# I don't have Facebook account, and I'm not the only one **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 29, 2013, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991 "2013-04-29T06:11:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/21 "2013-04-30T11:37:59Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > The baby pictures are unavoidable, unfortunately. I hate babies and don’t want to see their ugly pictures. Are you 15? Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/22 "2013-04-30T12:15:54Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Because some posters are sick of all of the “I’m not on Facebook” threads that pop-up every month? Like somehow not having one is a status symbol around here or something. Right, and crowing proudly about not having a Facebook page is almost the 21st Century equivalent of crowing proudly about not having a telephone (and I’m old enough to remember hearing my rural Iowa grandmother doing just that) except of course, that there are more communications options now, and that you have much more control over your contacts on Facebook than who calls you on the telephone. It’s a mass communications tool, that’s all. Just like email before it, and the telephone before that, and pen and paper before that. Use it, don’t use it, it makes no difference, but the problems people have with it are purely of their own making, and not Facebook’s. Not that Facebook is perfect, doesn’t have problems or can’t be improved. But the whining about it, as an entity, rather than having inane friends that can be blocked from a timeline or unfriended, is just silly. I’m not a Facebook fanatic. I don’t use it all that much myself other than the Group function. But if I do, I only friend/read the people whose status updates interest me. I haven’t read an inane post for a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/23 "2013-04-30T13:04:11Z")
Why would you let your cat fart in your face? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/24 "2013-04-30T13:04:26Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Because some posters are sick of all of the “I’m not on Facebook” threads that pop-up every month? Like somehow not having one is a status symbol around here or something. And all those threads are full of people who _do_ have accounts being very defensive about it, like you, here. It appears that a high proportion of the people, or at least of the Dopers, who _are_ on Facebook are secretly quite ashamed of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/25 "2013-04-30T13:35:16Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > The Internet is [waaaaaaaay ahead of you](http://unbaby.me/), pal. That’s awesome! Assuming there’s a version for Firefox, I’ll be seeing a lot more pictures of dogs and of Ke$ha, and no more baby pictures. > [@JLRogers](#): > > Are you 15? Seriously. Just because you’re in love with every pwecious wittle baby doesn’t mean everyone else is. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/26 "2013-04-30T13:40:56Z")
I am on Facebook, and I am not ashamed. I see it as a communication/information service. I can communicate with people on it, and it’s often the place where I first hear breaking news-- whether it’s news about the Boston Marathon bombing, or news that a friend’s mother died last night. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/27 "2013-04-30T13:46:38Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Why would you let your cat fart in your face? I had just driven my Prius home from the Whole Foods where I was buying some organic yogurt, and Mr. Flufferbottom just had to try some as soon I got home and you know how lactose intolerant that cat can be. By the way, the cashier at the store made a joke about last night’s episode of Mad Men, and you should have just seen the look on his face when I told him I didn’t own a TV! It reminds me of the time when I was talking to my old Harvard roomate Kevin about it and he said “That’s hilarious, You should put that on Facebook!” Well, I don’t even have to tell you how I blew his mind next! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/28 "2013-04-30T14:02:21Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > the problem is that if you value your privacy or sanity, you have to go through hoops and search every nook and cranny going though the haystack. no thanks. there are better time sinks out there. I value my privacy and sanity, and I way of safely using Facebook without having to jump through any hoops. My Sooper Seekrit® method? I just acknowledge that the Internet is a public place and don’t post anything I don’t want the world to see. Facebook doesn’t know anything about you that you don’t tell them. In fact, two or three years ago I changed my privacy settings to as open as possible so my wife’s friends could contact me easier when she was ill. I never saw any need to change them back. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/29 "2013-04-30T14:45:06Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I’m fully plugged in to Amazon and Google services because I like them. I would never recoil in horror if someone never used these services. Do you even know why people recoil in horror? Because Facebook is so easy. Keeping up with family and friends was much harder before it came along. The other reason people are shocked is because your stated reason for not having one actually is “I’m too cool for Facebook because Facebook is THE MAN.” People tend to look shocked at people who say something so obviously stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/30 "2013-04-30T16:13:13Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Keeping up with family and friends was much harder before it came along. Really? I’m not disputing you; I’m just looking for independent confirmation. Keeping up with friends and family is quite easy and convenient for me without social media. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/31 "2013-04-30T16:28:43Z")
I spend way too much time on Facebook. 😃 Don’t like it? Fine, don’t use it. Personally I (mostly) enjoy it. I use my account to share family pictures with relatives, I post links to stories I find interesting, or pictues I find amusing. I like to post silly musings (the aforementioned inanities) in the hope of making someone chuckle. I argue with conservatives. The few problems I’ve had were with friends (the mutual interest kind, not personal friends) who turned out to be lunatic conservatives (paranoid gun nutters and the like). They were regrettably taken off my list. Not gonna put up with that crap. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/32 "2013-04-30T16:45:44Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Really? I’m not disputing you; I’m just looking for independent confirmation. Keeping up with friends and family is quite easy and convenient for me without social media. I was always able to keep up with close relatives but Facebook has made it easy for me to also keep up on what more distant cousins/aunts/uncles/etc have going on in their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/33 "2013-04-30T16:50:38Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > And all those threads are full of people who _do_ have accounts being very defensive about it, like you, here. > > It appears that a high proportion of the people, or at least of the Dopers, who _are_ on Facebook are secretly quite ashamed of it. Not really – why on earth would I be “ashamed” of using a communication site? That doesn’t even make sense. Have one or not, I don’t give a shit. Just quit bragging about it. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/34 "2013-04-30T17:48:34Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Not really – why on earth would I be “ashamed” of using a communication site? That doesn’t even make sense. > > Have one or not, I don’t give a shit. Just quit bragging about it. No. You’ll thank us one day when Zuckerberg has taken possession of your soul. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/35 "2013-04-30T18:07:27Z")
I’ve been off Facebook for over a month now, and realised for me personally it filled a hole psychologically, and that it can distract you from realising or doing important things in terms of self improvement. What was apparent to me though is that Facebook can very easily replace real life as the centre of activity. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/36 "2013-04-30T18:14:20Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Really? I’m not disputing you; I’m just looking for independent confirmation. Keeping up with friends and family is quite easy and convenient for me without social media. **Bob Ducca** nailed it, keeping up with distant relations was a crapshoot at best. Now, we’re all Facebook friends and that side of the family isn’t so mysterious anymore. But also, it’s just so much easier to keep up with close relations/friends too. Every year, my family gets together on Mother’s Day for burgers and cake. Before Facebook, this involved a round robin game of telephone as everyone tried to coordinate the best time to meet on the day. With Facebook, a private chat message goes out to everyone a week before and we all hash out the best time to meet through that. There’s no “getting back to anyone,” because everyone can see the conversation at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/37 "2013-04-30T18:15:41Z")
> [@Ryan\_Liam](#): > > What was apparent to me though is that Facebook can very easily replace real life as the centre of activity. Facebook is more real than any other website as, ideally, you should know everyone you interact with. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/38 "2013-04-30T18:31:28Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > And all those threads are full of people who _do_ have accounts being very defensive about it, like you, here. > > It appears that a high proportion of the people, or at least of the Dopers, who _are_ on Facebook are secretly quite ashamed of it. See, I would say rather that there are a lot of people here who _don’t_ have accounts and are very defensive about it as evidenced by the fact that every few months like clockwork, we have a Not on Facebook Rolecall thread or a “What’s the big deal about Facebook, anyway?” thread. It’s as if they have to continually remind themselves and us why they aren’t participating. Some might call it sad, really. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/39 "2013-04-30T18:33:58Z")
What people don’t seem to understand is that not everything posted on facebook is for you. Baby pictures go there so that family can see them, and the friends that care about the baby. Links to science-y articles are for my brother and sister-in-law and people who might care about that. Pictures of giant spiders are supposed to scare my one cousin, and maybe someone else too, why not. Recipes are for my foodie pals and my brilliant musings are for my own vanity. They just all go in the same place because it’s easier that way, and maybe I would have left out acquaintance X whom I didn’t know was scared of spiders and loved kale recipes. Some of my FB friends are boring, have different politics, post endless pictures of Magic cards or videos of the same song covered by 10 different artists, all in a row. What they post isn’t for me. But I’m glad to have the opportunity to decide that and deal with it as I choose. Facebook isn’t cool or not cool, imo. Instagram, on the other hand, what a buncha hipster dbags. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991/40 "2013-04-30T18:39:28Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Facebook is more real than any other website as, ideally, you should know everyone you interact with. Yeah but it’s not real life, there’s been plenty of times when I’ve talked to people in a way which I wouldn’t everyday on the street. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-have-facebook-account-and-im-not-the-only-one/656991.md?page=3)