# I Pit facebook, and all companies on facebook **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2012, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692 "2012-11-21T05:59:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/61 "2012-11-22T02:24:02Z")
> [@LouLou7](#): > > I have actually been boycotting Facebook for the past six months or so, and I have to say, I’m enjoying it. > > Every time I get a notification from Facebook, I delete it. > > Everytime someone asks me if I’m want to be FB friends, I say NO, I’M BOYCOTTING FB. > > The reason why, you ask? Well, I joined, and instantly got friend requests from about a hundred people I USED to know. My birthday came, and I got happy birthday messages from many of those people, like about 40 of them. I took the trouble to respond to each and every happy birthday message, with a heartfelt, personalized thank you, asking about their families, their well being, and if they would like to get together for coffee sometime. Did I get EVEN ONE RESPONSE??? I DID NOT. > > I realized that they don’t REALLY want to be friends with me, they just want me to be counted as one of their FB friends, and to make sure I keep reading their status updates…and I realize I don’t want to be friends with them either. So, I’m not reading their status updates, I’m not wasting time reading FB stuff, and I’m not missing any of it either. > > Yeah, I know I’m probably a hateful old crone, and I’ll eventually be left alone, sitting on my front porch throwing rocks at the neighborhood kids who come up in my yard. But for now, I’m not missing Facebook one little bit. > > So there!!! > > LouLou, the Hateful Old Crone. The other reason I despise Facebook and the critters who infest it. Just a pathetic repeat of the middle school/high school popularity contests to see who can have the most “friends” who don’t really give a shit about you. ---
**Author:** ![LouLou7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LouLou7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouLou7)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/62 "2012-11-22T02:31:18Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > It might be easier for you to simply delete your Facebook account. Or failing that, you could turn off email notifications. No, actually I’m enjoying the feeling of power and control when I hit the delete button. I like to think that someone in the FB empire feels a sense of disappointment and rejection every time I refuse to acknowledge their notification. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/63 "2012-11-22T02:33:23Z")
> [@LouLou7](#): > > No, actually I’m enjoying the feeling of power and control when I hit the delete button. I like to think that someone in the FB empire feels a sense of disappointment and rejection every time I refuse to acknowledge their notification. I admire your openness about your motives and wish you all the best with your endeavor. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/64 "2012-11-22T02:37:57Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I hope you didn’t post this to remind me of the things I’ve said. I, uh, I know the things I’ve said. In fact… _I’m the one who said them._ “Well done! Your ability to walk short distances without dying will be Handsome Jack’s Downfall!” ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/65 "2012-11-22T02:53:04Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > This is great news. Thank you for posting it. I admit i havent tried to leave in a while, but if this does indeed work, i may rid myself of the cancer that is facebook. > > The employer shit bothers me. Force me to make and use a fb account and spread good cheer about their company? What is this, the 7th fucking grade? > > Bad news is that employers (actually HR Depts are starting tomuse oir facevookmaccount to get a better idea od the person uounare nefore hiring you. This doesnt surprise me that much, since HR people are idiots, and need somerhing to justify their time surfing on the net. > > I remember when i hqd to choose between fb and myspace. I actually created an account on myspace first, but everyone else wqs on facebook. I got lured by all the cool kids. I dont even know one person that uses myspace any longer. > > I can believe that fb has played a part in a number of divorces too. Some high school romance gets rekindled, the peopel get together after twenty years and blammo. Divorce… 😕 ? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/66 "2012-11-22T03:27:12Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > I like facebook because I can look at cute photos. I’m easy that way. I do opt out of all the games and notification about them > > here is one of my favorite pages > > [LINK](http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/) \<\<\< I dare you not to “like” this! I tried. But I just can’t. I even thought of some ground-breakingly-snarky comments, but the baby anteater just burned all the cynicism out of my soul. But see, this PROVES that I can get the #1 benefit of Facebook (cute animals) … without Facebook! (never did get around to signing up-- I missed a cousin’s band’s gig this summer, but other than that, I enjoy being Out Of Touch) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/67 "2012-11-22T04:02:54Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The worst that can happen is they delete your account. Unless you are assuming the identity for some illegal reason. No, the worst that can happen is [a criminal prosecution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Lori_Drew). Lori Drew’s conviction was overturned on appeal, but the reasoning adopted is a minority view among the federal circuits. ---
**Author:** ![LouLou7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LouLou7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouLou7)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/68 "2012-11-22T04:12:17Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I admire your openness about your motives and wish you all the best with your endeavor. Thank you. It’s very empowering. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/69 "2012-11-22T04:57:16Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I use Facebook and I like how it keeps me up to date on the lives of others I knew growing up, and those I currently know. > > I also \*like \*products and services I support, because I want them to be successful. It really seems to me like most of the animus against FB stems from the same “get off my lawn” impulse that makes people hate avatars and like buttons here on the forum. > > Yes FB isn’t necessary. Most of what you have and do isn’t necessary. I dunno; I would love to have avatars and “like” buttons here, but I still have no use for the intrusive, overly familiar Facebook. I like Twitter just fine, but Twitter doesn’t try to crawl up my ass and see what I had for supper. ---
**Author:** ![Mnemnosyne](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mnemnosyne/32/3347_2.png) [@Mnemnosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnemnosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/70 "2012-11-22T07:59:19Z")
Ironically, I don’t use facebook, because…meh. I just don’t care about the service they’re offering; I have few friends, those I do have I keep in touch with directly through IM or something of that nature, I have no interest or desire for all the other stuff facebook offers… But if I did, I certainly wouldn’t find their data mining or information collecting a negative thing. I _want_ companies to learn more about me. I want advertisers to know exactly the sort of things I want. I want manufacturers to learn as much as they can about my desires and interests, so they can further innovate and improve on products that I want to buy. To put it simply, these companies are all trying to get money out of me. Well, good! The way they can do that is by providing me with things I want. Facebook and other data collection services help them better understand what it is that I want, so that they can achieve their goal of getting money out of me, which makes me happy because it gives me things I want. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/71 "2012-11-22T08:09:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I dunno; I would love to have avatars and “like” buttons here, but I still have no use for the intrusive, overly familiar Facebook. I like Twitter just fine, but Twitter doesn’t try to crawl up my ass and see what I had for supper. There’s an app for that. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/72 "2012-11-22T12:27:46Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > The other reason I despise Facebook and the critters who infest it. Just a pathetic repeat of the middle school/high school popularity contests to see who can have the most “friends” who don’t really give a shit about you. Really? I don’t know anyone who gives a damn about how many friends they have on FB. I seriously have yet to see a mention of it. I have no idea how many I have, but I do know that most are hidden, because I can’t stand the glurge that gets posted. There’s a bunch that seem to want to keep up with what I’m doing so I haven’t totally unfriended (christ I hate using FB-isms!) them. Fwiw, I’m 50 and my friend list encompasses 20s to 60s aged folk. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/73 "2012-11-22T15:29:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I dunno; I would love to have avatars and “like” buttons here, but I still have no use for the intrusive, overly familiar Facebook. I like Twitter just fine, but Twitter doesn’t try to crawl up my ass and see what I had for supper. Can’t help you as far as a “like”, but here’s a way to use [avatars](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=657890). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/74 "2012-11-22T15:57:46Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > I like Cheetos and I don’t care who knows it. I also don’t care who knows that I like the various books, games, movies, and other assorted products that I’ve clicked “like” for. A lot of it is so under-liked that it’s like I liked a Wikipedia stub. > > Although there is something 1984-ish about Facebook. There are a couple portmanteaus-- Facebook, unfriend-- and pidgin language (which is not new to FB, but common to it) which makes reading it a bit reading Orwell’s newspeak. > > facecrime - Orwell’s definition : “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offence. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime, it was called.” [link](http://www.newspeakdictionary.com/ns-dict.html) > > Facecrime - Facebook’s definition: To be overly interested in a single topic and update about it too often, to allow oneself to be tagged in unflattering or compromising photos, to be the one who posts a meme that everyone has already seen. > > It’s not so much that a single Big Brother is watching. Big Brother has bigger fish to fry than you. More like a lot of little Grundys… crap, the metaphor has fallen apart. I wish I could “like” this post on Facebook. Or maybe I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/75 "2012-11-22T16:01:03Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > There’s an app for that. I don’t doubt it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/76 "2012-11-22T16:15:15Z")
> [@LouLou7](#): > > I have actually been boycotting Facebook for the past six months or so, and I have to say, I’m enjoying it. > > Every time I get a notification from Facebook, I delete it. > > Everytime someone asks me if I’m want to be FB friends, I say NO, I’M BOYCOTTING FB. > > The reason why, you ask? Well, I joined, and instantly got friend requests from about a hundred people I USED to know. My birthday came, and I got happy birthday messages from many of those people, like about 40 of them. I took the trouble to respond to each and every happy birthday message, with a heartfelt, personalized thank you, asking about their families, their well being, and if they would like to get together for coffee sometime. Did I get EVEN ONE RESPONSE??? I DID NOT. > > I realized that they don’t REALLY want to be friends with me, they just want me to be counted as one of their FB friends, and to make sure I keep reading their status updates…and I realize I don’t want to be friends with them either. So, I’m not reading their status updates, I’m not wasting time reading FB stuff, and I’m not missing any of it either. > > Yeah, I know I’m probably a hateful old crone, and I’ll eventually be left alone, sitting on my front porch throwing rocks at the neighborhood kids who come up in my yard. But for now, I’m not missing Facebook one little bit. > > So there!!! > > LouLou, the Hateful Old Crone. Meh. I just don’t get the hate. I have two accounts that I rarely use. One public, one private. I don’t care about data mining nor do I give a shit about their POS TOS (and since I don’t intend on cyber-bullying any 13 year olds I’m not concerned about prosecution). I don’t have a lot of “friends” nor do I care to. I just delete any notifications that come to my email. I don’t know anyone who cares how many friends they have. I’m not really a FB person but more power to those who enjoy it. It’s a tool that I use as needed and ignore it when I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/77 "2012-11-22T16:23:18Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > The other reason I despise Facebook and the critters who infest it. Just a pathetic repeat of the middle school/high school popularity contests to see who can have the most “friends” who don’t really give a shit about you. Or you could just not accept friend requests from people you don’t consider friends. I have 78 friends on Facebook - about 15 of them are people I genuinely want to interact with on a daily basis like close friends and family. A bunch are under the ‘those people you hang out with at the bar every once in a while’, some under the ‘family I keep track of so I can tell my Facebook-less mother what they are doing in their lives’, and a few under ‘haven’t spoken to this person in 5 years but they rarely post and I don’t really care enough to delete them’ category. Oh wait, but I don’t post anything on Facebook I wouldn’t care for the world to know. ---
**Author:** ![baileygrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@baileygrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/baileygrrrl)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/78 "2012-11-22T17:18:35Z")
I’m never sure why people get all excited and paranoid about their personal info being “out there”. That’s what Facebook privacy settings are for. I’ve got mine all locked up so that ONLY my friends have access to my info and I can even limit their access from there. You can even make it so you are not searchable at all on facebook. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/79 "2012-11-22T18:58:08Z")
> [@baileygrrrl](#): > > I’m never sure why people get all excited and paranoid about their personal info being “out there”. That’s what Facebook privacy settings are for. I’ve got mine all locked up so that ONLY my friends have access to my info and I can even limit their access from there. You can even make it so you are not searchable at all on facebook. Anything you post there is still used for metrics. You’re essentially providing a gift to a multibillion dollar company in the form of personal information so that advertisers can manufacture desires more effectively in the populace. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692/80 "2012-11-22T19:26:08Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > Anything you post there is still used for metrics. You’re essentially providing a gift to a multibillion dollar company in the form of personal information so that advertisers can manufacture desires more effectively in the populace. And? When you collect EVERYTHING, the amount of useful information you can glean from a pile of random likes and links doesn’t go as far as you’d think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-facebook-and-all-companies-on-facebook/641692.md?page=5)