Facebook is a tool, and like any tool it has its uses, but it can't replace all social contact. The problem is facebook wants you to use it for everything, because that's how they make their money - the more you use it for, the more information they get. The result is that the biggest obstacle to using Facebook effectively is Facebook, with its incessant spamming of ads, pestering you for irrelevant bullshit and trying to connect everything you do to everything else. (And yes, Google is becoming really annoying these days as well
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Ha, I have the same inner-conflict all the time. When I decided to post an anecdote about Scotland, it needed the context of my plans in going there, and even though it needs no secrecy I felt really weird about it. I kept thinking, "Is there anyone I'd rather not share this with?" Thus, we all end up relegated to memes and bitcomics.
I've finally figured out how to organize my friend groups, and I use a Firefox add-on called "Facebook Purity", in conjunction with Ad-block Plus, which makes FB useable for me, but it still feels like playing within the mouth of the dragon. And google is even worse. The only google services I want are search and gmail, and yet they are becoming the new AOL - a controlled environment that you can't escape, that connects everything, and that restricts you to your public identity. The old internet was a refuge for the privacy-minded, but the new one is becoming everything we try to escape.
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I've finally figured out how to organize my friend groups, and I use a Firefox add-on called "Facebook Purity", in conjunction with Ad-block Plus, which makes FB useable for me, but it still feels like playing within the mouth of the dragon. And google is even worse. The only google services I want are search and gmail, and yet they are becoming the new AOL - a controlled environment that you can't escape, that connects everything, and that restricts you to your public identity. The old internet was a refuge for the privacy-minded, but the new one is becoming everything we try to escape.
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