Facebook

[Oldjohnw]

Oh no! Half of the world has lost its prime source of news and the world's main source of medical advice. Facebook is down

[Psamathe]

Social media users rejoice about break from ‘toxic’ platforms during major outage
...
However, for many users, the outage offered an opportunity to joke, on Twitter, about the downsides of the social media platforms.

“Facebook is down, and the world already seems less toxic… [good morning] fam!” one person tweeted.

Another said: “I wish I could take credit for @Facebook being down, but it’s more likely someone hit a button on accident. The world might be less toxic for these quiet moments.”
...

Ian

[merseymouth]

Good! Long may it continue to stay down. TTFN MM

[reohn2]

Personally(though I don't subscribe to any social media platforms)I recognise facebook is a two edged sword.

[Maillot Rouge]

Facebook is pretty much ok if you don’t take it too seriously.I don’t understand the hate.No one is forced to use it!

[[XAP]Bob]

Facebook is pretty much ok if you don’t take it too seriously.I don’t understand the hate.No one is forced to use it!

Except that they have a substantial profile of you and your habits through tracking pixels scattered across the web.

It looks like they screwed up a routing setup, and that takes a while to propagate, detect, understand, fix, and then propagate again....

[simonineaston]

No one is forced to use it!

Not in the sense you mean it, MG, but peer group pressure especially among those easily led, is colossal... the fear of being left out, of not being part of the gang, is unresistable, 'specially when young. Not that The Young use Facebook much these days !!

[Psamathe]

A long quote from an article but it's very true (and not NewsBiscuit)

Facebook is down – but you can still get your misinformation fix
... Here’s a quick guide to filling the Facebook-sized hole in your day.

Staying in touch
There are two categories of people we connect with using Facebook: people we actually talk to in real life, and people we keep vague tabs on because we knew them at one point and remain oddly committed to hating/resenting them from a distance.

The good news is that if you actually talk to someone, you can switch to such forgotten old-world communication technologies as texting. If you’re just keeping tabs on people, it’s a weird waste of mental energy and you can just stop now.

Political debate
Facebook likes to claim that it’s the 21st-century town square: a public meeting space for citizens from all walks of life to come together, express their opinions, ignore what everyone else says and be a little bit racist. With the site down, it might take a little more effort to participate in the lifeblood of a democratic society, but you can still have the same impact if call into C-Span (any morning at 7am eastern!) and let an audience of over one person know what you really think about mask mandates.

Scientific research
You told everyone you’d get that jab just as soon as you’ve done your own research but now your main research tools – algorithmically served Facebook videos and extended-family WhatsApp threads – are down. Worry not. There is still a plethora of medical misinformation on BitChute, which is just like YouTube but with even lower standards. Or you could open up Spotify and tune in to Joe Rogan or head to Goop.com for the latest in unnecessary vaginal interventions.

Self-esteem
Never fear! Before Instagram figured out how to monetize insecurity, Condé Nast existed. You can still go to Vogue.com and feel worse about yourself in no time.
....

Ian

[Hellhound]

I use FB and IG every day and I'm not 'young'
All our CC rides/socials/etc are now organised on FB.I really don't understand why people slate it.Don't like it,don't use it!
Did it bother me that it went down for a while?Not really these things happen it's just another communication tool.

[mattheus]

I use FB and IG every day and I'm not 'young'
All our CC rides/socials/etc are now organised on FB.I really don't understand why people slate it.Don't like it,don't use it!

... and you wont see them on your rides. Win-win?

[Maillot Rouge]

Facebook is pretty much ok if you don’t take it too seriously.I don’t understand the hate.No one is forced to use it!

Except that they have a substantial profile of you and your habits through tracking pixels scattered across the web.

If you own a pc/laptop/mobile phone you’re tracked anyway.It makes no difference to me who knows what.

[[XAP]Bob]

I use FB and IG every day and I'm not 'young'
All our CC rides/socials/etc are now organised on FB.I really don't understand why people slate it.Don't like it,don't use it!
Did it bother me that it went down for a while?Not really these things happen it's just another communication tool.

You can't just not use it...
I don't actively use it, but I am aware of quite how much data they collect on every single person online.

There are also an increasing number of places where you can't deal with them in any way *other* than via FB.

[[XAP]Bob]

Facebook is pretty much ok if you don’t take it too seriously.I don’t understand the hate.No one is forced to use it!

Except that they have a substantial profile of you and your habits through tracking pixels scattered across the web.

If you own a pc/laptop/mobile phone you’re tracked anyway.It makes no difference to me who knows what.

Unfortunately it does make a difference - you might not care about the advertisements, but the political pushing power that this information has is substantial.

[Jdsk]

Facebook's business model depends on selling information about the users. That has completely predictable results.

And they refuse to accept that they are publishers. But note the recent change of stance on antivaccination posts as well as ads.

I'm also pretty dubious about their avoidance of taxation, although I don't understand much about that.

...

But discussion of them also tends to descend into neophobia and contempt for users/ YOUNG PEOPLE NOWADAYS/ IN MY DAY! That's a different matter, and is as sad as it is any other context.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Except that they have a substantial profile of you and your habits through tracking pixels scattered across the web.

If you own a pc/laptop/mobile phone you’re tracked anyway.It makes no difference to me who knows what.

Unfortunately it does make a difference - you might not care about the advertisements, but the political pushing power that this information has is substantial.

Yes. And the imbalance of power is dangerous, and we don't know quite what they're doing with it.

Jonathan