If you care about democracy, get off Facebook! Period.

[Dream Girl]

I don't care how "convenient" or how great it is for "keeping in touch with loved ones". Or if you "don't look at the newsfeed". These are just lame excuses... Just get the f**k off! If you don't you are culpable by your actions. You are responsible They brought us Trump and they are going to be an instrument of our destruction. No more feeble, lame despicable excuses!

[hlthe2b]

1. Good luck with that. I was nearly "eaten alive" along with several others for suggesting this

a few weeks ago. I've never been registered (though I can access if I have to, via others).

Now, I have no intention of even doing the latter. Zuckerberg is not our friend nor that of democracy. He's a craven money-grubber with, ironically, the social skills of a swarming mosquito.

Seems no matter how much we are manipulated, some simply won't give up the "convenience" (and they REALLY resent being told they might want to consider it).

[Farmer-Rick]

68. I never understood facebook or my space

Waste of time and they kept annoying me with emails.

They weren't all that useful when I ran my own market of farm produce either. Though the square on a cell phone sure improved my sales.

I guess I'm just not into casual relationships with a bunch of people I never see.

[Polybius]

141. MySpace was amazing

Loved to do bulletin surveys and my Top 8 was the shit.

[Dream Girl]

154. Reactions rang from willful ignorance to outright hostility

[Moostache]

2. If you have a soul get off that hot mess...

Zuckerberg is a clown and he nominally leads an evil entity...

[TheBlackAdder]

101. Even DU's OP pages have facebook.net embedded with them. Just do a 'View Page Source'.

.

<script> (function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1";
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);


This doesn't even bring up the most invasive trackers in Google APIs and Google Analytics that are also here.


.

[rockfordfile]

3. This will be a big moment as to who cares about our country.

[2naSalit]

66. as opposed to sheeple....nt

[Piasladic]

4. I'm not one for long video but

Sasha Baron Cohen's speech to the Anti-Defamation League was....great. He made some points that made me think about the limits of free speech and incitement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ymaWq5yZIYM&feature=emb_logo

[ismnotwasm]

5. Facebook. The new Wallmart, Olive Garden, SUV driving Breast feeding in public

Using the word “bitch” Unruly kids in Restaurants, public smoking bans, and I forget what else we fight about on here in news down time. Oh yeah, the new and fastly fading ok boomer” thing


Buncha people will say “yeah, Fuck Facebook” others will announce they’ve never had it. A few will mildly say it has it uses.

See, I think racism brought us Trump full stop. If I felt like starting a REAL fight, I’d go in deep about whiteness and the white supremacy that is so ingrained in our culture we can’t even see it most of the time.

If it helps, the up coming generation will probably use other social media platforms. I don’t think Facebook will go away, but I think it will lose some of its power.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

76. I use Facebook for fun things and SALES

For my business. I get more that way than from other sources.

[ismnotwasm]

86. I'm not a huge user

If I had a business I would definitely use Facebook for it

My kids are all on it, and my Mom who never puts anything on Facebook, like ever, gets her family updates from it.

Fun fact, I didn’t have Facebook until a few years back when my daughter moved to
Michigan, and literally set up an account for me. I gave in. It can be fun.

I understand the ones who are indignant about Facebook and its business practices, but calling Facebook user names and demanding they shut down their accounts is not helpful

[Dr. Strange]

110. But the democracy!

You're messing up the democracy!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

114. More money means more I pay in taxes.

More than Jeff Bezos pays.

[Squinch]

104. Facebook aided and abetted Cambridge Analytica in spreading messages of hate and bigotry

to those to whom they would be most palatable, with the aim of further radicalizing those people.

Facebook encourages the proliferation of ads that are known to be dishonest and known to be designed to damage our country.

Facebook lodged a staff of consultants in Trump Tower during the 2016 election which provided the Trump campaign with free assistance and access to voter data.

Those are only a few of their astonishingly bad acts.

You seem to be equating a disgust with those acts with the tiffs on DU about breast feeding and Olive Garden.

That is really disturbing.

As Sacha Baron Cohen said, imagine what Goebbels could have done with Facebook.

[ismnotwasm]

115. My point being arguments on DU have never solved anything

And I’m far more concerned with institutional racism, whiteness, white fragility and our failure to address it than fucking Facebooks bullshittery. I could start a thread a day about it and it would fail. Or facts denied. Or defended. It makes me despair.

I get that Facebook is a bad actor. On the other hand, I follow several activists, one of my favorites who uses the platform for Trans awareness and Trans rights. She is neither lazy or selfish.

Also, as I posted, we gonna quit Facebook we need to quite instagram as well, and any other entity owned by Facebook.

[Squinch]

119. I don't think people who use Facebook are lazy or selfish. But I do think they are misguided.

What do you think are the platforms these days that have the most to do nurturing and intensifying institutional racism and white fragility? And white supremacism and NeoNaziism? What are the platforms that normalize those things among the people who are most likely to be receptive to radicalization? What are the platforms that are making a scientific study of how to use collected data to control opinions and actions, then selling their findings to truly evil people? And what are the platforms that are making NO effort whatsoever to stop this use of their product?

I have no problem with the idea that we need to quit instagram as well as Facebook. They are destroying us. They had a lot to do with seeding the ground so a Trump and shitty little shooters could grow out of it. They are where a lot of those white guys get together to convince each other about how terribly they are being abused.

And yes. One of its benefits is that it lets others form communities too. But there are other ways to communicate that do not involve giving money and power to Zuckerberg, Cambridge Analytica, Putin, Trump, Stormfront, etc.

[ismnotwasm]

123. All of it. There is no escaping it

What we won’t do is talk about it, do something about it.
I almost never talk about race with white people any more, I’ve reached out to other communities and asked them to teach me their experiences. I get on every social media I can and follow trends. I listen. I am done with echo chambers and the but I mean well crowd. I actually learned that from DU of all places.

We can boycott Facebook, boycott Instagram sure.

One of the unintended side effects of social media is everyone has a platform for a voice, a way to exchange ideas. Whether it’s Medium or Countable or YouTube or TikTok or even fucking Discord, all kinds of conversations are being held.

The most important ones have to do with ending Whiteness as the dominant social structure, even if that’s not what it’s called. Ending bigotry



I thought I saw the end of Whiteness, or I did, until whiteness elected Trump.

It wasn’t Facebook.

[Squinch]

124. It wasn't "whiteness." It was the tools "whiteness" availed itself of. One of the most effective

being Cambridge Analytica, using pinpointable data from Facebook. Like Jared said, it was his secret weapon and it won the election.

[ismnotwasm]

133. Yes, it was "Whiteness" and patriarchy (I'm not going there right now)

Say then, Facebook itself, in my opinion was not the deciding factor n the election. People didn’t just decide to hate Hillary and despise Obama because of Facebook. That ugliness was already there.

You are right about the manipulation, and Facebook being a shit company, that is an indisputable fact.

But people were oh, so easy to manipulate, to accept false information, to agree with ridiculous spin. They still are. Call it confirmation bias if you will.

So everyone of good intent leaves Facebook and instagram? Where to the newly empowered voices go be heard?

I think Facebook will fade, in time. The underlying structures that made it what it is will remain

Where my hard line now is where the hateful bigots are. And they are everywhere. I refuse to offset it, or treat people like victims of information. I got good information. You got good information. We did because we choose to.

[erronis]

174. Great sequence of posts from both of you. Thanks!

[XRubicon]

128. Nicely put.

[we can do it]

165. Way worse than any of those.

Fuckerberg thief selling out our democracy.
But hey posting pics is more important than our national security.

[KentuckyWoman]

183. You left out fat people

That is important since I am an overweight boomer who is sometimes a witch and occasionally finds a need to go in Wally World. I even own one of those small SUVs.

So, yeah, I'm going to hell.

[aikoaiko]

6. Do you have a good reference to explains more about FB is currently doing...

...that warrants a boycott?

Most of what I've heard has been general criticism about untruths going unchecked.

[Maggiemayhem]

94. Dinner with Trump

Hosting the Federalists Gala just off the top of my head

[scarytomcat]

103. kicking people out for there beliefs not for things that they posted

soon they will only allow right wing fake news

texting and e-mail to all are good ways to keep in touch with family and friends without giving up your personal data to a corporation or being subject to propaganda and out right lying

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Eh, I'll keep using it, thanks.

[Dream Girl]

14. Not going to give it up. See post #8 as that sums it up.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

20. I am definitely lazy and selfish, but that has little to do with why I'm not giving up Facebook.

[mountain grammy]

64. ......

[rockfordfile]

98. So when Trump or the corrupt gop does something you don't like? You're are a member of that support

Yet you're are a member of that support to do those things against our country.

So a person keeps hitting you over the head with a crowbar and you still like that person, and you still like being with that person?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

107. Okay!

[Coventina]

8. The lazy and selfish only care about themselves.

They will rationalize their excuses.

[atreides1]

34. N/T

[jberryhill]

88. The lazy selfish don't bother me so much

It's the productive ones that are a pain in the ass.

[Croney]

9. I don't disagree with anything you're saying, but

Facebook is important to me right now. My mother is 96, had a stroke, can't talk on the phone. Her daily delight is reading posts by her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids, and clicking that "like" button on their pictures.

I'll cut off a Rethug relative in a heartbeat, but I will support my mother's joy.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

31. You are so sweet to

Your mom. My mom is bedridden and 90 years old. She too loves getting pictures from my sisters the grandkids and I too.

I'm not leaving Facebook because of her,same reason as you.

[marlakay]

37. My 92 year old mom

Who I don’t live close to, she wanted to stay in CA when I had to move her to a place which cooks and cleans her apt, a kind of step above senior apt but below them doing all.

She loves sharing on FB and would be disappointed if I stopped, i post mostly pics of hiking, going to ocean, vacations, out to eat. She sees my life, makes her happy.

She also sees all her grand kids and great grandchildren and cousins pics. So even if I quit rest of family would still be there.

I wish more than anything they had a better site. I really believe most would leave if there was. Its like we all know how horrible it is but its how a bunch of us keep in touch.

I am one of those that hates talking on the phone, i either text or pm through FB.

The only republican of my friends is a very rich cousin who is socially liberal. All about money for her. But I love her and I found out about a year ago she voted for Hillary her first. Hates Trump.

[loyalsister]

169. Elderly, disabled, and poor people

can access social world's they are ordinarily excluded from because they have limited resources and transportation. People who don't have cell phones make use of the messenger platform. I don't see how judging the people who have fewer options for communication is going to save US democracy.

[renate]

10. I used to spend time on Facebook every day

Now it’s once a week, if that. There are people there I wouldn’t be in touch with without it, but I would absolutely 100% switch if there were an alternative. I don’t know why Google doesn’t try again.

Plus I have an ad blocker, and I never, ever click on an ad in my feed. I might leave Facebook and Google something I see if I’m interested, but I will never buy anything through a Facebook ad.

I know I’m still contributing a tiny something to their bottom line by providing them with my data, but I do make use of their services occasionally, so that seems fair.

[moose65]

27. I've kinda soured on it as well

There are some people who seem to post something or update their status every five minutes. Those people are exhausting! I remember back in the good ole days of Facebook (circa 2009) when there were no memes and no one shared news articles. It seems like 100 years ago now.

Is there an alternative? Has anyone tried MeWe? I have an account, but no one else that I know has one!

[I_UndergroundPanther]

35. Only people I know in person are on my Facebook freind list

If I met them before they are on my list. I purge my list often. There are no rightwingers or right wing bullshit on my page.

[Lizzie Boredom]

145. IF there was an alternative?

But there is: https://diasporafoundation.org/

There's an alternative to Twitter, too: https://joinmastodon.org/

But if you're leaving Facebook because the owner had lunch with Trump, you're certainly leaving for a petty reason. According to Amnesty, Facebook is an unprecedented threat to human rights: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/11/google-facebook-surveillance-privacy/

THAT is the reason I've never had and will never get a Facebook account in my life. Though billions of sheeple are obviously too dumb to see it.

[JonLP24]

177. Thank you for these links

I will certainly check them out. Facebook is so different than what it used to be.

[cwydro]

11. I wish I had a buck for every admonition I see here - turn off cable, turn off TV, don't eat here.

Don’t use self checkout lanes, don’t eat meat, don’t shop here, there, and various anywheres, delete Facebook, delete Twitter, don’t watch this channel, don’t read this newspaper or this newsfeed...it’s really funny actually, though exhausting.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Heh, good point.

[Dream Girl]

15. See post #8.

[cwydro]

99. Aw, thanks for the indirect insult.

But I’m neither lazy nor selfish.

Bless your heart.

[SlogginThroughIt]

25. Thank you for saying it!

If I followed everything I wasn’t supposed to do here I wouldn’t have shit to do all day but chores! Screw that!

[NurseJackie]

50. Yes! Thank you!

[mountain grammy]

67. I know, right?

Pretty sure I'm occasionally guilty of this, but don't mean to be. It is funny

[40RatRod]

78. Agree!

[GusBob]

121. Yay you

[Mersky]

12. Never joined & never will

Last edited Fri Nov 22, 2019, 05:31 PM - Edit history (1)

I pissed off a couple of economic professors by interjecting questions about the effect of asymmetric information on value creation. Felt that the use of data was so uneven along ethnic and class lines vs. marketing, that when FB really started to takeoff it just made me shudder. At that time, I really just thought it would lead to buying nutritionally worthless foods to higher degrees, and all manner of wasteful doodads, etc. driven by psychometric marketing tactics. The snowballing of political machinations and malicious propaganda has been way worse than anything I imagined back then.

These days when I’m asked if I am on FB, I say: no, never joined. I have a degree in economics and know better.

I’ve missed out on a lot as a result, but meh, I’m fine with that.

[lagomorph777]

47. Ditto. Everything I see about it disgusts or frightens me.

I hear relatives quoting things from it and NO THANKS! Even outside of politics, it seems to be a cesspool.

[ToxMarz]

61. Yeah, I cringed last time I had dinner with my sister in law

And she proudly proclaimed she had canceled her subscription to the newspaper because she gets "all of the news" on Facebook anyway. Ugh!

[grantcart]

163. +1

[braddy]

16. No Facebook.

[evertonfc]

17. Hell No!

and leave the worlds largest platform to right wingers to spout thier garbage to a billion people? I'm going to stay any fight. Leaving does nothing but leave our side with one less voice.

[Mersky]

18. Good point. Even if I've chosen differently.

I’ll ponder this further, as the hearings so illuminated the divide of information in the country. Eh, challenges assumptions of what works.

I guess I’m tracking on face to face interactions with people I some kind of influence with.

So, hey, keep up the good fight, if it’s working for you.

They’re pretty darn objectionable, though. Did they really need to sponsor the federalist society event featuring kavanaugh?

[Dream Girl]

21. As I mentioned, people will find excuses and justifications to stay on...

[ismnotwasm]

24. Are those people, in your opinion

Also lazy and selfish? Edit What about Instagram? Should we delete that as well?

Edit; as well as those platforms?

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/051815/top-11-companies-owned-facebook.asp

[SlogginThroughIt]

26. Maybe we should take a peek

Maybe we should take a peek into your life and admonish you and call you names for the things we think you shouldn’t be doing?

[atreides1]

36. Exactly

You make a good point.

[SMC22307]

144. I rescued a dog on death row because of a Guardians of Rescue post on Facebook.

Animal rescue is a pretty big "excuse" to stay on. It's also a great place to smack down right-wingers. Why let them take over the platform?

[dustyscamp]

23. If all the Dems leave facebook who will challenge the Cons and their talking points?

Not to mention if they ever threatened someone on their with violence or left a message that they're going to go out and kill people who would report them?

[rockfordfile]

96. No it's not the "worlds largest platform" More like a platform for traitors

[proud patriot]

112. Bingo

you made the point better than I.

[obamanut2012]

19. no

[dustyscamp]

22. I have several Maga family and friends that I'm still friends with on facebook

I've stopped trying to convert the really deep ones in the group, but I still enjoy talking about things outside of politics with them. Some of my older relatives still aren't used to using smartphones and prefer to talk to long distance relatives through facebook so I don't really want to cut them off yet. I think it is also good to keep track of the loony ones just in case they decide to write a very threatening comment directed at themselves or others. Some recent mass shooters have posted on social media with their intent to do harm to others and hardly anyone reported them for that so if a friend or a family member does something similar I would report them to the police instead of sitting there one day and seeing them on tv.

[lagomorph777]

46. You have MAGAt friends and you are monitoring them in case they become active shooters?

Holy shit that's scary. One more reason to break ties and get off Falsebook.

[dustyscamp]

62. I've known some of them since Middle school and they've only started showing their Maga colors after

Trump became President. They were good people back then and I still believe deep down they are good people. It's just that Trump and & RW media has twisted them over the years to hate Immigrants and what the Democratic party stands for. It really hurts that they became that way and I want to try to cure them of their Maga disease or at least try to give them another perspective on things. Some of my Maga friends have also had suicidal moments in the past and it doesn't help that Trump gets them riled up against their fellow Americans I'm worried that one day they will do something that will put them on tv.

[Odoreida]

28. If you care about personal data security, period.

I've been off Facebook since long before the current controversy for that reason.

[klook]

51. +1.

Many couldn't care less about their privacy, which works out great for Facebook, Google, and other data miners.

I've been hiding my real identity on line since the beginning, and throwing sand in the gears now and then. Obfuscation is a great handbook for creative disruption.

[LaurenOlimina]

29. Agreed, but...

To effectively get people off the service, you need to combat the network effect that makes it popular/necessary for some people. What is a good alternative, something you can migrate your group to en masse.

I've struggled with this. For me, it would mean losing access to my social circle and event calendar.

[grumpyduck]

30. Never needed it.

Still don't.

[Ferrets are Cool]

32. Ok, but you have to do something for me in exchange...

pay ALL my bills, including a house payment, power bill, water and sewage, but my groceries and all the other things that I purchase with the money that gets into my bank account partially because I am ON FB.
All things are NOT black and white.

[lagomorph777]

44. Are you saying Facebook pays you?

In Roubles?

[Ferrets are Cool]

126. Not that I should have to actually explain this to you since you are being

intentionally obtuse, but, the work I do as a contractor DEPENDS on the contacts I have on FB. I would take a major hit in my pocketbook if I were to shut it off. While I do NOTHING personal on FB, that is certainly NONE of your business.
Have a wonderful day

[lagomorph777]

180. You brought it up, not me.

I wouldn't trust Falsebook with my money any more than I trust them with my personal info. I also distrust them because they are knowingly making money from Russiapublican lies.

[unitedwethrive]

33. Every time I see misleading or blatantly false post, I call it out.

I have absolutely seen a difference in what my Facebook friends will share/re-post by constantly monitoring the sources they use. I’m in the camp that it is important to stay and call out lies.

In order to avoid giving Facebook any additional revenue, I never, ever click on ads while using their site. If I see something that looks interesting, I will make a note of it and then go to it later on a separate web browser.

[redstatebluegirl]

38. If you want to get off facebook for those reasons then Twitter needs to go as well.

[NRaleighLiberal]

39. I'm not going to tell others what to do...

but when we turned off tv 10 years ago it made us much happier. when I shut my FB page down and deleted twitter a few months ago, made me even happier.

YMMV...it worked for me

[Turbineguy]

40. Post this on FB instead.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142399182

[42bambi]

42. Yep, that's exactly what I did over a year ago. Now everyone

knows where my heart and soul is. Since then, nary a peep about politics!

[Joe941]

41. Good luck trying to convince people to do that.

[lagomorph777]

43. +1 It's Putin's favorite media outlet.

Might as well be RT.

[kimbutgar]

45. Done

I am not as active as I used to be and am weaning myself off even more. My 2020 resolution is to not look at it until ,after the election.

Take the pledge no Facebook in 2020. And turn all your posts to private.

[demmiblue]

48. Young people seem to be/have been giving it up. It is the older folks who haven't. n/t

[Moe Joe MoFo]

49. Sah-WEET Jesus Yes!

This should be in the "Greatest Threads" section.

[proud patriot]

52. I agree yet dissagree

if all the liberals leave then pukes win IMO ...

[rockfordfile]

95. Win what? Facebook is a un-American company

[proud patriot]

111. the message war their memes can't go unchallenged

and Yes facebook is anti democratic servant to the all mighty dollar ..

On this I don't dissagree ..

[extvbroadcaster]

53. What I notice about Facebook

What I notice about Facebook is that people finally wised up and rarely put much on it. It really has become "brag book" where people put pictures of their pets, vacation photos, new car, etc. Nobody puts their DUI mugshot. So it really is a useless platform really. People have gone to Instagram and Twitter, or just have ditched social media entirely. Remember, Facebook was originally for college students only and was about parties and getting laid. Now, it is a joke. Would you put anything really personal or bad on a platform you don't control (Zuckerberg controls it and your info)? Is that photo of you chugging malt liquor really something you want grandma to see? Forget it, delete your account or just let it be dormant.

[marlakay]

81. Facebook owns instagram

FYI...

[smirkymonkey]

54. I hate Facebook. I have hated it for a long time, before I even knew what a right-wing POS

Mark Zuckerberg was. I set up an account a long time ago, but haven't touched it in years and don't follow anyone, not even my own family (my dad, brothers and sister don't post, it's just my mom and sisters-in-law).

It has always annoyed me and stressed me out for some reason. I just never took to it, and now I actively despise the platform and its creator.

[ffr]

55. As a live human being, not an AI bot, I wholeheartedly agree. DONE!

[Tracer]

56. My son & daughter-in-law live many states away from me.

If I can see their happy faces in their pics on Facebook, I'll continue to go there.

Plus, my liberal writer son is very amusing. I don't like to miss his IQ45 zings.

I also have never seen any political ads, bots or RT propaganda, having turned on ad blockers to keep me sane.

[dameatball]

57. Got off a few years ago. Mostly had just used it for grandkids news and arguing with dumbass

relatives anyway. It probably just wasn't my cup of tea in the larger view. It wasn't difficult or dramatic getting off. More like hanging up the phone and realizing if you pick the phone back up the people you hung up on would still be there. Conversation could be resumeable. They might not even know I had been gone. Hah! Those of you who still have land lines will understand the analogy.... I think.

[Nature Man]

58. Agreed

There really isn't anything that compelling or interesting about it.

I get that people will twist themselves up in knots to rationalize and justify using FB ("I only use it responsibly" or "blah blah blah&quot , but keep in mind the original purpose of a thing doesn't account for what it will be used for later.

[Chakaconcarne]

59. I'll continue to occupy space on their servers...

But I can't honestly remember the last time I poked around Facebook... probably 2 years. For all the reasons above.

Does that count for boycotting?

[phleshdef]

60. Nah, I think I'll skip out on the meaningless virtue signaling and keep my FB account.

I enjoy keeping up with my friends through Facebook and I REALLY enjoy handing right wingers their asses there as well.

[MineralMan]

63. Let me just check:

Care about democracy? Check. I've been working to elect Democrats since 1960, when I was a high school sophomore, volunteering for JFK. I've been on DU, pushing GOTV efforts since 2008, and have a six figure posting count from doing that.

Keeping in touch with loved ones? Check. Facebook is the only place my 95 year old parents can see their grandchildren, when someone shows them the family page. Nobody but family has access to it. Cost? $0.00

Don't look at the newsfeed? Check! The Don't Show Me This Ad gets clicked all the time. I don't see anything political on my home feed any more.

Am I culpable? Nope. Culpable for what? Responsible for what? I don't contribute any political stuff. I don't read any political stuff. I don't click ANY ads on Facebook, nor do I look at clickbait posts. Facebook gets not a penny from me, directly or indirectly. I don't support Facebook. I just use its free services.

Feeble, lame, despicable excuses? Nope. I just don't take orders from DUers whose names I don't even recognize. Ever. And I did check to see how often you post here. Not very. I don't see where you get off telling me or anyone else on DU what they should do outside of DU.

Can you explain where you think that authority came from? If so, please do. Tell me why I should do what you tell me to do. Telll me who you are and what gives you special powers here.

Thanks.

[Adsos Letter]

74. I endorse this message .

Well said MineralMan.

[MineralMan]

77. Thanks.

[Tipperary]

148. Boom!

I never was on Facebook, but some random person telling others what to do and calling names while doing so is really amusing.

[Pendrench]

65. Hi Dream Girl - I can only share my own personal point of view, but I actually found Facebook to be

extremely vital in finding birth relatives for my adopted daughter.

We adopted her from a Latvian orphanage when she was 9 months old, and we had very little documentation. By sharing what little we had via Facebook, we were able to track down not only her mother, but 2 of her siblings as well. Those who helped us do so were simply ordinary people who shared our search with others, and eventually a young woman from Rēzekne contacted us with the information that we needed. Our daughter is now especially close to her one sister, whom I doubt that she would have met any other way without utilizing the reach of Facebook.

Again, this is just my own personal experience.

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss this.

Wishing you well and peace.

Tim

[marlakay]

85. For all the bad they do there is so much good to

I have made online friends from across the world who I never would have met in person.

A few I actually met on other sites but asked me if I was on FB, few I met in person traveling same thing.

Its sort of the go to place until they create a better one.

[Pendrench]

117. Hi marlakay - Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post.

I agree - as with most things, there is a level of good and bad, and while not denying the downside of Facebook (and social media in general) it does provide the ability to contact and stay connected with people we might not be able to do so under other circumstances.

Best to you!

Tim

[TryLogic]

69. I would love to, but...

I have yet to find a feasible alternative.

I have never provided my correct birth date.
I have mistakenly clicked on a couple of ads recently. No more of that!
I refuse to click on or respond to the little surveys and gimmick quizzes.

While we're are at it how about boycotting anything FOX, including sports??
Good luck with that also.

We can at least minimize use of both and be very wary of them.

And support causes and candidates that are favorable.

[nini]

70. What type of device did you use to post this?

Are you not worried about electronic pollution and how that affects climate change?

Is your internet provider a clean company? Are your calls and texts safe?

Was your computer/phone made without cheap labor?

My God..we can go on forever with all this.

While Facebook is a POS - let people decide what they want to do.

[progressoid]

71. And the alternative is...?

I'm currently in four different Facebook groups for our local Democrats and lgbtq rights groups. Two are public, and two are private. They are a convenient and effective way to coordinate our efforts. We also use Twitter and Instagram but they aren't nearly as effective since not everyone uses those.

If it weren't for Facebook, we wouldn't have known that the Trumpers we're going to stage a protest at our local Democratic Representative's office. Through Facebook we are able to coordinate and stage a counter-protest and drown them out!

[calguy]

72. How to make money on Facebook

1. Go to account settings
2. Click on "delete my account"
3. Go get a job

[onlyadream]

73. I use facebook to troll Lee Zelin's page

He's my rep and he posts the absolute worst stuff. I dive right in and have my say. I know there's no changing the minds of those that follow him, saying "Great job, Lee!", but since he actually has said in a recent article that his constituents are against the impeachment, I feel it's my duty to let him know that we ARE out there as well. The good news is that lately there's more people on our side posting.

I have called his office, but it ALWAYS goes to voicemail.

I also use it for my advertising my company...and watching cat videos.

[donkeypoofed]

75. Zuckerberg is a BAD man !

He calls FB users "dumb fucks". Why? Because they give him a bunch of personal info, for free, and they're nothing but commodities to him. Commodities get sold! Zuckerberg even lobbied last year to get access to users' friggin bank account info! He cannot be trusted. No FB for me, never ever.

[40RatRod]

79. This thread has been interesting but now that I have read it,

I think I will checkout Facebook and see if I have any likes. LOL.

[Kaleva]

80. I would argue that getting off Facebook would be something someone who doesn't care would do.

Because it's just a feel good exercise that doesn't accomplish anything.

[NurseJackie]

82. Is there some "Official Guidebook" of all thing things I'm not supposed to do, eat, buy, drink...

Is there some "Official Guidebook" of all thing things I'm not supposed to do, eat, buy, drink, wear, drive, plug-in, visit, watch, use, open, listen-to, ride in, ride on, fly-in, cheer-for, attend, cook with, cook on, cook in, stand next to, smell, wash with, paint with, repair with, type with, type on, listen with, play, sing, take, look at...

It's all so confusing. It's very hard trying to be a "Good Democrat" who can measure-up to such high standards.

[MineralMan]

100. There is, but you're not allowed to read it.

Sorry...

[NurseJackie]

106. Because it's sold exclusively on AMAZON!!

[MineralMan]

116. LOL!

[NurseJackie]

129. Add TCM to the list because of Dennis Miller.

[GusBob]

125. 2 DUers walk into a bar

Bartender goes one of you is not welcome here

[miyazaki]

131. We'd have to live in a cave and eat grass

if we lived by everything boycotted here.

I still remember a thread many years back that essentially proclaimed you are an asshole if you drank coke.

[Codeine]

160. You are an asshole if you drink Coke.

Full disclosure, I work for 7Up.

[Dream Girl]

136. Follow your conscience

[NurseJackie]

164. Yes, of course. But since I'm not omnipotent, there really needs to be an authoritative list...

Yes, of course. But since I'm not omnipotent, there really needs to be an authoritative list of all the bad-guys and evil corporations and dangerous products.

[Codeine]

158. Your Facebook good wishes to Aunt Edna

on her 87th birthday basically elected Trump, evidently. Didn’t make much sense to me either, to be honest.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

184. :-)

[cwydro]

171. Lol!

Exactly!

[XRubicon]

83. Normal people don't scream their political beliefs at work or to family in person

Facebook is a public place but is not treated that way. I deleted my account a year ago.

I was tired of coworkers and relatives spouting political crap in public. In public places I don't go on about my opinions on politics, guns, abortion, religion, etc but they sure did- it was 99% right wing crap.

All of the young people I know don't use facebook anymore, they are on instagram, snapchat, and others us old people don't know about yet.

Facebook is dominated by right wing mouth breathers now.

[sprinkleeninow]

84. Never on it, never will. Same goes for twitter, instagram and all the rest. Phooey! eom

[infullview]

87. I have a FB account

it's full of disinformation about who I am. The only reason I created the account was to gain access to others. NEVER NEVER NEVER use unified logins - when you create a new account, use your email and a password. NEVER use your FB/twitter/Google account for access to anything. This allows them to tie all this information on the other accounts together and profile your life!

[Kaleva]

92. I lurk on Facebook using my alias's account.

My alias has it's own mailing address, cell phone number, Facebook account, email address and uses non-reloadable cards or gift cards purchased at Family Dollar or Dollar General when making on line purchases. My alias has accounts at Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Lowes and Amazon websites.

[KG]

89. heh. nope.

it's never explained how my using FB is going to end the world, but you be you.

[randr]

90. For all the good reasons to use FB

Aren't their just as convenient other tools?Doesn't a personal web site allow you to build the same networks?

[Marengo]

91. Revoke party card if refuse? Yet another effing commissar.

[Kahuna7]

93. I'm on facebook and I didn't pay attention to the anti-Clinton propaganda...

And for the record the only anti-Clinton propaganda I saw was being pushed by so-called Democrats.

[Jirel]

97. You're wrong about this. There are better ways to resist and stick it to Facebook.

Like it or not, Facebarf has basically become a common carrier and virtually everyone is on it. That include organizations that do important work, and that have large followings. Some of us who administer one or more such pages literally don't have the luxury of getting off Facebarf. So we have much better ways to resist.

1. Never, ever use Marketplace or any other service (like the apps) that Facebarf offers. No revenue stream for them.

2. Block all ads. Actually, the way you do this is to REPORT all ads. When you do that, choose anything from "Spam" to "False News" to "Misleading or Scam" - whichever amuses you most and fits best. Then, from within the link telling you why you've been advertised to, block that advertiser permanently. I have over 20,000 advertisers blocked. It's fun. Make it a competition in your household. Every time you report, you COST them money. You may even be able to get some objectionable content off the air. Eventually you barely get any ads. Oh, and if you have "liked" any business that has advertised to you, unlike and block.

3. Block all apps that show up on your radar.

4. Never play any of the stupid meme games (personality quizzes, the 10 year challenge and similar crap, etc.).

5. Remove all personal information from your profile. This includes your phone number, family, work, school, etc. Listen, ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW YOU don't need this crap to look you up. If they want to communicate with you, and your name happens to be John Smith or something similar, you are capable of sending them a link or contacting them through FB. This information is used, however, by Facebarf and its advertisers.

6. Go to your ad preferences about one every week or two. You'll find that you have had "Interests" assigned to you (some are hilarious). Remove them. Similarly, you'll have advertisers you've interacted with, or who have downloaded data to spam you. Block them all.

7. Occasionally post tips like these to all your friends, reminding them to cause similar consternation by being a non-revenue user.

There is more than this, but you can totally use Facebarf for what YOU want to use it for, and frustrate their revenue and data model while you're at it.

[nini]

105. That's the way I use it too

Good tips for everyone.

[pintobean]

102. You're trying to guilt me into dropping Facebook?

I don't need an excuse, and I don't do peer pressure.

[Autumn]

108. No. I care about democracy, and I enjoy Facebook! Period.

[XRubicon]

109. Watching "The Feed" on Amazon Prime

Very good so far.

It can't happen here, right?


http://www.tvworthwatching.com/BlogPostDetails.aspx?postId=19169

[scrabblequeen40]

113. Lived most of my life without FB

Mark Zuckerberg's college project is a menace to democracy and he doesn't care to fix its flaws. So yes, I don't need him in my life.

[Progressive Jones]

118. My use of Facebook is strictly to promote my music ventures. It works for me. nt

[GusBob]

120. Make me

Sorry you cant

2 groups of nannies dont run my life

The liberal purity ring

And the chap ass conservatives

[Dream Girl]

153. I'm not making you do anything

Read my post. It was conditional. If you don’t care about democracy, please continue using it.

[GusBob]

168. Please read my post as I only have 20 minutes of internet

Before I start another 14 hour shift.I live and work in remote areas across the globe. Often no phone service. Mail takes weeks to month

I do a job very few people are able to perform in places very few people would choose to live. I bet you couldnt hack it a minute

Yes I am proud to work with Indigenous peoples and fight for their rights and freedoms among other challenges

Mark that word, Freedom. As in freedom of speech

FB keeps me in touch with friends coworkers natives and family across the globe.

Those are my conditions

[Buckeyeblue]

122. I had to get off in 2012.

My wife pleaded with me to not call out family and other people we know who posted bullshit about Obama. So I deleted my profile. And have not missed Facebook since since then.

[Kurt V.]

127. no. bc i actively participate in the destruction of truth AND brag about it!!

[blueinredohio]

130. Amen, Dream Girl. Agree a million percent.

[Mike Nelson]

132. Sorry...

... my ResitTrump friends and I connect on Facebook! You never know what you'll see there...

[link:https://www.facebook.com/democraticunderground/|

[malaise]

134. Never joined

[malaise]

135. Never joined

[DinahMoeHum]

150. Me neither. Same thing for Twitter.

I don't swim in dirty water.

[Dream Girl]

137. Some of us care more about our convenience and pet projects than what FB is doing to this country

Rationalize and justify al you want, but that is the bottom line.

[LeftInTX]

138. Please tell all the elected Democrats to get off Facebook - Thank You!

I'm sure they will listen to you! I'm not going to bother them, but you are more than welcome.

https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethWarren/

https://www.facebook.com/berniesanders/

https://www.facebook.com/joebiden/

https://www.facebook.com/KamalaHarris/

https://www.facebook.com/amyklobuchar/

https://www.facebook.com/corybooker/

https://www.facebook.com/pelosiforcongress/

https://www.facebook.com/AdamSchiffCA/

https://www.facebook.com/OcasioCortez/

https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/

Every single Democrat is on Facebook

[Tipperary]

149. Perhaps the op can call them names also.

As did the post she keeps referring to.

[Captain Stern]

139. No.

I care about our country, and I'm still going to use Facebook.

I don't care all that much if you think my reasons for using it are 'lame despicable excuses'.

Reasons and excuses are not the same thing.

[California_Republic]

140. I don't think we can completely abandon it

I don’t think we can completely abandon it.

I have no objection to some DU members remaining on Facebook to monitor activity, to object to their propaganda and to fight back.

[Polybius]

142. I'm not gonna give it up unless you can replace it with something else

It's fun and I get enjoyment out of it, just like I'm not gonna give up a particular store based on who the owner voted for.

[RobinA]

143. A Healthy Democracy

should be able to survive Facebook. If Facebook is truly a problem, we need to ask how that happened and fix it.

[greyl]

146. * nt

[Codeine]

151. If you care about the environment, get out of your car. Period.

I don't care how "convenient" or how great it is for "getting to work so you don’t end up homeless". Or if you "don’t idle at the drive-thru". These are just lame excuses... Just get the f**k out! If you don't you are culpable by your actions. You are responsible They brought us global warming and they are going to be an instrument of our destruction. No more feeble, lame despicable excuses!

[Dream Girl]

152. I don't own a car

[Codeine]

157. It wasn't about your car or lack thereof,

it was pointing out the ridiculousness of absolutism and shouted demands.

Besides, I don’t buy into the narrative that Facebook decided the election. White people afraid of changing demographics and the backlash against the inevitable watering down of their power monopoly decided the election. Facebook was just background noise.

[Dream Girl]

159. No one is demanding anything. My post was conditional. If you care about truth and democracy

Get off. If it doesn’t matter, please proceed. But people shouldn’t kid themselves and justify their use of it. It’s pretty clear wat they are about and how they are damaging democracy and the rise of the right wing not just in the US but around the world.

[Codeine]

162. I care about both

and have no intention of deleting my account. I don’t accept the basic premise of your argument, nor do I believe that my use of the platform (or my boycotting of the platform) impacts anything in the slightest.

[JonLP24]

179. Cambridge Analytica was able to specifically target "persuadables"

they were able to come up with complete psychological profiles based on likes and was able to bombard persuadables with anti Clinton ads. Cambridge Analytica did the same thing for Brexit and they won both races.

[EX500rider]

173. But unless you live in a cabin in the woods off the grid and don't use the fireplace or woodstove..

...you also contribute to the end of the world!
What, that sounds silly and over the top....hmmm

[JonLP24]

178. I only use my car for grocery shopping

It is too much to carry groceries on the light rail but my car mostly sits in the parking lot. I also quit eating meat partly for environmental reasons so I'm willing to give up things for a good cause.

[customerserviceguy]

155. It's too late

Many people are absolutely addicted to technologies that didn't exist 20-25 years ago.

I haven't been posting much here lately, because my lady has been in the hospital since the 15th, but every time I go to visit her, there are young people in scrubs staring intently at their smartphones while walking down the hallways. When I leave her room at nights to use the restroom down the hall, nurses and techs are behind desks looking at their screens all the time, too.

I don't have a Twitter or Instagram, etc. account, I only use Facebook in my genealogical research (it's amazing what people will blab about), and I refuse to text. Sure, I check news and sports scores on my smartphone, but when a person to talk to comes near, I always put it away, unless I have a picture relevant to the conversation to show them.

But, I'm 64, and one of those old fogeys who doesn't "get it", and am dismissed with an "OK Boomer" by the people whose lives have been totally absorbed by technology, the way my parents' generation worried about me getting hooked on drugs in the 1970's.

[Dream Girl]

156. Actually it seems to be us old fogeys who have the hardest time leaving facebook

It took them longer to get on it and now that they’re on it, you’d have to pry it from their cold, dead hands. I work with lots of younger people in a tech company and they are on to the next thing and wouldn’t be caught dead on Facebook.they derisively refer to it as Fakebook or “Mombook”

[customerserviceguy]

161. Good point

A lot of them see it as a "free" version of Grandma's Brag Book. One of our friends constantly puts up pictures of her three grandchildren, cataloging every "cute" thing they do. It gets tiresome, I just delete emails from FB from her, and most from a lot of other people, too.

[LeftInTX]

167. The nurses and techs are behind computer screens because they are charting.

It's no fun, but the job demands electronic records now.

They are probably doing other work related stuff behind the screen, such as acuities, bed counts, and telemetry etc

Cell phones have probably replaced pagers. Records and consults are probably going on real time between doctors.

[customerserviceguy]

175. I'm sorry

that I didn't make myself clear. They were on smartphones, not full-sized computer screens.

[Turin_C3PO]

170. Most nurses and techs

do their job. They’re not spending the shift wasting time on social media.

[customerserviceguy]

176. See my response above

And this applies to the people working the night shift, when most patients are asleep.

[Hotler]

166. and Linkedin...another wate land. nt

[New Breed Leader]

172. No.

don't tell me what to do.

[ehrnst]

181. That was a bit over the top.

No one is telling "you" what to do.

[Dream Girl]

185. If you concern about Democracy is less than your enjoyment of Facebook, you have my permission to

stay on the platform. Your choice, but you will need to ask yourself that question.

[whistler162]

182. Jawohl!