19 replies to this topic

[OhioGuy]

I do have a Facebook account but only have a few close contacts, mostly family but I have to laugh at one of my contacts on there who feels they need to orchestrate every second of their life on their timeline. They have a narcissistic (look it up) personality and it drives me batty because I am such the opposite so I can't relate to that. I'm sure most people on Facebook has at least one contact like this.

Although I like to play Word with Friends with a few relatives, I really do chalk the whole thing up as a waste of time. It's just one more form of entertainment but some spend way too much time there, almost like a lifeline.

I guess it's good for keeping contact with distant relatives and friends but to me the whole thing is extremely overrated.

Your thoughts...

[Lao]

Keep in touch with close friends and relatives, yes... but everything else attached, total waste of time. To be honest, I only log on 3 times a month... maybe 5 around Holiday's.

[thefoolofemmaus]

I suppose that depends on your definition of "waste of time", which I totally get sounds a lot like "could you define 'is'" from the previous decade, but hear me out. I use facebook primarily as a distribution tool for the funny and interesting things I find on my journey through the internet. Especially interesting ITS articles, news reports I want to discuss, funny youtube videos, they all go on facebook for me because that's much easier and quicker than maintaining an email list of people who enjoy that kind of thing.

Perhaps a lot of other people would consider all of those things a waste of time, but not me. I enjoy the discussions such things prompt, especially since I don't get much other interaction with a number of people I talk to there as when we see each other we're too busy catching up and generally enjoying each other's company to discuss the latest funny cat video.

Facebook, your forum of choice, whatever, they're all just tools. It's what you use them for that makes them a waste of time or not.

[DStevenson]

I use Facebook as a means of keeping up with my buddies from the service, from college, and family... pretty much in that order.
It allows me to network with them even when its difficult for them to find time to access a computer.

I also use it to follow companies I'm interested in.  Chris Costa, LaRue, ITS Tactical, etc.

[Highwaystreets]

Almost weekly I debate deleting my account as it makes me angry, hahah. Why do i care about what a guy I had 1 science class with in high school is doing on a Thursday night?

I get it for keeping in touch with those you actually want to keep in touch, those overseas and such like I do.

Like Stevenson said I also like for keeping track of companies and causes I support as sometimes they offer Facebook only coupons and sales.

[sgcaper]

Here's the thing about Facebook, you don't have to "friend" anyone. That guy you had 1 science class with in high school, well you had to add them to see what they post. So who's really to blame there. Same with anyone you think is "wasting your time" that's all on you. And that's the beauty of Facebook. What you see is what YOU ask to see. I use facebook daily. I've used it from the start when you had to still be a student and could only sign up with a student email. I use it to keep in touch with friends, family, etc. Being in NYC it really is a required part of life. I also follow my favorite bands, companies, etc. Facebook is also an interesting view into humanity and the human psyche.

Facebook isn't for everyone. It's not. Just like most things. And that's cool. It really is. But I know for me and my circle of friends and where I live it's become a vital part of social life, and I mean a real social life with real people not just online. It's how we organize where we're going and what not. Works for us.

[OhioGuy]

I've "muted" family members before because they became too annoying. Shhh....

I'd love to add a few friends I work with but the trouble with that is my employer might see posts from me, or my friends, or from "friends of friends" and no matter how well you "think" you have your privacy settings adjusted, Facebook changes so much it's difficult to know. I don't want to say the wrong thing and have it used against me, especially with an employer. So, I can't add anyone from work, no way.

So my list consists of a mere 27 contacts which are mostly family, or friends of the family. That narcissist contact I was talking about has...... 823 contacts. Hey, if it makes them feel better that's cool but I think it's rather ridiculous. Who knows 823 people? Really? What percentage of those 823 contacts do they really communicate with? There are some people who have to be in the business of knowing what's going on with practically everybody. Like I said, I just can't relate to that. I don't CARE if David from my old high school is baking cookies today. This senseless information world we live in today is slowly numbing our minds and filling them with useless clutter.

Am I the only one who thinks this way?

[DStevenson]

No you're certainly not the only one that thinks that way but I would be curious to try Davids cookies, please let me know when he bakes some new ones =D

[OhioGuy]

LOL! You should try his brownies!

[davis.agd]

It's a waste of human time if you let it be. I use it as a tool to keep in contact with people that I otherwise would not do a good job of keeping up with as well as following the ongoings of ITS and other public entities I enjoy, so for me in that way it is not a waste of my time. But when people "check in" at a restaurant or airport or [insert who gives a shit here], or they post WTF they had for dinner, then it because a waste of human time.

[Ariffraff]

Facebook, yep I have 2 pages, one for keeping in touch with people and one for less "politically correct" activities. I tend to share news articles and such on the second one. I won't do it all on one page since hubby is active duty army and I don't want to get him i any trouble. The articles I share tend to have a hey open your eyes and see the forest for the trees bend to them.

[Rocketman_87]

I think I have more pages "liked" than actual "friends".. most of which are companies that cater to the like-minded here. The friends I have on there are mostly close friends that are stationed in different parts of the world, and it's easier to communicate than email, especially since I can simply share youtube videos, or pictures without having to open multiple windows to copy and past web addresses.
I've basically converted my Facebook into a more up to date version of Soldier Systems Daily... I normally see most products covered there on my Facebook before SSD. Not all, but a fair amount. As well as facebook discount codes from retailers like SKD or Tactical Distributors.. Not to mention the contests they have for helping them spread their pages around...
I haven't won anything yet, but it doesn't hurt to try.
It is what you make of it, I suppose.

[TearsOfNorris]

I stopped actively using Facebook a few years ago after I received a phone call out of the blue from an old college buddy from Bangladesh.  We were never that close, and I ended up having to report him to my security office as an unsolicited foreign contact.  After that, I decided it was better for both me and my friends if every detail of my life wasn't plastered all over the world-wide web (to the extent that anyone can avoid it these days).

[Armitage12]

I was an enthusiastic user for about two years, and then two things happened:  (a) people whom I thought were good friends turned out to be rather dangerous in their views about things, to the point that I realized it was toxic for me to remain in touch with them and share our life's experiences through updates (but I didn't want to ditch them with the "unfriend" feature--i needed them still as contacts for other reasons), and ( 2 )someone stalking my neighbors escalated his stalking to include finding out their Facebook friends and using those connections to get pictures of them--and when we became involved in the stalking as well, I realized my public profile was the sort of thing that could be used against me.  Yes yes, we did all the safety features that one is supposed to do, but so did the neighbors, and the guy still managed to get a picture from somewhere that was only behind the security wall too.  So I didn't close my account, but I did radically reevaluate whether it was worthwhile participating in something where so many could see so many things about me, and so many could be rude and insensitive without realizing how unthinking they really were being.  So I've traded one online world for several others, as in this site.

Edited by Armitage12, 21 January 2013 - 05:16 PM.

[KeithG077]

I agree facebook is a general waste of time and is nothing but a way for those people who have yet to grow up after high school to continue their stupid drama. I do use it to keep in contact with family in Kentucky and Alabama but honestly other than that i only browse it for Pro second amendment purposes

[TBlood]

It is an invaluable and powerful networking tool. I've been able to keep up some close service member buddies as well as family and friends. It also has a side that most people neglect: Very easily retrievable personal information is out there for anyone. And most people will simply "friend you" even if they don't you know. You can be socially engineered very quickly and someone can have all your pictures, age, e-mail addresses, street addresses, etc, in a very short amount of time. [rant over]

[bigfoot]

Eh, I ignored the whole MySpace craze, and dragged myself kicking and screaming onto Facebook a couple of years ago. It's been fun to get in touch with long-lost college buddies & friends, to see what distant family members are up to, and for keeping an eye out for gear sales, political stuff, etc. Other than sharing a few pictures with friends & relatives, or the random "private" message (likely not too private), we don't do much posting. I really don't need to let the world know how my morning went after AM coffee, or that today I took a shower after getting sweaty from yard work, or that tomorrow night is pizza night.

I, too, have toyed with the idea of totally closing out my Facebook account. But for right now the benefits seem to outweigh it. I never would have gotten in touch with that college buddy and known he was stationed nearby if it likely wasn't for FB.

[mangeface]

Waste of time to me, but every time I delete mine people seem to come screaming and banging at my door.

I just use mine to upload pictures and a post here and there so people seemingly know I'm alive.

[Knytemare]

I think that all things in moderation is a decent motto.  As long as it doesn't consume your life and you keep your security settings  in place, Facebook can be a wonderful and fun tool.

[nroeber78]

+1 for everything in moderation!