# I'm over Facebook, and I think the site has jumped the shark as well **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336 "2018-07-21T19:14:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/41 "2018-07-23T18:05:41Z")
Facebook is useful for family and friend connections, just because everyone else is still on it. Otherwise it’s yesterday’s news, and our kids refuse to join it so eventually it’ll be useless. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/42 "2018-07-23T18:12:06Z")
Facebook is one of the top three sites I wish I could eradicate from existence. I have an account for one reason only: to access the corporate account I control as part of my job. I have hundreds of friend requests that I have never even glanced at. MrsB is mighty annoyed that I have not befriended my family, but every single time she mentions this to me it’s because she is complaining about how stupid my family is, which is hardly a ringing endorsement. She is also well aware that if I actually accepted those friend requests from my family that within a week we would be involved in the mother of all flame wars. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/43 "2018-07-23T18:52:00Z")
My wife has a Facebook account. I asked her to let me know when anything important shows up, or there are really good grandkid pictures that didn’t get texted directly to me. That scenario occurs about once a once, probably less. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/44 "2018-07-23T19:10:18Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Ooh, interesting! Have you had any experience with locked accounts? Are there any indicators that create the locked accounts? I was thinking of trying another account, but I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it since I’d be doing the same thing, and I figured they’d lock it for the same reason, whatever that was. Is there any action I can avoid that would allow me to continue on there without getting a locked account? I’ve never had an account locked, but I imagine if you give the same phone number you’ve given for a previous account they will try to make you use the original–or lock the new one. Instead, I would create a new email, and go to FB with a clean browser (Chrome incognito, etc.), give as little information as possible, and NO phone number. (If you have a unique name, you might want to alter it.) It worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/45 "2018-07-23T19:32:04Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I’ve never had an account locked, but I imagine if you give the same phone number you’ve given for a previous account they will try to make you use the original–or lock the new one. > > Instead, I would create a new email, and go to FB with a clean browser (Chrome incognito, etc.), give as little information as possible, and NO phone number. (If you have a unique name, you might want to alter it.) It worked for me. Thanks. Sounds good. I’ll probably give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/46 "2018-08-19T19:08:07Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I think the, ‘Young people are leaving Facebook…" is just a a tired meme that bored writers use when they need to crank out a story. Sure, some are, but I think a lot of them are the, "I don’t have a TV’ types that were a very loud small minority ten years ago. They’re mostly going to other social media, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/47 "2018-08-19T19:14:44Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Now I hardly ever look at it, but I can definitely see that–as a news source for many people in 2016–it probably contributed to how badly things turned out. A more important question is why and when did so many people begin to accept without question whatever they read online? Are we moving to a point where most people are so ignorant and hard of thinking that free and open media sites have to be discouraged or done away with? Not that I think anyone would try to ban FB, of course, but if people start leaving in a panic they can turn it into the next Myspace. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/48 "2018-08-19T19:27:00Z")
Well I had a facebook account with very few friends solely to see content that my sister posted about my late mother. My mother did not have an account and since they lived 300 miles away it was a way to see pictures of them at church, eating out etc. My mom died in 2015 - I stopped going on facebook at that time - and so missed a lot of the shitty things that facebook helped bring about. I plan on deleting my account since I have not logged in in about 3 years but I cannot remember my password. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/49 "2018-08-19T20:19:10Z")
I prune my FB “friends” list constantly, and remove myself from political content groups I somehow end up on. People who post all the time, or have obnoxious political beliefs, are quickly disappeared. What FB is good for is the previously mentioned family connections (my daughter is presently posting photos of her honeymoon in Costa Rica), and even more, it has become the local interest group platform of choice. If you want to know about garage sales, Angora rabbit breeders, giant truck fanciers, or hiking singles in your area, that is going to be found on Facebook. To me that is its main use. Also good for organizing marches, meetings, and such. More and more of these groups are closed membership, cannot be read by outsiders, and you have to petition the admin to be admitted, often via answering a short questionnaire. Presently I belong to groups about pre-1830’s American houses, Shetland Sheep, carriage driving, my local horseback riding club, and maybe three others. I join, leave or ‘unfollow’ groups all the time, keeping a balance of interests going. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/50 "2018-08-25T18:29:01Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > They’re mostly going to other social media, aren’t they? Instagram mostly for my 15yo daughters. Snapchat if we’d let them. Facebook doesn’t even exist. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/51 "2018-08-25T22:25:52Z")
I still use FB to keep up with family and friends around the world. Can’t think of an easier method. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/52 "2018-08-26T02:33:00Z")
I have email and a cell phone. If someone wants me to see something they can send it to me which is exactly what they do. If a friend wants me to connect with someone else I trust them to exercise common sense giving out my email. Beyond that I don’t need a news feed of anyone’s life. I find it disturbing that [employers will not hire you if you’re not on social media](https://wtop.com/social-media/2016/04/half-employers-check-job-seekers-social-media-survey-finds/). If I find myself hunting for a job I will be forced to join FB to eliminate this bias. ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/53 "2018-08-27T06:53:36Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > I opened my account, and within a couple days, Facebook shuts it down for “suspicious activity” and asks for my phone number. At this point, my Facebook days may be over before they started. I already found them too invasive for my taste without giving them my phone number. I had the same experience - I became a member of an organization that only discusses things on Facebook (in various open and closed groups). I joined Facebook, followed the organization’s public areas, and sent a request to join the private ones. Facebook suspended my account for “suspicious activity”. After actually getting a hold of someone useful via email, it turns out the reason I was “suspicious” was because I didn’t send a bazillion friend requests and hand out “likes” like candy at Halloween. I now have a small group of friends and have joined enough groups that I guess Facebook thinks I’m Ok. As someone else posted, you run the risk of discovering someone you thought you knew quite well actually behaves like a raving lunatic (at least on Facebook). ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/54 "2018-08-27T14:01:49Z")
Just as an exercise in whether or not Facebook is worth it, here are the first 20 posts on my newsfeed as of right this second 1. A video from my university’s basketball team 2. Sponsored Ad for ‘Jack Ryan’ 3. A ‘daily video’ from a pastor friend 4. A recipe for cauliflower nachos 5. A vague post from a young guy I know that just got out of prison saying that he knows who has his back now. 6. A meme that says ‘Frodo Synthesis’ and shows Frodo playing a synthesizer 7. A video of a kid at a football game singing the national anthem 8. Sponsored ad for Triplebyte 9. A pic of my cousin’s kids’ first day of school 10. An album of 24 dog memes 11. A live video of a friend from high school crossing the Bay Bridge on their way to vacation 12. A meme about anxiety 13. A viral video of a girl singing ‘Down to the River to Pray’ (She’s quite good as an aside.) 14. Sponsored link for the New York Times 15. A link someone posted looking for a missing kid 16. A meme about country music being good 17. A meme about how Google maps is bad 18. A photo of a friend at a BBQ 19. A meme of a man pretending a blow-up doll is his wife 20. A sponsored ad for Boar’s Head Later in the day, I think that it gets a bit more personal, but just looking off hand, there are probably 3 posts that interest me and maybe 2 that entertained me in any way, so about 25% for me this morning. I don’t know if that’s typical or not. Maybe once every week or two I see something that I think is actually important. I will say that I am in a couple of groups that are very useful to me. I’m a fisherman, so one of those groups is people posting fish pics and tells me what’s biting and where at any given time, so I like it. There are also pages for the kid’s groups that are useful. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/55 "2018-08-27T15:42:45Z")
In China there’s an app called WeChat that is similar to (but frankly, better than) WhatsApp. It’s what I use day-to-day. Then, when I occasionally log back into Facebook it looks horribly dated to me, and seems to be focusing on all the wrong things (now…Of course it was great in its day). I keep expecting to hear that users are deserting the platform, but instead, even after the recent drop, it essentially has all the internets and is valued at half a trillion dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/56 "2018-08-27T15:54:52Z")
It’s what you make of it, really. I get very little political content (aside from Brexit jokes), there’s a whole bunch of people I like but rarely see because they live in other countries, or are too busy to go to the events I know the from, and I get a little summary of their lives. Other than that, it’s good for specialist groups and getting local info, in a place where I don’t know many people. It doesn’t have my phone number. I unfollowed the one person who did start spewing right wing nonsense. I think less him as much after seeing what he was happy to post, but I’d rather know that he has some unpleasant views than not know it, especially as we were getting closer before he added me on there and I let the friendship cool as a result. I don’t blame the medium for his content. I do dislike some things about it though, like the way it decides to show/hide posts for no apparent reason. I also wish it wouldn’t assume that someone you interact with regularly is someone you want to hear lots from, as they actually tend to be the people I see often, especially chatty co-workers who send that picture/the address/the video they were talking about 2 hours ago, as well as work stuff, whereas I’d like to see posts from the people I don’t otherwise have contact with. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/57 "2018-08-27T16:52:22Z")
> [@mack](#): > > Instagram mostly for my 15yo daughters. Snapchat if we’d let them. Facebook doesn’t even exist. That’s what I find dishonest about the “young people are leaving Facebook” thing: they were never on Facebook to begin with. The Torqueling-who-is-no-longer-little sneers at Facebook as an “old people site” for sharing pictures of the grandkids. She uses Instagram and also apparently Tik Tok (formerly musical.ly). ---
**Author:** ![Roy\_Batty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Roy\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roy_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336/58 "2018-08-27T20:18:15Z")
Never wanted a FB account, and am glad I never got one. There is too little privacy in the world as it is - we don’t need to add to this lack of privacy by posting our personal lives online. FB has cost people jobs, relationships, and respect. No thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-over-facebook-and-i-think-the-site-has-jumped-the-shark-as-well/818336.md?page=2)