Am I "disconnected from society" because I don't like social networking sites?

[PM650]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora
Practically everyone i know is on facebook and/or twitter. I have accounts on both but sign on only once or twice per year on average.

I don't understand at all the desire to post updates about oneself online, pictures of myself, carry out public conversations, or have lists of my friends stored in a place for all to see. Also most of the people I know use these sites, but I never visit FB/Twitter to check out what they are up to. I just don't care to do this, would rather spend time on things that interest me in my own life, like work, working out, watching tv, personal projects, and hanging out with people in real life.

I think I'm kind of avant garde in my aversion to these sites, I don't see them providing any benefit, so I only see the negatives: loss of privacy, and loss of dignity in that one would stoop to attention whoring that is these sites. I find it funny that around the second year of college everyone seemed to stop posting custom away messages and profiles on AIM. Everyone seemed to realize at once that it was childish, but these social networking sites are pretty much the same thing to me.

So what do you think of this?

So you don't do it to be different.

 

[irishScott]

Originally posted by: QueBert
less connected? LOL my neighbor told me the other day I was missing out because I refuse to have a Facebook account. I asked why "you can stay in touch with your friends!" they replied. I told them I was going to my FRIENDS HOUSE to play Poker with all of them. Mother Fuck a social networking site. I use the internet to harass people on ATOT and nef. If you're a friend I see you in real life so I don't need to follow you on-line, that's igg-nat.

So you just admitted to being a troll. Go away.

I also feel sorry for your current "friends" that will apparently be dropped when you move to a new area.

 

[McCarthy]

The only thing worse than the "Me too!" of social networks are the "Me either!" of those who must point out constantly they don't use them.

And yes, I'm in the latter camp. I charge friends a nickle each time they mention F***B*** or Tw***** around me. No sense being a hater for free

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Remember back when you first set up a Geocities/Tripod personal webpage? With half a dozen photos, a 'journal', random articles that no one ever read? Didn't it make you proud to have a presence on the Internet? Facebook is like that for the current generation - but it requires no knowledge of HTML and zero effort. It allows people to share photos, stay in touch with friends and acquaintances, track down people that you'd like to catch up on but the lone phone number you have is out of service etc. It serves its purpose well. It's up to users to determine what they want to share and with whom. But people are stupid and don't understand Privacy Settings which is what leads to Internet-wide fame/notoriety.

Twitter, I don't get. I signed up to follow tweets from the characters of Questionable Content (a webcomic). Jeph Jacques, the artist/author, created a dozen or so Twitter accounts for each of the main/recurring characters in the series and 'tweets' in character regularly; I like to read those occasionally as it supplants the comic very well.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: FelixDeKat
I had a myspace but havent updated it since December 2008. And Facebook? Please. I dont need that. That goes double for that Twitter garbage.

Social networking is for non masculine people anyway, and anyone who tells you otherwise is a wimp. :brokenheart:

:thumbsup:

I tried twittering once.....not interested. No need for Myspace and Facebook. ATOT is about the only social that I need.

 

[skace]

You know, it's not difficult to setup a facebook page with a single photo of yourself and then not use it for much. "Using facebook" doesn't mean you have to worship the thing for every fucking second of every day.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

you are not disconnected, but its highly probable you are a tool.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: KingGheedora

Originally posted by: BeauJangles
You shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Don't want to post updates about yourself? Don't.
Don't want people to see your list of friends? Privacy settings.
Don't want embarrassing photos of yourself posted? Untag them or prevent people from tagging you in the first place.
Don't want to attention whore? Don't.
Hate annoying updates? Block them.


This shit isn't rocket science. Facebook is a tool, not a way of life.

I think you misunderstood, there is no "baby" in this case. To me, there is no redeeming quality or functionality of Facebook.

never were truer words spoken

 

[Kaido]

2,000 posts on Anandtech and you're worried about being disconnected from society?

I don't use Facebook just because I spend waaaaay too much time online already. Someday I'll probably join. I dunno. I like Anandtech because I get my tech crowd fix here, and that's about all the social stuff I want online haha.

 

[Nalyk]

Social networking sites make me feel queasy inside for some reason, and as a direct result I tend to leave them alone....

 

[TwiceOver]

I have avoided FB so far, however, I have a lot of current friends that talk to a lot of old friends on FB... Sometimes I think that would be kinda nice.

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: Dear Summer
George Sodini also didn't use facebook

True, but he DID eat food. And this wasn't an isolated occurrence either. He'd do it 2... 3 times a day.

 

[40Hands]

:roll:

I have Facebook. I don't use it a ton but it's nice to keep in touch with people that don't live around me anymore. I also am not a douche who looks down on others who use it more then me. What the fuck do you care? It's really easy not to go on or not pay attention to them.

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: loki8481
you sound like you're 80.

And you sound like your 12.

See how that works?

 

[Arcadio]

I check my Facebook account once or twice a month...

 

[IceBergSLiM]

repost

 

[Perknose]

I agree that Twitter and MySpace, but especially Twitter, are well nigh useless for most.

But I was drawn into Facebook by real life friends, and not especially computer literate ones. Yes, they are female.

I don't use it much, but it has allowed me to reconnect with old friends who are now scattered all over the globe, some of whom I haven't seen in years and years.

Twitter, though, ugh. I can see its uses for some, but many who use it are like the self-important idiots on their cell phones, saying nothing that needs to be said. It encourages and promotes the kind of mindless self-involvement that makes people who should talk less anyway now think they are the stars of their very own indie movie vanity production, albeit one with a wretched plot and extremely poor production values.

ME, the movie. Sign up to my Twitter account and I'll update you constantly about it! :roll:

 

[Wheezer]

considering I am moving closer and closer to this line of thinking.....not much use for them

 

[HardcoreRobot]

if you truly did not care about facebook or other social networking sites, you would not maintain an account (even 1-2x a year) nor would you feel compelled to post about it here. so.... whatever

 

[ViviTheMage]

I agree with you...I put like 4-5 pictures up in the last 3-4 years on facebook, but I am tagged into like 500+.

It's a lot of work to stay up to date on everyone's live....I prefer not to do it online!

 

[SonnyDaze]

Originally posted by: Perknose
But I was drawn into Facebook by real life friends, and not especially computer literate ones.

I don't use it much, but it has allowed me to reconnect with old friends who are now scattered all over the globe, some of whom I haven't seen in years and years.

This is my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[chalmers]

If I wanted to connect with old friends that I haven't talked to in awhile, I would've taken the time to call them over that time span.

I think Facebook is incredibly stupid. My point of view may be skewed though from 4+ years of doing work in my college computer labs seeing half the computers at a time being used on social networking sites for hours at a time. I just found it to be a little pathetic.

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

I don't care about them - I don't like having personal details and such of my life on display for the world to see. That said I don't have facebook, myspace or the like.

The wife has it for keeping in touch with a group of girlfriends from HS/college but that's about it. She doesn't leave it public or the like.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I'm in the same boat. There's never been much I want to share with the world about my life. I'd have maybe one post every 5 months. And that's being generous.

edit: yes, I am aware that I have a 5 post per day average here over the last nine and a half years.

 

[Feneant2]

I was on Facebook and closed my account vowing to never to again post on them. They are about the stupidest thing I've ever seen. It sickened me to see people posting updates every 10-15 minutes. 'Going to the store', 'inside the store', 'back from the store' <--- which results in 100 pictures of said store.

It's as if these people are becoming addicted to living in their own personnal 'Truman Show'. Do they get off from this voyeurism or something? I think I'll start myself a website called 'Assbook' which is basically unfiltered Facebook so those same people can start putting stuff about how they had a good sh*t and how they had sex that morning <--- with 100 pictures of said act. I mean I know every other aspect of their lives, so why not put the rest up too.