SirDennisC
Half-elven
Nov 17 2012, 8:22pm
Views: 749
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Facebook was fine for a while (I was an early adopter). A few things drove me away: first my sense is that because my surname appears rather high on a list in alphabetical order I constantly received invitations to play games that anyone who was a real friend would know I'd have no interest in playing; people kept tagging me in photos I did not want to tagged in (vanity I guess); and employers began using it to snoop on employees or to evaluate job candidates. That last reason is the big one for me. I know there are work arounds such as keeping two accounts, but honestly the very idea that it has become the norm for authorities to search Facebook, and worse hold the antics of others (people who write inane things on your wall for instance) against people they are checking on put me off completely. I'm a fairly transparent person with very few skeletons in the closet (as far as I'm concerned anyway) but I could no longer rationalize subjecting myself to that kind of scrutiny, nor do I understand why anyone else would want to. A lawyer said on radio the other day that social media such as Facebook are cited as contributing factors in 80% of separations and divorces these days. Somehow or other Facebook and other social media have sown the seeds of mistrust, or jealousy, or provided a kind of temptation that is not easy to ignore (rivalling even pornography use I'd imagine)... again, why anyone would want to subject themselves to that is mind boggling. As for the teens and young adults I know who use FB, there seems to be more problems associated with it -- whether through embarrassment, ease of harassment, or even apparent shunning (not been invited to any events lately) -- than there are benefits. The crazy complicated social problems I've seen my children, nieces and nephews have to contend with, that are directly related to FB use, are staggering... again why subject oneself to such nonsense? Yes there are benefits to FB, or at least there were at one time. I know this because as I said, I have experienced them. For one thing, it is easy -- well as far as I can see that is the only benefit -- but at what cost? If your desire is to communicate with others, I don't see FB, except in some specific applications, as easier than texting, email, or heaven help us, hand writing a letter.
(This post was edited by SirDennisC on Nov 17 2012, 8:26pm)
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