Are you a fan of Facebook, Instagram, etc?

Gofirstclass

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,689
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
A friend of ours recommended a Netflix film to us so we watched it a few evenings ago. It was an eye opening experience to see and hear many of the captains of the social media industry talk about the negative effects that social media has on us.

I'm not a user of any of the social media platforms but my wife is addicted to them. The attraction of the social media programs is as addicting as many drugs.

Here's a link to a trailer to the film. The film is about an hour and a half. The trailer is about 2 minutes. I highly recommend this film, "The Social Dilemma" to all of you whether you're a social media user or not.

 
Funny ..I saw the title to this thread and was coming here to post about "The Social Dilemma" as well. We watched it last night and while we enjoyed it, it's astonishing. We're all being played.
 
We just viewed it this week as well. Insidious! If you think you are too sophisticated to be manipulated by the "information" you are consuming you should watch this. Tip of the iceberg. Think of the cable "News" channels you watch and the ones you refuse to watch. I shut off all of my "notifications". Dumping some apps as well. I have stopped watching the inflammatory news channels for a week to see if it makes a difference in my mood. I will get my information from the Wall Street Journal and the BBC.
 
I dumped Facebook after watching Zuckerberg's smug appearance to the congressional hearings last year or was it the year before? I recently revived my account to join a couple of owner groups who use the platform for the purpose I belive it is best for. Every once and a while I stray from the groups and look out in the abys of human crap and am reminded why I gave it up for CSR. Ill be watching the film at my next scheduled tv viewing slot.
Carpe Diem
 
Nope - no BookFace, Twatter, or IG for me. CSR is about the only platform I use. Although I did sign up for Parler, but don’t do anything on it.
 
I just finished watching the Social Dilemma and nothing really surprised me. If anyone hasn't figured out what it is all about by now, they just don't really care about anything but how effortless life is becoming. The question that I have is are any of the people that were interviewed and "blowing the whistle"on the big FANG corporations going to give their stock back that they were paid with? How long did it take them to figure out when they were running the divisions in these companies that the internet would bring such chaos into individuals lives? They are the ones that gave birth to these insidious machines and programs but just now deciding its a bad thing? How about them doing the honorable thing and hanging them selves by the neck in shame or writing software to limit the information gathering capabilities of these entities. Perhaps they are just part of a bigger plan to now grow the government even more and want in on the regulation goldmine that is coming. If they felt it was such a bad thing they were creating they should have been part of the solution at the time and advocated for limiting its power. Oh, I've got to check my phone its been 5 and a half minutes!
Carpe Diem
 
What really angers me is the millennial generation....thrilled to put it all out there! Totally clueless about the ramifications of putting their personal information on full display for the "taking." FB, Instagram, Snapchat...NO WAY! It's bad enough that our social and shopping habits are being tracked through google searches and on line purchases!! Not to mention location tracking. And as far as those beautifully worded requests for "feedback" we all get in our email.... Forget that! NEVER! Just another trick to capture your likes, dislikes, propensities and the like......The joke is on you if you knowingly participate in social media platforms.
 
Never had Facebook and never will. The people that I want to know where I'm at and what I'm doing know. No social media. Just motorcycle & boating forums.
 
Don't have Facebook. Never will. I do instagram but just pictures of my boat and wildlife. Same for my wife. Nothing personal. When I was still working in the Coast Guard Office of Boating safety my name and title were all over the internet. I didn't like that much but it was part of my job. Now 15 years later it's all starting to disappear. (Good!) Family have my e-mail and Phone. If they need they can text or call, or email. I also use Duck Duck Go. It doesn't track anything. However I do participate in forums like this, a lot of them, and I have a website. So a lot of stuff shows up on a search but it's all boating related info. However, If you want to get really frightened use one of those web sites that does a background check. It's astounding. A few years back I was thinking about moving and the place we were moving to wanted a credit and background check. No sweat, so I thought. The law here requires that they give you a copy so you can refute any false info. Unbelievable! They had info on me going back at least 50 years! Now that's scary.
 
What has kept me from deleting my Facebook account are the “pages” I like to follow that mimic these forums but seem to have much more traffic and near instant responses. I follow things like Sea Ray boats, local lake information and some other hobbies. I could really care less about friends posts for the most part and I don’t post much just on my wall. But without it I would feel like I’m missing out on valuable information. It’s amazing how quick some things can be answered.
 
I have a Facebook, Twitter, IG and LinkedIn account. The only one I use is LinkedIn for business reasons. I can't remember who said this, but "If you can't figure out what the revenue generating product is from free services, then you are the product".

For those of you that have Alexa, or Google Home or similar devices, walk around the house for a few weeks saying the same obscure words out loud various times during the day. Try Kangaroo or something. I will bet that after a week or so, your CSR popup ads will be about Australia.
 
FB is not the only problem and most do not see it. When you Google anything (research, looking at buying something) you will only be presented information that fit the algorithm they built of you. So you will see articles with a slant in your preference. This makes you trust it and read. This drives Googles click and duration revenue. When you shop they use the same algorithm to show stores that fit your search and will keep you clicking and increase your duration. Just like FB, you are the product and are being sold.
 
so, you'll love this, i got my first iphone a few weeks ago, so i decide to join FB cause i figure i can get good deals on Marketplace. as part of my profile, i put in my birthday. Wife says "bad idea" change it. so i change it to 01/01/2020. FB says i am too young to use FB and i need to send them a photo of my drivers license. OH HELL SH!T FK DAM NO!. so i guess you wont be seeing me on FB in this lifetime.
 
Don’t have any of them and never will.
I use CSR and Corvette Forum in my leisure phone use. Don’t watch the news. If it doesn’t happen to me, or someone doesn’t tell me, I don’t know about it!

My kids are not allowed to have them either. My wife uses FB on a very rare occasion.

I use the search engine DuckDuckGo. Supposedly, data is not tracked, but in reality it is probably tracked less than Google.

I do knowingly submit myself to Amazon and eBay to purchase things like auto parts. I just accept the risks.
 
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