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Facebook is garbage
Posted by Brian Clifton
Written June 29, 2010 at 23:52
Written June 29, 2010 at 23:52
If you pay attention to news, you can hardly go a day without reading about the "social media giant" Facebook. How many people use it, privacy concerns folks have about it, and commentary about how much revenue it generates. I hate both the website and the company... but it is popular; I made a profile on there just to plug my website. It only adds about 20 unique visitors a month and that's better than nothing.
Why don't I like it? Simply put, I think it's complete garbage.
Number one, I think it's really weird how, especially younger people, are willing to just put so much information about themselves on the internet. Not just filling out a profile; they'll do "Quizzes" where they reveal intimate details of their life, fill out everywhere they've ever lived, every school they've ever gone to... If you wanted someones password for ebay or online banking, chances are you can say you forgot the password and guess the answer to the secret question by using info from their Facebook profile. If you wanted to rob their house, you'd know the coast is clear when they post that they're officially on vacation.
Real life security risks are one thing. It's someone's own fault if they post that crap publicly. I don't have a problem with that. What I meant to get at by saying the younger people post so much information about themselves... I meant that I hate how much useless garbage people post. It's worse than getting junk mail. I don't care what you ate for breakfast and I don't care that people like what you ate for breakfast (and that they even commented on it).
Secondly, what is the obsession with the friends list? I asked someone recently, "Why does it bother to show the friends list? Who cares who my friends are?". They replied that browsing through the friends list is the most fun part of using Facebook. The most fun part? How is looking at my profile and then looking at each of my friends fun? Is it fun in an "invading my privacy" kind of way? Are you hoping to look through my friends list and find dirt on me? I mean, seriously. What is fun?
And then there's the creator, Mark Zuckerberg. Does this guy honestly deserve to be a billionaire? Think about what this guy did to get rich. How did Facebook make money... enough money that the creator is worth approximately US$4 billion as of 2010? They make their money through data collection and targeted advertising. So you go and fill in your friends list, choose what you like or dislike, and they sell that information (while showing you ads for things you like and might buy). Filling in your profile is only one piece of data; they record every page you visit and every person's profile that you view. What makes me mad is that even if Mark Zuckerberg was never born, some other asshole would have eventually done the same thing and gotten just as popular. It's not like Facebook is a unique idea, it just became a popular one.
It should flat out be illegal to sell extremely personal information about people. Facebook isn't the only place doing it; the credit industry is extremely guilty of this too. Even places that claim to have a privacy policy sell your information. It's sickening; these bastards have more money than god because they sold your name, address, etc. How this is legal is beyond me. I just think it's funny when people think Mexico is corrupt because a Federali takes a 10 dollar bribe. America has much worse issues when a 26 year old kid can become a billionaire by selling your information.
Why don't I like it? Simply put, I think it's complete garbage.
Number one, I think it's really weird how, especially younger people, are willing to just put so much information about themselves on the internet. Not just filling out a profile; they'll do "Quizzes" where they reveal intimate details of their life, fill out everywhere they've ever lived, every school they've ever gone to... If you wanted someones password for ebay or online banking, chances are you can say you forgot the password and guess the answer to the secret question by using info from their Facebook profile. If you wanted to rob their house, you'd know the coast is clear when they post that they're officially on vacation.
Real life security risks are one thing. It's someone's own fault if they post that crap publicly. I don't have a problem with that. What I meant to get at by saying the younger people post so much information about themselves... I meant that I hate how much useless garbage people post. It's worse than getting junk mail. I don't care what you ate for breakfast and I don't care that people like what you ate for breakfast (and that they even commented on it).
Secondly, what is the obsession with the friends list? I asked someone recently, "Why does it bother to show the friends list? Who cares who my friends are?". They replied that browsing through the friends list is the most fun part of using Facebook. The most fun part? How is looking at my profile and then looking at each of my friends fun? Is it fun in an "invading my privacy" kind of way? Are you hoping to look through my friends list and find dirt on me? I mean, seriously. What is fun?
And then there's the creator, Mark Zuckerberg. Does this guy honestly deserve to be a billionaire? Think about what this guy did to get rich. How did Facebook make money... enough money that the creator is worth approximately US$4 billion as of 2010? They make their money through data collection and targeted advertising. So you go and fill in your friends list, choose what you like or dislike, and they sell that information (while showing you ads for things you like and might buy). Filling in your profile is only one piece of data; they record every page you visit and every person's profile that you view. What makes me mad is that even if Mark Zuckerberg was never born, some other asshole would have eventually done the same thing and gotten just as popular. It's not like Facebook is a unique idea, it just became a popular one.
It should flat out be illegal to sell extremely personal information about people. Facebook isn't the only place doing it; the credit industry is extremely guilty of this too. Even places that claim to have a privacy policy sell your information. It's sickening; these bastards have more money than god because they sold your name, address, etc. How this is legal is beyond me. I just think it's funny when people think Mexico is corrupt because a Federali takes a 10 dollar bribe. America has much worse issues when a 26 year old kid can become a billionaire by selling your information.