|
Forum: General Talk
06-12-2011, 04:50 PM
|
| |
FYI - I find the kind of behavior being talked about, or any such thing... texting, social-networking, lap-topping, etc.... while in the company of others socializing, very rude. Again, don't blame the medium, blame the people.
For what it's worth I have tried to teach my kids NOT to do it. I don't let them text at a restaurant when we're eating together... or at the dinner table at home for that matter. I do not let them talk on their cellphone either in similar situations, including but not limited to paying a cashier, listening to the person standing there who is trying to talk to you, movies, plays and other theater events, etc. I don't do it myself and I even pull over when I get a call on my own cellphone (and do have hands-free BT in car). I try to be a good example to my kids. Other than leaders of a country, no one is THAT important that they can't wait, or at least excuse themselves for five minutes. My parents wouldn't let me talk on the phone when I had friends over, and it's the same thing.
The fact our society as a whole has to walk around with their blue-tooth attached to their face is really quite rude, and it was going on long before FB even got that popular. You better be darn near free of this kind of behavior if you're in this thread criticizing it. You might think it's important to talk to your wife or your boss while standing at the cashier and paying, BUT IT'S F'ING RUDE to everyone around you and we all don't give a crap how important you think you are.
Husband and I have a new phrase when we see a lone person on the street talking. "Blue Tooth or Bat-Shit Crazy?"
And it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING do to with Facebook... or even the cellphones themselves. It's called having manners.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-12-2011, 09:13 AM
|
| |
| |
|
Forum: General Talk
06-11-2011, 06:41 PM
|
| |
Again, you're talking about people, not the medium. No reason Facebook can't be used the exact same way.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-11-2011, 11:48 AM
|
| |
There's nothing inherently immature about posting photos (like here) or links to interesting things (sometimes like here) or sharing your thoughts on something (very much like here). It's the content of said that makes you immature or not. Up to you.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-10-2011, 09:46 PM
|
| |
Your shared video is actually a promo for a fairly serious modern (new) Opera about technology and online life in general. While funny, you should go ahead and watch the interview from the creator. It's not only about Facebook and Twitter, but online life in general.
2 Boys
And mind you, if you acted out some of the stuff that goes on right here in this forum in real-time, it would come across as rather humorous and "immature" as well. Spend a day referring to all your friends by names like "Photog23476" and see how long you can keep a straight face. LOL
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-09-2011, 12:30 PM
|
| |
That's become less popular... FB at work. My job blocks it from all but a few of us. I know several friends who used to have access at work, but it's now blocked. It's a time-suck for some people who don't know the meaning of the word "balance" -- LOL. Then again, that was true of the internet in general a few years ago, until the shiny-newness of it wore off and it all became a lot more utilitarian.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-09-2011, 12:21 PM
|
| |
LOL... "often while drinking"... true enough, but you can't exactly blame the medium for that. Choose what you share wisely and there isn't all that much to worry about.
Credit card companies have to follow certain regulations, but they certainly do what they can to get around them, and they regularly share your information with third parties (hence all the junk mail you get, and the reporting they make available to places like USA Search). You aren't opted-out by default... to the contrary, you have to specifically make effort to opt-out. It's probably safe to guess here that most people use credit cards... at least a good percentage of you. There are agencies upon agencies buying and selling your data all the time, without you even being aware of it... and it's one of the very few things credit card companies themselves are still allowed to do legally.
Facebook, like other online venues, is as open or closed as you want it to be... however, for some reason, everyone seems to want to share every detail of their lives there. Of course, that doesn't at all mean it's required or even necessary. It's a choice.
LOL... I know a "brooklyn born" (photographer).
And I'm with ya. It's certainly not that I somehow LOVE Facebook... anymore than I LOVE email. It's just a way to communicate, and with a little moderate diligence (like with anywhere online), it's fairly easy to keep the things you want private.
My husband works on the fringes of the indy music industry, and the rise in the popularity of these social sites there is HUGE... I mentioned earlier that he can't always find email addresses anymore, but he almost always finds them on twitter and/or facebook.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-09-2011, 11:12 AM
|
| |
To an extent Mike. Not all valuable sites I visit have affiliate programs... some are very much advertising-based. Plus, I can't much help them with an affiliate link if I'm not in the market to buy right now. At least my impression has some value to them, even if minor.
If every site I visited charged a subscription fee, I'd be in trouble... and I'm sure that might be true for many of us. News site, DPR, this site (which I do $$ support), the Leica forums I go to, Huff's site, the research I do for work... it's hard to imagine them all being pay-to-see. It would change the face of the internet for sure (and probably not all in bad ways! LOL). I can live with advertising. We've been living with it on TV in exchange for watching programs for a long time, so I see it as no different honestly. (and yes, I own a DVR and several streaming-net-TV boxes too, so I avoid commercials on TV like anyone else... hence the reason they are all trying to make it more difficult to do so).
I don't use Firefox or Opera. I'm a Mac user, so I use Safari the majority of the time. Occasionally Chrome. And I have them all installed to check for proper website development (minus Opera admittedly). I block Flash only because it's a CPU hog and annoying (ad or not). Click-to-Flash is the likely the best browser extension I use ;)
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-09-2011, 08:40 AM
|
| |
You and I agree Ryan. Where we disagree is that FB gives out any information you don't allow it to. It can't give you're phone number, or even last name out to the world without you inputing into your profile first. There was a movement last year where college students looking for jobs were encouraged to remove their last names from their FB profiles... and I watched as those in my family of that age did just that. Most of them, over time, slowly went back to using their real last names. A few stuck with the pseudonyms.
And as I've said earlier, whether you're on FB or not, a photo of you captioned with your name can still show up there. My sister-in-law who is anti-facebook had it happen to her already. The first time it happened... She hosted a Rockband Party. Friends at the party took pictures. They posted some of those pictures to Facebook, including one that showed her standing on the fireplace hearth jamming away on the guitar. The following week, someone at work who wasn't invited to the party approached her and said nastily "looks like you had fun at your rockband party..." and you can imagine the awkward exchange from there.
NOTHING could have prevented this. Even had she told her friends a year ago not to post photos of her on Facebook ever, do you think it's possible they would all remember that request over time? Every new friend she meets, is the first request out of her mouth always "nice to meet you, don't post my photo on facebook"? What about co-workers who can change regularly? What about the photos she emails? They weren't being malicious, they were just sharing photos of an event they had fun at.
Of course, I've said it a few times already, at least if my sister-in-law had been a member, she could have immediately asked her friends to take the photo down :) -- if she's been a member using a pseudonym as a last name, the photos would have been tagged with that, and not "trackable" back to her real name.
We all reveal things about ourselves online. I know you use the moniker Ryan_S, live around or near Madison, WI and like Pentax. You like Pandora radio, cars, cameras and computers and have been a member here since 2008. Other than the last bit of info, this is all stuff you've chosen to share publicly here. It wouldn't be hard with a few tracking cookies, like Google or Yahoo uses, to more finely tune a profile on you. Using your email address one could find out even more. All the bits of data we post all around the web can me combined and the dots start to get connected... like your Pandora example. It's just the world we live in.
As for Ad-Blockers... I only use one that blocks Flash because it's so damn awful, but ads don't bother me... I've even benefited from them on the rare occasion. I won tickets once to a House (the show) Premiere in NYC via being a "fan" on Facebook. I kinda like the most of the internet is free and don't want to start paying subscriptions to every site I belong to... and sometimes the cost of entry is dealing with advertising. I'm okay with that, since running any site of value isn't free for it's owners.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 08:28 PM
|
| |
I'll just say Ryan, I think we all have problems with what you're talking about (at least those of us aware of it). Where I disagree is how credit cards (as one example) are any different. You are auto-opted in to the junk mail they produce (via credit reporting agencies)... and considering how big business they are, I highly doubt they care about you or me or our privacy. Matter of fact, I'm fairly confident they don't.
And maybe this whole discussion is really a lot bigger than Facebook. Companies have decided to take license with a lot of our information, whether online or in the non-virtual world. But what are YOU (not you specifically - more all-encompassing "you") going to do about it? Live in fear? Hide under a rock? Avoid using any medium that has those risks but also benefits to you (like a credit card for example)? We all make our choices. Most of us don't want to live under rocks off the grid (except the new Geico guys... LOL)
Me personally, I opt-out of everything I can... and that's less about privacy and more about junk mail (real snail mail junk mail). I don't use credit cards, and not because my purchases can be tracked, but because I try to stay as debt-free as possible (not always successfully mind you, LOL!). I protect my privacy online to a degree, because I'm "old school" internet, from the day we didn't so freely share so much about ourselves -- and because it seems like common sense to me. Not because I live in fear of danger around every virtual corner.
Facebook or not, we should all be aware of the data-mining that goes on and the privacy we have the right to protect. The biggest difference we all have in this discussion is that I don't see Facebook as *THE* big old bad guy -- the boogie man in the closet if you will. It's just another communication medium where I need to be aware of protecting myself, as much as that's important to me, in a common-sense, but not freakishly paranoid way. And I'm not suggesting freakish paranoia is running rampant in this thread, just using it as emphasis to make the point that things in life don't always have to be about the extremes... all the way at one end or the other. Most of the time, it's all in the middle, in shades of gray.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 04:50 PM
|
| |
Nope, you don't. You also didn't have to participate in this thread if you didn't want to explain your reasons. Or you could have originally answered with "I just don't want to join". I certainly can't argue with that.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 04:44 PM
|
| |
Sure, if you like. :lol:
Now who's being just a little paranoid? :D
LOL!
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 04:38 PM
|
| |
To counter the "missionary" statement: ...And all those so against it sound like the Unibomber... paranoid and faulting technology for the root of all that is evil.
:D
Use it or don't. Just don't make stupid excuses like "but I'll be forced to reveal every last detail about myself and will not be able to control my behavior once I'm there! I'll suddenly act like a freak and my job will know!!!!"
I assume if you're a smart person, that can continue no matter which venue you participate in. ;)
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 01:42 PM
|
| |
Kinda like an answering machine, huh?
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 01:39 PM
|
| |
I don't chat either. You do know chat is real-time right?
And so are wall posts. No refreshing either! It actually performs similarly to chat. OMG! Maybe you should update your browser... LOL
Why take photos if you're not going to share them with anyone? Are they just for you? I bet you like to show your photos to people... ;)
Yup, lots of ways to do it... did you buck those trends too?
You can still have friends AND Facebook, maybe even meet new ones!
Do you tell all your friends and family how much their photos are crap and not worth looking at, even though it might be a fun memory for them? Wow, you must be charming.
And like I said, being on Facebook didn't make all my friends disappear, the phone go dead or the car explode. I get out just fine thank you. :D
And that has something to do with YOU as an individual how? Doesn't erase your choice.
No different than anywhere else.
BTW, all those users had the option to delete their accounts right on that day, if they wanted to. No one chained them to the virtual Facebook fence.
:D
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 12:04 PM
|
| |
Yup, it should be. Just like I shouldn't have to opt-out of credit-bureua generated junk-mail, but I do. And I bet we don't have the ability to "opt-out" of that same facial recognition technology used by the government in street-level security cams. Not to mention, if the photos you share of yourself are minimal, what's to worry about. If you're not there, you're not going to know anyway.
There's a paranoid way to look at life, and a common-sense way. I think some of this is all a little paranoid. And you talk about narcissistic? Isn't that funny... you're all so worried that there are a million people out there ready to get you with their evil advertising because you're THAT important (said: tongue-in-cheek). :D
Absolutely right. You can hate them for it, but hate lots of others for it too then. FB isn't unique. And how you conduct yourself and the information you share is a choice, if you are a member. That's the point. A lot of these arguments are based in either fear or somehow the assumption that once you're there you share every detail about your life because you HAVE to. No one HAS to share anything they don't want to.
If you just hate Facebook regardless... no one can take that from you. Hate away.
Well, getting into the details of all those other entities that do similar, but the rewards are greater... I'm sure lots of people could argue that. Credit cards are, by far, not a necessary evil... you can choose to pay in cash ya know.
If Facebook isn't something you can have fun doing while keeping in touch with loved-ones, than you are right. There isn't a point to it. That doesn't make it evil though (any more so than lots of other companies or mediums). And it also doesn't change the fact that when and if you ever join, you'll have a choice on what to share and what not to share.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 11:16 AM
|
| |
And gee, you can set it in your account not be auto-tagged. ;)
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 07:50 AM
|
| |
Where's your phone number so I can reply?
:lol:
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-08-2011, 06:52 AM
|
| |
Don't disagree. But coming from the group that is shouting they aren't "sheep" that "follow the heard", I hardly see this as THE argument.
Now that was great to wake up to and read. Very very funny. ROFL!
Though I'll have to say, eating fried chicken every day is probably, for most people, a lot more dangerous.
PEOPLE and their actions will be responsible for the downfall of society. You can't blame the medium in which they use. Just like you can't blame the networks for the popularity of reality TV. If it wasn't so popular, it wouldn't continue to be on... but we -- as a society -- watch it, so they keep making more. If everyone stopped watching, the networks would put something better on.
Similarly, FB can be used however people choose. If we all educate ourselves and then our loved ones about it, and if we all encourage thoughtful behavior instead of just fostering our own narcissism, it becomes a better environment. At least that's been my experience. I'd even suggest we've raised a generation of narcissistic children, and NOT because of or even as a direct result of Facebook.
I'm sure people said similar things about the downfall of society at the advent of the phone... at the advent of radio and then TV... at the rise of the internet itself. When I was growing up, my father used to call the TV an "idiot box" and my parents yelled at me to get off the phone the same way I yell at my daughter to get off the internet. Balance my friend. Anything in excess is bad.
Facebook is merely a means to communicate, nothing more.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-07-2011, 06:50 PM
|
| |
The "block" feature works great.
Works great when they're all local. I can't visit or talk to everyone on the phone daily when they're in Seattle, Washington, North Carolina, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Texas and Canada.
And seeing their photos or sharing on Facebook doesn't make the phone disappear or the car explode. You were aware of that, right? LOL
That's what the "hide" feature is for. Or block. And you do know that when you make #2 in the bathroom you don't HAVE to post it right? Geez, I think I post on my personal profile about twice a week.
Sure, if you say so.
I went to a baseball game with my daughter, son, his girlfriend and my husband last Friday. I tooks some photos there... and it was fun to share them later that night with my son and his girlfriend (who are grown). It was fun to share with our own friends pictures of my excited-like-a-little-kid husband. Lame? Maybe. Still fun. But why take photos and share them with anyone anyway... as you say, it's just lame.
And see above about multiple states. I'm lucky I get to take one vacation per year, let-alone multiple to travel to all the different places my friends and family live. Plus, most of my cousins are 1/2 my age, and don't exactly want to spend a lot of time with their 40yo cousin. It's fun to keep up with them through FB.
I've met some pretty nice people through Facebook... in actual person - GASP! See my reply about the photography meet I attended. Was in NYC. Was fun! Oh wait... you don't like fun, I forgot.
Yes, I'm sure Joel Meyerowitz is a terrible photographer, just because he's on Facebook. And I know, you're too thick to realize you can block asinine games (or maybe you don't realize you aren't forced to play them?). Oh yeah, and you're right, those animated starry-night backgrounds on MySpace made every page beautiful.
I don't consider additional interaction with the people I care about, or new interaction with interesting people all that trite.
AWESOME! Visit away. I hope you don't spend any time checking email or answering your phone, since all that personal interaction might get in the way of your important 72 websites.
I see. You have enlightened me.
ps. My tone may seem rude, but really it's all tongue-in-cheek. You aren't going to convince me, and I'm sure I'm not going to convince you... and really, it doesn't matter at the end of the day. I'll readily admit that lots of Facebook is pointless, but so are a lot of other things is life... and I'm sure lots of things in your life. To me, a little light interaction that's fun and harmless isn't a bad thing.
And to be completely serious... I have a cousin who lives far away. His daughter was burned BADLY in a house fire. We keep in touch in a variety of ways, but it's been WONDERFUL to see how well she's doing through his updated photos on Facebook (harmless, fun photos, like participation in Field Day at school). It's not ALL pointless, just because you say so.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-07-2011, 04:18 PM
|
| |
The anti-facebook zealots are just as boisterous and strong in their convictions, if you ask me. Actually, it was their loud protests that even sparked my questions in the first place.
And I don't personally care if they join or not. This discussion started as a curiosity on my part... I wanted to hear why some people were SOOOO against it. At least some of that adversity, I believe, comes out of ignorance (not all, so don't flame me! LOL). Some people seem to also think it's an all-or-nothing proposition, as if when you join Facebook you suddenly lose all common sense and becomes a loud-mouth voyeur who can't control him/herself and who can do nothing but post photos of themselves doing things that would get them fired. I merely raise the point that it doesn't need to be that way. LOL!
I know for most of the non-virtual people I know, the ones that are so against FB are either fearful/paranoid or philanderers (literally)... so I was curious to hear other reasons.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-07-2011, 04:05 PM
|
| |
Amen. Lets face facts, when you make a phone call the phone company knows about it, so lets not kid ourselves that somehow our lives are private. I have an unlisted number and a blocked privacy number (so it won't come up on caller ID), yet the police and even the cable company seem to know it's me when I call. LOL
Agreed... but they'll keep trying to get it right. We should expect it.... because it's not going to change. Facebook is free to use, but they have to make money somehow. They don't provide the service out of the kindness of their hearts... LOL!
I agree with separating personal from "professional" (in quotes only because I don't do photography professionally, but my facebook page is dedicated to my serious hobby ;))... That protects you even further really (unless you want people to call to book you). I hope my stuff is interesting (about once or twice a day) but I'm sure it's not to everyone that "likes" me... LOL! Regardless, I've still met some great people through it... and not just through FB but in real-life too. There was a photography "meet up" I attended last year that was awesome.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-07-2011, 03:59 PM
|
| |
Other than you slightly paranoid nature (all in good fun :D), "Do what you want, but be careful" works anywhere online, including Facebook. Every way you protect your identity anywhere online can be achieved on Facebook too... you share what you want, when you want... period. Facebook and Twitter wouldn't be the one giving out private info on you... you'd be doing that all on your own, if you chose to.
That's the point... it's not the medium to blame... no more so than you can blame any other. Except maybe Google which likes to collect information on us all. LOL!
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-07-2011, 01:59 PM
|
| |
From your link...
Funny, isn't that exactly what I've been saying? I don't share my birthday, my hometown, the high-school I graduated from, where I work, or even my last name. It's a CHOICE to do those things.
|
|
Forum: General Talk
06-07-2011, 01:42 PM
|
| |
You're kidding, right? Amazon deals with third-party companies ALL THE TIME. And credit card companies report your information to the credit agencies. For $10 I can do a background check which primarily comes from your credit history and that will give me a whole lot of sensitive information. Like your name, birthday, last five addresses and potentially your relative's addresses, and your phone number. Depending on the agency, I can also get your email address and potentially other information about you.
I don't disagree with you. But it's already here, and coming, whether we like it or not... and your participation on Facebook has nothing to do with it. You can EASILY participate on FB and give very little information about yourself away.
LOL!
Either way, they aren't going to go away... and all that advertising is part of what makes things "free" for you. Because everyone is always trying to block it in some way, there will always be others who attempt to make it so you don't WANT to block it, or so that you can't. Unless you're willing to pay for lots of services you currently enjoy for free, it's here to stay. Just ask the print industry (magazines and newspapers). With subscriptions in decline because of the internet, they go online... and then sell advertising space to stay afloat. If the advertising doesn't work, the advertisers will leave, and they will have no way to provide the news... no money = no writers, photographers, etc. Does it surprise anyone that trying to find ways to advertise more effectively to people seems to get more aggressive with time? Really?
But none of this has anything to do with Facebook ya know. Again, you control what you share. The idea that by avoiding Facebook you are avoiding sharing information about yourself is just putting your head in the sand. Everything you do on the internet is tracked in some way shape or form.
And since we're sharing links:
You Tube
|
src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oNofb-OlZyQ?controls=1" allowfullscreen>
|
:D
|
