Maria Konnokova for The New Yorker:
While the reasons for joining and using Facebook were not entirely homogenous, one factor kept emerging as the strongest motivation for use: the desire to keep in touch with friends.
I think most people would agree with this.
At the University of Texas at Austin, Gosling and one of his graduate students, Gabriella Harari, have been examining why people decide to leave Facebook. They have found three broad themes: people see Facebook as pointless and unnecessary, they see it as a problematic distraction, and they are worried about privacy.
So, the first two reasons people quit Facebook is also the reason they joined in the first place. Interesting.
Facebook is good for shallow social interaction, boasting, stalking and making yourself feel inadequate by comparing your life with the highlights of other people’s lives.
It has quite limited utility but boundless potential for self-harm.
The main issue I have with Facebook is simply the UX, it’s terrible. Inconsistent, fussy and overly complicated.
I love Facebook because it lets me keep up with my extended family, and keep them up-to-date.
The other shit? I ignore or block.
I agree and was going to post the same, except I would not say I love Facebook. I think Steve Abram here also has a pint as to why I probably don’t use it more too and why it is that I don’t love Facebook. In fact, I tolerate it in order to maintain contact with distant relatives.
I quit Twitter for #1 and 2. I’ll use it on occasion but not nearly as laser focused as before.
The reason that I left Facebook does not fit any of the themes above. I left because reading my news feed was simply a terrible experience. It was filled with ad naseum pics of pets and babies, cringe-inducing political rants, petty boasts, and lame inspirational posts. It was like subscribing to an endless stream of spam emails from relatives and school acquaintances. It’s initially fascinating to reconnect with those you haven’t seen in years, but quickly becomes an exercise in diminishing returns, like a high school reunion party that never ends. I stopped enjoying Facebook, so I stopped using it.
So you saw it as pointless and unnecessary and a problematic distraction?
No, distraction would imply that it drew my attention from more important things. I simply lost interest and/or was repelled.
-_- Okie dokie.
That’s probably true, too. I tolerate Facebook because I love part of what it does. If it let me more effectively ignore the rest, I’d love it. 🙂