Fasting in 2023

[origami_itto]

This month I'm going in a fast.

30 days without social media.

Just here because there isn't enough traffic to be distracting or get too obsessed about.

Facebook has become a cesspool, I'm thinking about setting up a mastadon server and plugging in to that ecosystem.

[RickMatz]

It had been my practice for many years to give up Facebook for Lent (as well as undertake the Lenten challenge).

In 2020, I never went back. It was like leaving a noisy room. Sure, I sometimes miss being in contact with a few people, but never looked back.

[origami_itto]

Finally somebody with some sense around here!

[gzregorz]

I closed all my social media accounts several years ago for many reasons if not all the reasons listed and it was the best decision I ever made.

I recently reopened my FB and realize I didn't miss anything. I went back because it was obvious that without FB you do lose touch with people. My FB profile is completely blank and I (if ever) rarely post. When I do it's nothing profound or political or any type of platform just some random photo as a way of saying hi I suppose. I keep my contacts to about 30 and there's practically nothing I am contributing (to the corporation). I am there just to keep in touch with family and friends on messenger and use the tropical fruit forums.

The irony is even on messenger some people I reach out to don't even give me a response. Needless to say each time I use I realize I am basically just killing time. When I do use it I only on it for about minutes and I am off until the following weekend.

Basically control social media or it will control you. It will always be here but I have chosen to make it a very small part of my life and will always keep it that way.

[gzregorz]

One missing from the list above although it might fall into number 5, is people get judged for what they post.

For example, I remember when I used to train BJJ and the club I was at used to post a lot of photos and I think some people assumed I was trying to "make a statement" by being seen training when I did because it was a hobby for me and nothing more. I am someone who doesn't see BJJ as having much do with street fighting unless you are trying to escape a hold.

I remember a female principal used to have photos of her partying outside of school and people would judge her yet if it were a man it would be seen a normal.

Basically if you don't enjoy people talking about you then don't do social media.

From what little I see of FB I would say it is pretty dead compared with years ago which is a good thing.

All things being equal, I understand the service is very useful for senior citizens and people with special needs or are disabled and can't easily leave the.house.

[everything]

it's very useful for various support groups like a medical condition or parents of students at school xyz.

for my "followers" looking at a picture of my food, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ , not sure who gets what "dopamine hit" for that, lol

for tik tok trends, have zero idea

[gzregorz]

Yes, to be fair it can be useful since it has replaced email in a lot of ways.

My main concern was that they collect up to 2,000 data points per user to predict what to advertise to you or fill your feeds, "influence" you, and or sway elections. No thanks FB....

https://youtube.com/watch?v=_Lx5VmAdZSI&feature=shares

[everything]

working in some of the related areas (analytics, marketing, webdev, etc.), it's really not particularly impressive. yeah yeah the "data science" and "AI" are impressive.

at the end of the day, if I look at a pair of shoes on a site, FB/instagram start showing me endless shoe ads. for the political stuff, social media at large amplifies the stupidity of people on all things, but the Fox News stuff (coming out of the Dominion lawsuit) is far more insidious and alarming to me with the direct manipulation of idiots for financial (viewers) gain and associated harm/risk to democratic processes. iow, an "algorithm" to connect people/ads is not as scary as a billionaire lunatic. i really have a hard time worrying about the ad stuff (biased industry-related view here, albeit).

[gzregorz]

My wife works for big tech and she doesn't use FB at all. In fact she has met the FB whistle-blower and completely agrees.

It's not about worrying. I am not worried. It's understanding what it really is and how they sell your data.

I was off for 4 or 5 years and I didn't miss it.

I will use a product if I need it and I don't need it. It adds nothing to my life that I can't get from a simple text message.

If one enjoys Tik Tok and or Facebook then knock yourself out.

I have no agenda just confirming with the OP that I agree that FB can become a cesspool. Again, I am only there because I accept that there are people in my life I don't see often who I only see there.

Elon Musk and Twitter? Forget about it!

Funny how people never discuss that he basically moved back to California but everyone talked about when left.

[origami_itto]

working in some of the related areas (analytics, marketing, webdev, etc.), it's really not particularly impressive. yeah yeah the "data science" and "AI" are impressive.

at the end of the day, if I look at a pair of shoes on a site, FB/instagram start showing me endless shoe ads. for the political stuff, social media at large amplifies the stupidity of people on all things, but the Fox News stuff (coming out of the Dominion lawsuit) is far more insidious and alarming to me with the direct manipulation of idiots for financial (viewers) gain and associated harm/risk to democratic processes. iow, an "algorithm" to connect people/ads is not as scary as a billionaire lunatic. i really have a hard time worrying about the ad stuff (biased industry-related view here, albeit).

I mean, how much of that will the market bear? It's amazing.

Fox news is to journalism what professional wrestling is to combat sports.

They know it's a lie but they don't care because it reaffirms their prejudice and stokes the passion of their culture war.

Remember, Fox got the court to state it was perfectly legal to lie and call it news. Then their lawyers argued against holding Tucker Carlson liable for the outlandish hate filled nonsense he spews because (and yes they filed this argument) a reasonable person would never believe what he says.

So now, yes, news that is openly and brazenly pure entertainment, in bed with elected representatives, deliberately spreading false information to keep the public ignorant and stir them into violent action against the state.

When the fuck is somebody going to realize how dangerous this shit is to a free society? The mind boggles.

[everything]

yeah, I have no idea. I mean, obviously plenty of us realize this crap is happening, the news is reporting it, but I guess there is never a critical mass of voters who will say and act on the b.s.. We're reliant on some minority of competent politicians and bureaucrats to sometimes do the right thing, perhaps. Maybe that's a reach, too.

Maybe we can partially blame social media (guess RSF should be included as a forum). We're too addicted to getting our "dopamine hit" of posting something or seeing something interesting. Opiate of the masses. So even ranting about this or that problem .... just a minor distraction for 60s of the day. I have exactly one "FB friend" who posts super long explanations of shit that's going on. She gets a bazillion likes, but Idk if many of us then act or vote.

"Slacktivism". Oof. maybe avoiding the "junk food" of social media is a great idea. but keeping some amount of "slacktivism" is helpful?

For some reason, we went from reading long form blogging to vlogging to periscope 6s hits to tiktok algorithm-driven dopamine hits, and people cannot seem to recover.

[origami_itto]

The criticisms of slacktivism and "the woke mind virus" are literally psyops intended to discourage people from even recognizing there are things that need to change

[everything]

it gets so meta (maybe the real reason FB is now Meta), i'm permanently distracted. falling deeper into layers of The Matrix, so i have absolutely no idea i'm in a simulation inside another simulation.