Facebook's business model is based on compulsive buying via advertising. Whereas often the population issue is raised by environmentalists and related interest groups, not a peep about limiting consumption, thereby limiting pollution and resource depletion. For most people contemplating the issue "good enough" and "contentedness" will do far more than reading posts on Facebook.
Compulsive buying functions best when people are unhappy, so Facebook does just that (apart from the censorship / shadow banning etc. issues) which has been documented:
The outcome of the Aventino Secession puts me in mind of a few movements in which adherents were told to boycott elections. It has always seemed to me that something similar would result.
I have never had or wanted an account on Facebook or X. I do sometimes look at their content if it is linked to in something else I'm reading. Some people do get obnoxious or nasty, but nevertheless, I remain opposed to content moderation in principle--I'm an adult, and can "walk away" if it becomes too obnoxious, just like in real life. People are free to post whatever they want, and I in turn am free not to read them. I have really enjoyed Substack in this respect; bloggers may do light moderation according to their own tastes, but whether it is that or the fact that it is a better "neighborhood", I very seldom see people misbehaving to excess.
There is no free speech. It’s all rather aggressively censored with the algorithms & likely much more. TikTok’s radical change is proof of such beyond any shadow of a doubt. The whole nonsense about the Chinese internet was never anything but projection to disguise the far-beyond-Orwellian state of the Western Bloc’s. If anything is going to get anywhere, it’s going to have to either be done offline or be imposed on Western elites by foreign powers.
1/ Keep people with different political views or interests among your ‘Facebook friends’ (you don't have to hang out with them in real life).
2/ Click regularly on media or news pages with a variety of political leanings (and even if you don't agree with the subject or editorial line, it might still be interesting to see what's being said about it).
This way, FB will have a harder time establishing your ‘profile’ and you'll have a wider variety of information appearing on your ‘wall’.
Then...
3/ If you really don't like a subject, ignore it. Any reaction, and a negative one even more so, will only encourage Facebook to spread it more widely.
Great post. It's so good to read commentary informed by historical perspective. And I've just come to a similar position on Facebook. It's personal, isnt it, controlling the information flow and outflow by adjustment of settings as the media situation evolves.
I've decided similarly, Ugo. So far they and Linkedin are the best of the lot. I don't spend more than a few minutes daily on each, though. Just enough time to get a flavor of the daily memes and to support some whom I follow when it strikes me as appropriate.
Facebook's business model is based on compulsive buying via advertising. Whereas often the population issue is raised by environmentalists and related interest groups, not a peep about limiting consumption, thereby limiting pollution and resource depletion. For most people contemplating the issue "good enough" and "contentedness" will do far more than reading posts on Facebook.
Compulsive buying functions best when people are unhappy, so Facebook does just that (apart from the censorship / shadow banning etc. issues) which has been documented:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201603/science-explains-how-facebook-makes-you-sad
For a 2nd opinion:
The Facebook Experiment: Quitting Facebook Leads to Higher Levels of Well-Being
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27831756/
If it were for me, FB would have gone bankrupt long ago!
And all affiliated advertising networks, now using extra power plants to run the AI used to more effectively lure "potential consumers".
The outcome of the Aventino Secession puts me in mind of a few movements in which adherents were told to boycott elections. It has always seemed to me that something similar would result.
I have never had or wanted an account on Facebook or X. I do sometimes look at their content if it is linked to in something else I'm reading. Some people do get obnoxious or nasty, but nevertheless, I remain opposed to content moderation in principle--I'm an adult, and can "walk away" if it becomes too obnoxious, just like in real life. People are free to post whatever they want, and I in turn am free not to read them. I have really enjoyed Substack in this respect; bloggers may do light moderation according to their own tastes, but whether it is that or the fact that it is a better "neighborhood", I very seldom see people misbehaving to excess.
There is no free speech. It’s all rather aggressively censored with the algorithms & likely much more. TikTok’s radical change is proof of such beyond any shadow of a doubt. The whole nonsense about the Chinese internet was never anything but projection to disguise the far-beyond-Orwellian state of the Western Bloc’s. If anything is going to get anywhere, it’s going to have to either be done offline or be imposed on Western elites by foreign powers.
👍💚
A few tips...
1/ Keep people with different political views or interests among your ‘Facebook friends’ (you don't have to hang out with them in real life).
2/ Click regularly on media or news pages with a variety of political leanings (and even if you don't agree with the subject or editorial line, it might still be interesting to see what's being said about it).
This way, FB will have a harder time establishing your ‘profile’ and you'll have a wider variety of information appearing on your ‘wall’.
Then...
3/ If you really don't like a subject, ignore it. Any reaction, and a negative one even more so, will only encourage Facebook to spread it more widely.
And, another thing: "never spend time trying to teach people obvious things that they couldn't figure out by themselves"!
Ha! Of course, you're right. And I've no doubt you figured it out a long time ago.
But given the very emotional way many people react to this whole issue, I'm not sure it's so obvious for everyone...
I never gave Facebook a "chance".
Facebook has always been CIA.
"Everybody" has always known that. They are like the Washington Post of social media.
Great post. It's so good to read commentary informed by historical perspective. And I've just come to a similar position on Facebook. It's personal, isnt it, controlling the information flow and outflow by adjustment of settings as the media situation evolves.
I've decided similarly, Ugo. So far they and Linkedin are the best of the lot. I don't spend more than a few minutes daily on each, though. Just enough time to get a flavor of the daily memes and to support some whom I follow when it strikes me as appropriate.