No Facebook account = you're a weirdo?
Discussion
Some Radio 4 item the other day seemed to imply that not subscribing to 'social media' marked you out as being a bit odd.
Maybe it's an 'age thing', but I remember a time when the British were quite partial to their privacy, and saw no reason to keep the world updated on what they ate for their tea etc.
Not having a F/B account, maybe I am a weirdo - am I alone?
Maybe it's an 'age thing', but I remember a time when the British were quite partial to their privacy, and saw no reason to keep the world updated on what they ate for their tea etc.
Not having a F/B account, maybe I am a weirdo - am I alone?
280E said:
Some Radio 4 item the other day seemed to imply that not subscribing to 'social media' marked you out as being a bit odd.
Maybe it's an 'age thing', but I remember a time when the British were quite partial to their privacy, and saw no reason to keep the world updated on what they ate for their tea etc.
Not having a F/B account, maybe I am a weirdo - am I alone?
No you're not, nor am I, neither on F/B, nor a weirdo IME.Maybe it's an 'age thing', but I remember a time when the British were quite partial to their privacy, and saw no reason to keep the world updated on what they ate for their tea etc.
Not having a F/B account, maybe I am a weirdo - am I alone?
I'm not particularly worried about my privacy, but like you, I don't get this idea of "checking in" from the Dog and Duck, and sending photos of my escargots or quinoa.
I don't give a rat's posterior about where someone is, or who they're with at any time.
Sure, I'll be interested and have a conversation about the craic that they had the other night with X, Y, and Z if they bring it up when I see them, but my world won't come to an end if it doesn't appear on my phone every minute that they're out.
I understand that there are a whole slew of people, particularly of the female persuasion, who don't seem to be able to live without it, and maybe I'm wrong in this, but when anyone says, "are you on Facebook?", my first thought is, "what am I, twelve?"
I went out with a bunch of friends a few months ago to a pub, we got a round in, bit of mindless chat at the bar waiting for our drinks then all sat at a big corner table. Instantly all the phones came out to take pics for facebook, everybody suddenly all arms around each other and huge smiles. It was all to show what a wonderful time we were all having but we hadn't actually had one yet, it's just a Pavlovian reaction that's fostered by social media neediness.
All just strikes me as false.
All just strikes me as false.
I must be on the weirdo list.
I don't have a Facebook account. Or Twitter or any of those other messaging accounts.
I don't own a mobile phone. When I first saw one, back in the old days when they were mere telephones, my first reaction was "Oh, it's got an off switch - what a good idea!"
I have never sent a text in my life and wouldn't know how to do it.
If I want to do computery stuff I have a very nice PC and an iPad.
I refuse to bank online, despite the protests of my local bank staff, even when I tell them that a good part of the reason is that I want to keep youngsters like them in employment.
For the same reason I refuse to use automated checkouts in supermarkets.
There is only one thing that concerns me. Is Pistonheads social media?
I don't have a Facebook account. Or Twitter or any of those other messaging accounts.
I don't own a mobile phone. When I first saw one, back in the old days when they were mere telephones, my first reaction was "Oh, it's got an off switch - what a good idea!"
I have never sent a text in my life and wouldn't know how to do it.
If I want to do computery stuff I have a very nice PC and an iPad.
I refuse to bank online, despite the protests of my local bank staff, even when I tell them that a good part of the reason is that I want to keep youngsters like them in employment.
For the same reason I refuse to use automated checkouts in supermarkets.
There is only one thing that concerns me. Is Pistonheads social media?
Edited by Roofless Toothless on Saturday 9th September 13:09
One interesting thing is that by 2030ish there will be more dead people on Facebook than living ones, and it will remain that way for as long as it is in common use. It will essentially become a memorial and one's online presence will be akin to hanging around with 'friends' in a cemetery.
FWIW - Perfectly well adjusted 38yo with wife and kids and decent job and no FB account. Don't think I'm too much of a weirdo, I just like my privacy.
FWIW - Perfectly well adjusted 38yo with wife and kids and decent job and no FB account. Don't think I'm too much of a weirdo, I just like my privacy.
Roofless Toothless said:
I must be on the weirdo list.
I don't have a Facebook account. Or Twitter or any of those other messaging accounts.
I don't own a mobile phone. When I first saw one, back in the old days when they were mere telephones, my first reaction was "Oh, it's got an off switch - what a good idea!"
I have never sent a text in my life and wouldn't know how to do it.
If I want to do computery stuff I have a very nice PC and an iPad.
I refuse to bank online, despite the protests of my local bank staff, even when I tell them that a good part of the reason is that I want to keep youngsters like them in employment.
For the same reason I refuse to use automated checkouts in supermarkets.
There is only one thing that concerns me. Is Pistonheads social media?
I can understand not wanting to subscribe to social media but intentionally withdrawing from the ability to contact the emergency services & family members in emergencies at the drop of a hat or massively stream line your day to day life via contactless payments, self check outs & online banking just strikes me as a bit odd & stubborn, for the sake of being stubborn. You even have an iPad and a desktop so that makes your archaic standpoint even stranger still. I don't have a Facebook account. Or Twitter or any of those other messaging accounts.
I don't own a mobile phone. When I first saw one, back in the old days when they were mere telephones, my first reaction was "Oh, it's got an off switch - what a good idea!"
I have never sent a text in my life and wouldn't know how to do it.
If I want to do computery stuff I have a very nice PC and an iPad.
I refuse to bank online, despite the protests of my local bank staff, even when I tell them that a good part of the reason is that I want to keep youngsters like them in employment.
For the same reason I refuse to use automated checkouts in supermarkets.
There is only one thing that concerns me. Is Pistonheads social media?
Edited by Roofless Toothless on Saturday 9th September 13:09
Eventually you will have no choice so you may as well embrace it.
Social media is what you make it, I have managed to contact old friends, discover extended family I never knew I had and share memories with people at the ease of a click. If you decide to spend every waking moment describing your bowel movements and checking in to your local ALDI then you were probably a bell end anyway.
Frank7 said:
No you're not, nor am I, neither on F/B, nor a weirdo IME.
I'm not particularly worried about my privacy, but like you, I don't get this idea of "checking in" from the Dog and Duck, and sending photos of my escargots or quinoa.
I don't give a rat's posterior about where someone is, or who they're with at any time.
Sure, I'll be interested and have a conversation about the craic that they had the other night with X, Y, and Z if they bring it up when I see them, but my world won't come to an end if it doesn't appear on my phone every minute that they're out.
I understand that there are a whole slew of people, particularly of the female persuasion, who don't seem to be able to live without it, and maybe I'm wrong in this, but when anyone says, "are you on Facebook?", my first thought is, "what am I, twelve?"
You've saved me the trouble of writing exactly that.I'm not particularly worried about my privacy, but like you, I don't get this idea of "checking in" from the Dog and Duck, and sending photos of my escargots or quinoa.
I don't give a rat's posterior about where someone is, or who they're with at any time.
Sure, I'll be interested and have a conversation about the craic that they had the other night with X, Y, and Z if they bring it up when I see them, but my world won't come to an end if it doesn't appear on my phone every minute that they're out.
I understand that there are a whole slew of people, particularly of the female persuasion, who don't seem to be able to live without it, and maybe I'm wrong in this, but when anyone says, "are you on Facebook?", my first thought is, "what am I, twelve?"
I am one of, if not the only one of my friends who have no snapchat, FB, Twitter, instagram, although I do have Whatsapp, granted most of them don't have FB; I do not want people to know where I am, what I'm doing, what I have had for dinner, etc, it's of no use to anyone.
In my 20's, if people ask I instantly think of MySpace and being 13 or something.
In my 20's, if people ask I instantly think of MySpace and being 13 or something.
Jimmy No Hands said:
Roofless Toothless said:
I must be on the weirdo list.
I don't have a Facebook account. Or Twitter or any of those other messaging accounts.
I don't own a mobile phone. When I first saw one, back in the old days when they were mere telephones, my first reaction was "Oh, it's got an off switch - what a good idea!"
I have never sent a text in my life and wouldn't know how to do it.
If I want to do computery stuff I have a very nice PC and an iPad.
I refuse to bank online, despite the protests of my local bank staff, even when I tell them that a good part of the reason is that I want to keep youngsters like them in employment.
For the same reason I refuse to use automated checkouts in supermarkets.
There is only one thing that concerns me. Is Pistonheads social media?
I can understand not wanting to subscribe to social media but intentionally withdrawing from the ability to contact the emergency services & family members in emergencies at the drop of a hat or massively stream line your day to day life via contactless payments, self check outs & online banking just strikes me as a bit odd & stubborn, for the sake of being stubborn. You even have an iPad and a desktop so that makes your archaic standpoint even stranger still. I don't have a Facebook account. Or Twitter or any of those other messaging accounts.
I don't own a mobile phone. When I first saw one, back in the old days when they were mere telephones, my first reaction was "Oh, it's got an off switch - what a good idea!"
I have never sent a text in my life and wouldn't know how to do it.
If I want to do computery stuff I have a very nice PC and an iPad.
I refuse to bank online, despite the protests of my local bank staff, even when I tell them that a good part of the reason is that I want to keep youngsters like them in employment.
For the same reason I refuse to use automated checkouts in supermarkets.
There is only one thing that concerns me. Is Pistonheads social media?
Edited by Roofless Toothless on Saturday 9th September 13:09
Eventually you will have no choice so you may as well embrace it.
Social media is what you make it, I have managed to contact old friends, discover extended family I never knew I had and share memories with people at the ease of a click. If you decide to spend every waking moment describing your bowel movements and checking in to your local ALDI then you were probably a bell end anyway.
Yep, that just about sums it up.
I'm 24 years old, my generation is responsible for all this social media craze.
I am not involved, I had a few social media accounts but in 2014 I closed them all down, as I was fed up of not having enough privacy and the petty arguments between friends had taken there toll.
Many people were upset when seeing me in real life, heartbroken that I had 'deleted' them from Facebook, when told I had removed it permanently, people couldn't understand why I do such a thing.
Now in 2017 being 24 years of age, when people ask what social media I am on etc, they simply think I am lying when I say I have no social media accounts whatsoever, many people believe I just don't want to 'add' or be friends with them.
TL;DR: I am 24 and have no social media and no one believes that it's possible to function without.
I am not involved, I had a few social media accounts but in 2014 I closed them all down, as I was fed up of not having enough privacy and the petty arguments between friends had taken there toll.
Many people were upset when seeing me in real life, heartbroken that I had 'deleted' them from Facebook, when told I had removed it permanently, people couldn't understand why I do such a thing.
Now in 2017 being 24 years of age, when people ask what social media I am on etc, they simply think I am lying when I say I have no social media accounts whatsoever, many people believe I just don't want to 'add' or be friends with them.
TL;DR: I am 24 and have no social media and no one believes that it's possible to function without.
Why do people continue to insist that admitting to usinfg social media means giving up their privacy?
Facebook allows you full control over the privacy settings allowing you to use it as you wish.
So many groups etc now rely on Facebook it would make my life much more difficult without it, I have no reason to post what I had for dinner or 'check in' though
Facebook allows you full control over the privacy settings allowing you to use it as you wish.
So many groups etc now rely on Facebook it would make my life much more difficult without it, I have no reason to post what I had for dinner or 'check in' though
LordHaveMurci said:
Why do people continue to insist that admitting to usinfg social media means giving up their privacy?
Facebook allows you full control over the privacy settings allowing you to use it as you wish.
So many groups etc now rely on Facebook it would make my life much more difficult without it, I have no reason to post what I had for dinner or 'check in' though
At the very least it means giving some personal details over to Facebook such as your friends list which if you think about it is quite revealing information, yes you have some control over privacy settings but mostly just regarding what other users see, it has nothing to do with what the company retains. Google are even more extensive and keep records on everything you do online and even IRL with location tracking etc, if you don't turn it off. Put it all together and you get a pretty complete picture of what's going on in someone's life or even mind. Again you can turn it off, but using these sites there's always a pressure not to do so because they rely on user data for revenue.Facebook allows you full control over the privacy settings allowing you to use it as you wish.
So many groups etc now rely on Facebook it would make my life much more difficult without it, I have no reason to post what I had for dinner or 'check in' though
Had one, got rid earlier this year.
It turned from being something to keep up with how friends and distant family were doing to a constant flow of digital one-upmanship and a gateway drug for converting normally rational people into full time keyboard/social justice warriors or hate spewing far left/far right 'activists'.
The only social media I'm on now is LinkedIn, however it's purely for professional reasons and even that's showing signs of going the same way.
To paraphrase a saying about France, social networks would be great if it wasn't for the users.
It turned from being something to keep up with how friends and distant family were doing to a constant flow of digital one-upmanship and a gateway drug for converting normally rational people into full time keyboard/social justice warriors or hate spewing far left/far right 'activists'.
The only social media I'm on now is LinkedIn, however it's purely for professional reasons and even that's showing signs of going the same way.
To paraphrase a saying about France, social networks would be great if it wasn't for the users.
jdw100 said:
Frank7 said:
No you're not, nor am I, neither on F/B, nor a weirdo IME.
I'm not particularly worried about my privacy, but like you, I don't get this idea of "checking in" from the Dog and Duck, and sending photos of my escargots or quinoa.
I don't give a rat's posterior about where someone is, or who they're with at any time.
Sure, I'll be interested and have a conversation about the craic that they had the other night with X, Y, and Z if they bring it up when I see them, but my world won't come to an end if it doesn't appear on my phone every minute that they're out.
I understand that there are a whole slew of people, particularly of the female persuasion, who don't seem to be able to live without it, and maybe I'm wrong in this, but when anyone says, "are you on Facebook?", my first thought is, "what am I, twelve?"
You've saved me the trouble of writing exactly that.I'm not particularly worried about my privacy, but like you, I don't get this idea of "checking in" from the Dog and Duck, and sending photos of my escargots or quinoa.
I don't give a rat's posterior about where someone is, or who they're with at any time.
Sure, I'll be interested and have a conversation about the craic that they had the other night with X, Y, and Z if they bring it up when I see them, but my world won't come to an end if it doesn't appear on my phone every minute that they're out.
I understand that there are a whole slew of people, particularly of the female persuasion, who don't seem to be able to live without it, and maybe I'm wrong in this, but when anyone says, "are you on Facebook?", my first thought is, "what am I, twelve?"
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