unless I answer the question. Of course, I could try to figure out a way around this, but that would take time and effort, so I just give it to them. That's what they count on.
    They ("they" being anyone, not just hardware/software companies) can ask all they want and even require an answer but most times it doesn't need to be an accurate answer. Pick a date, any date. It does not have to be your actual birthdate (though that is pretty much a matter of public record so it's not like you're protecting some great secret).

    The same goes for the myriad security questions sites ask you to answer to verify who you are. They require an answer but not necessarily accurate answers. "Mother's maiden name"? A doddle to look up -- very little protection there. But if you chose that as your security question, your answer could be "Throatwarbler" or "bleen". So long as you later provide what you set up as the answer, the site will be satisfied.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

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