Facebook being down will be a net positive for society

[ColinC]

Most people will have to rely on actual news as opposed to regurgitated conspiracy theories and manufactured disinformation. They will be forced to call their loved ones and have actually conversations, and maybe even go outside. We are getting a glimpse of a facebook-less world, and it is amazing.

[hurple]

1. Oh Dear Lord...

It's only been a few hours...

[ColinC]

2. A beautiful, amazing few hours!

[hurple]

10. Oh yes...

The flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping, those yesterday anti-vaxxers are flooding into their local Walgreens and Biden's approval rating jumped to 90%.

Puh-leeze...

All this caused was a surge in reddit, 4chan, and youtube traffic.

[ColinC]

11. Half the people who this effects don't even know what a reddit or 4chan, is

[PortTack]

3. Oh yes!! Love it

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. It's actually hurtful for a lot of people as well -- for many, whatsapp and messenger are some

of the only ways to stay in touch with friends and family in other countries. A lot of mutual aid and organizing is done on Facebook.

[regnaD kciN]

6. Indeed, plus...

….”now people will have to go outside and interact with other people” is a particularly moronic thing to be happy about during a global pandemic.

[ColinC]

9. If you are vaccinated, going outside is not such a dangerous thing.

If you are a moron who is not vaccinated, then going outside is particularly moronic, of course

To suggest that at this point, with billions of vaccines administered, that there is not a way to responsibly interact with people in-person, is a bit crazy.

[ColinC]

7. There are alternatives that should be considered

Such as Google. There is still, I believe, a social networking option on Google that many can divert to. Skype too.

[Takket]

27. telephones still exist for someone that is being "hurt" because they can't message someone for a few

hours.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

31. You might not know this, but in many parts of the world communication issues make things

like the calling functions on Facebook and Whatsapp the best ways to stay in touch with family back home. You may not think that not being able to communicate with loved ones isn't painful, but I can assure you it very much is.

[ColinC]

33. There are a ton of alternatives

Google voice, zoom, and skype are only three of many.

Why in the world do we think that we need to rely on a site that lost 1.5 billion peoples' information to hackers, is making money off of selling your personal information daily, and has admitted to trying to overthrow our government and actively disseminate disinformation?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

53. Alternatives exist, but they're not nearly as easy to access in many parts of the world.

I'm also not saying Facebook isn't a terrible company that needs to be regulated better. All tech companies -- including google, zoom and skype -- are hot garbage in their own ways when it comes to privacy and data. My comments are to remind people that Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp are a lot more than people posting boomer memes, photos of their food and frivolous texting.

[Takket]

57. For SIX HOURS????????????? LOL Seriously???

Honestly, do people call back home every five hours and are in pain right now because they can't talk through facebook?

If you have facebook you have e-mail or a phone (hint: you need an e-mail address or phone number to log into facebook, so if you are on facebook, you obviously have one of these things), if you really can't go five hours without calling back home you can e-mail someone. Or call them. The vast majority of people of facebook and its apps access them through cell phones which means what... That you have a phone!

It looks like facebook is back up now, so this minor inconvenience everyone has suffered is now coming to an end.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

58. Right, but communicating over Facebook or Whatsapp is cheaper -- it gets you more bang for your

buck, as in many countries, communications are bought in prepaid bundles. Whatsapp is super cheap on those plans -- people don't use cell service for direct dialing like they do in the U.S. It's a big world, but yes, it's a lot more fun to laugh at others who may be suffering because a vital communication platform is gone and there's no info on when it's coming back.

[Celerity]

30. My WhatsApp is working here in Sweden, Facebook is down here though

[FakeNoose]

5. Anybody who gets their "news" from Facebook - won't know the difference

Their bar is already so low that they can't distinguish between real news and total BS.

[ColinC]

8. The difference I think is that it will be slightly harder to get BS outside of facebook

[msongs]

12. one suspects many people would say the same thing if DU was down. doesnt make them

right however

[WhiskeyGrinder]

13. Heh.

[ColinC]

14. DU was not complicit in the attempted overthrow of our government

Nor the blatant and willful dissemination of misinformation and conspiracy theories. The comparison is absurd.

[Sympthsical]

20. Uh

If you think any social media isn't chock full of misinformation, just plain wrong stories, or heavily curated slants on things . . . I don't know what to tell you.

Just look at the front page, right now, at this moment. There's a post about how QAnon thinks FB down is because Zuckerberg wants to do nefarious X Thing. There are plenty of posts by posters saying they believe FB is down because Zuckerberg wants to do nefarious X Thing.

A cursory reading around of things (less than one minute effort) would show it's probably a massive DNS issue. Even FB's internals are down. Their own employees cannot work.

The entire internet requires a critical eye to navigate successfully. Yes, even friendly sites. Sometimes especially the friendly sites. Because then your defenses are down and you don't think very critically of what is being fed to you.

[ColinC]

21. Facebook is not "the entire internet"

It is currently one website that is largely responsible for the vast majority of misinformation that is spread, and any attempts to deflect to "well a lot of the internet is bad" is simply missing the point of how many people have been sucked into this single website and fooled into a world of delusions. If lost, it should not be mourned.

[lagomorph777]

40. Thank you.

[Sympthsical]

16. I'm really starting to wonder what people think FB is

The entire Internet is what you describe . . . if you go looking for it.

[ChazII]

17. For the last week

DU keeps sending me a message that the page needs to be reloaded. Makes me wonder what is happening here. While Facebook won't be a loss to most people here it is a loss for me. I belong to a few cancer and grief support groups. I don't rely on them for news. I just received word that my paternal uncle has passed so I am in a depressed mood. May everyone at DU have a good day.

[Goonch]

18. ;-{)🖖

[Binkie The Clown]

19. That's why I suspect benevolent space aliens took it down to save us from ourselves. nt

[Bucky]

24. 💛🤎💙💜 Thank you, space aliens... 🙏

Now I really do welcome our new robo-reptilian overlords

[Bucky]

22. I'm feeling less pugnacious already

It's sunny outside. The birds are chirping.

Maybe I'll go for a walk

[Liberty Belle]

23. I disagree.

Despite the obvious problems of disinformation, there is a LOT of good done on FB.

I cover a 2,000 square foot area of largely rural and mountain towns, as well as urban areas including a major city.

We see FB regularly used recently to:
1. Organize a woman's march Saturday that drew 10,000 people here
2. Keep communities informed through community FB pages about wildfires and storm damage in areas so remote that mainstream media doesn't get out there. These are the online equivalent of the town square, where people also share positive community news--local examples include efforts to build a performing arts amphitheater in a local mountain town, efforts to help a family that lost a home to a fire, tree plantings, park cleanup efforts, warning of mountain lion sightings, efforts to help those in need, and much more.
3. Organize help for Afghan refugee families arriving in our region, with donations of household goods
4. Inform people about community meetings, agenda items before local planning groups, and other civic engagement
5. Find lots of lost pets and reunited them with owners
6. Recruit people for fire safe councils and community emergency response teams
7. Report crimes and suspicious activities such as men stalking girls near schools (the Sheriff rarely bothers to report even such serious crimes), mail and package thieves, often with photos/videos, and more.
8. Enable community reporters to reach out to the public online during the pandemic to get quotes/reactions to breaking news
9. Inform neighbors/friends of memorial services, celebrations of life, and go fund me accounts for families when someone dies
10. Organize community clean-up efforts
11. As a reporter, I can share our own news reports on important topics such as who's eligible for booster shots and where to find them, debunk COVID myths, post links to nonpartisan candidate forums, and get far more readers learning these important things through people sharing widely on FB than the number of subscribers our publication has.

The government should step in and do more to encourage or require FB to block misinformation and accounts from Russian trolls etc. But we should not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

[ColinC]

25. I agree to an extent.

That extent being that until the government steps in more, the harm that is doing unfortunately seems to outweigh the good. I really don't believe that January 6 would have turned out the way it did without facebook.

[doc03]

28. I use it to communicate with my friends. If anyone shares

a Trump thread I put the original author on ignore. I rarely see anything supporting Trump. The only thing pissed me off is there could be a post about anything and someone will always make a comment about Biden or Socialism. I have never seen a Democrat start with politics. It's like anything else it is what you make it. I never share a political post even a Democratic one.

[GusBob]

29. Thank you

Our small rural remote mountainous community literally uses FB as a lifeline. There is no local newspaper or TV/radio station. All the stuff you mentioned and more. Extreme weather emergencies, fires, floods, water line breaks, wild animals on the prowl, rabies warnings, etc

With COVID it literally is a lifeline, as in saving lives.

As far as democracy: GOTV, vote collecting and full census count

[lagomorph777]

38. There's no internet? Only Falsebook?

That's really weird.

[GusBob]

47. Huh? I indicated there is no local media. Of course there is internet

Its an Native American Reservation. For some reason all the Natives employ the platform for just about every aspect of their society. They are not into twitter or any other platform really

Right now during COVID the local, on-the-ground information, up-to-date information is saving lives. You may find that weird or false?

Why

[lagomorph777]

48. As somebody who's never touched Falsebook, I didn't realize how far down the rabbit hole it's gone.

I use the Internet in general for information. But your local situation sounds very different from mine.

[GusBob]

50. Clearly

Its not about you, me, or the individual, but the whole community. All kinds of vital information is disseminated to just about all tribal members in real time.

Its an awesome tool

[doc03]

26. I am wondering what my one friend that posts his

every activity is going to do. I know what he does every day even where and what he eats. If he goes to the doctor he posts it, it would be a great source for a home break in.

[roamer65]

32. I agree.

[LeftInTX]

34. Yes and Fox News is also gone

So are all the RW sites like Townhall, Breitbart..you name it they're gone!

[lagomorph777]

36. Are you serious?

[LeftInTX]

39. No I'm not...I wish!

[lagomorph777]

41. Bummer.

[LeftInTX]

43. If all the RW sites were gone, it would be a Net Positive..

[lagomorph777]

45. Way better than Net Neutral!

[lagomorph777]

35. Obviously. There will be withdrawal symptoms for some, such as

sudden clear vision, elevated mood, and dumping of fake "friends". So be it.

[sakabatou]

37. I just use FB for posting fan art and news regarding the ATLA franchise*

*Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra

[tritsofme]

42. Is this post serious?

It was down for a few hours. The moral panic at this site over Facebook is ridiculous.

[LeftInTX]

46. I feel like it's the "Parents versus Dungeons and Dragons" hysteria at times.

[brooklynite]

44. "Most people will have to rely on actual news as opposed to regurgitated conspiracy theories"

You really believe that if Fox News shut down, its viewers would switch to "actual news"? How naive.

[ColinC]

49. Maybe a bit naive, but even fox news is a far more credible source of information

Than my Q anon uncle and the filth of disinformation sites spread through facebook. And fox is not a platform subscribed to by close to as many folks as Facebook.

[NurseJackie]

52. We seldom agree... but on this, we do.

[NurseJackie]

51. Oh brother!

Most people will have to rely on actual news as opposed to regurgitated conspiracy theories and manufactured disinformation. They will be forced to call their loved ones and have actually conversations, and maybe even go outside. We are getting a glimpse of a facebook-less world, and it is amazing.

This is a ridiculous and cynical description that does not match reality.

I have "actually" conversations all the time with my loved ones... on Facebook. Just because they're on Facebook doesn't mean that they're not ACTUAL conversations. The FB hatred is so absurd.

[Tree Lady]

54. I would be totally cool if the FB groups

I belong to moved to another venue, and there was another site for families to share photos. I would leave now if not for groups and family.

I do have friends in towns I use to live on posting pics of cool hikes and such enjoy that.

My step daughters friend started a group for cat memes and pics only after covid started and its been nice to have something relaxing to look at.

[LanternWaste]

55. Won't these same people simply find another site feeding them the same input?

I haven't seen any real difference with FB being down today.... except for increase in the amount of people asserting a real difference with FB being down today.

[lamp_shade]

56. It's back up. Thank goodness. [[[happy dance]]]