# Do you use Facebook?



## Gordontrek

Ahh Facebook that cesspool of human debris. The most popular social media site in the world, one that was intended to be a place to network and interact cordially with your friends and colleagues but is now a platform for bickering, political squabbling, and trying to convince people of your indefensible opinions. Depending on how you look at it, though. :tiphat:

Anyway, I finally cut my ties with this social media giant yesterday, and I'm basking in the peace of mind I've found in actually interacting with people in person. No more watching people bravely declare war on other peoples' opinions through the safety of their keyboard and screen; just good old fashioned verbal banter. 

So, simply out of curiosity, I'm interested to know what y'all think of Facebook. Do you have an experience similar to mine or do you prefer to just stay away?


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## Bulldog

I check it out every few days. Have to say that I've never noticed anything but cordial and supportive postings. Gordontrek must be communicating with the wrong folks.


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## FDR

No. I deleted my account last year.


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## Judith

I'm on FB but it helps with my hobbies such as local history and classical music. I have also found some relatives in America that I keep in touch with that way. I have made a few mistakes on it by accepting people who I thought were OK and turned out not to be. Easy! Simply unfriend and block from messenger and FB. 

What about Twitter? Anyone on that?


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## Friendlyneighbourhood

It's hard to meet single ladies on there, so I quit after about a year


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## Ingélou

'Yes, and I enjoy it.'

A great place for storing photos & keeping in touch with relatives and schoolfriends. 
I still have fewer than 50 friends, and quite a few of those are family dogs...


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## motoboy

Tried it for a few months. It was just a big time burglar for me.
Of course, here I am...posting about it. My time must not be too precious.


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## Kjetil Heggelund

At least I believe I enjoy it


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## ldiat

i am on face book for a couple of reasons. old friends and girl friends. 
went to my high school reunion as that is how they found me. plus i have kept in touch with relatives like 2nd 3rd cousins, boy life goes on! i am in a group, small and we share music videos. anything, i get info from the met opera-NPR-classical music. and of course chef talk and horse racing talk. OBTW Breeders Cup from Santia Anita Nov 4th and 5th. CALIFORNIA CROME VRS NYQUIST in the classic.
ps i am also on twitter @MLcookie


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## ldiat

ldiat said:


> i am on face book for a couple of reasons. old friends and girl friends.
> went to my high school reunion as that is how they found me. plus i have kept in touch with relatives like 2nd 3rd cousins, boy life goes on! i am in a group, small and we share music videos. anything, i get info from the met opera-NPR-classical music. and of course chef talk and horse racing talk. OBTW Breeders Cup from Santia Anita Nov 4th and 5th. CALIFORNIA CROME VRS NYQUIST in the classic.
> ps i am also on twitter @MLcookie


ok mayb friends that are girls


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## helenora

I'm lucky one, deleted an account this week. Feel so good about it. as above said it's a time consuming. Of course there are some benefits from using social media, but disadvantages are even more for me, and very superficial. years ago one friend said it was superficial, I agreed but I said it was supposed to be so, not for profound conversations....

and now I think myself, it is way too superficial, so I deleted it. It was never hijacked, nothing of that kind, it was just my conscious decision to delete.

Good to know many people here on TC don't have it or deleted it


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## Friendlyneighbourhood

I also once created an account and 'friended' every random person I possibly could, but then Facebook deleted it


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## Pugg

No, but I used to.


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## Friendlyneighbourhood

Pugg said:


> No, but I used to.


If you ever do, let me know. I was hoping to do a trip around parts of Europe sometime in the future


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## Art Rock

Yes, I use it to keep in touch with friends and former colleagues. And to follow local news quickly.


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## Flamme

People changed a lot though, i notice. 10, 5 years ago there were down to earth folx, today only drama queens and self obsessed narcissists, whether showing of their body or their minds...It is good it offers you disconnecting on some time...


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## Pugg

Friendlyneighbourhood said:


> If you ever do, let me know. I was hoping to do a trip around parts of Europe sometime in the future


And that all depends on me having Facebook.


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## Flamme

Friendlyneighbourhood said:


> It's hard to meet single ladies on there, so I quit after about a year


LOL its actually not, but they hide their statuses and change them 'ad hoc', dont be naive


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## joen_cph

I´m there, but never used it much - only very, very little, to obtain information from or criticize media or organizations via their FB websites etc.


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## hpowders

Sick of FB.


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## Pugg

Flamme said:


> LOL its actually not, but they hide their statuses and change them 'ad hoc', dont be naive


People's prerogative.


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## superhorn

I've always enjoyed being on Facebook, and I acrtually have quite a few Facebook friends who are well known classical musicians , such as former Cleveland orchestra principal horn Rick Solis,
conductor Alberto Hold-Garrido, who leads the Naxos recording of Verdi's Don Carlo from the Stockholm opera, and even Wagner's great grand daughter Katharina, even though she doesn't post very often . 
Others are former Chicago symphony associate principal born Gail Williams, and the female trombonist Abbey Conant, who was famously fired from her job as principal trombone of the Munich Philharmonic because of of his notorious misogyny , despite her reputation as one of the world's greatest trombonists !
I also discuss politics and current events with many other Facebook friends . It's always stimulating !


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## cwarchc

Yes and I love it
My eldest is in Oz, it's a great way to communicate
My youngest is in Edinburgh, at Uni, again a good way to keep in touch
It's what you make of it
You don't need to participate in all the dross that is on there


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## Triplets

I wanted nothing to do with it at first, but my son got married several years ago and they posted their wedding pictures on facebook; you had to create an account to order any. As soon as I did I was contacted by many people. I grew up in Michigan but now live in another state and it was fun hearing from most of them after having about 30 years of no contact. I then realized that fb was the best way to keep tabs on my children, niece and nephew; they tell us virtually nothing about what is going on in their lives but tell Social Media everything. My wife's many sibs are scattered around the country and we communicate a lot through fb. I haven't gotten into any political or personal spats; I save all my invective for this site:lol:


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## kartikeys

Yes, to spread my work. Though I still employ it 
in a small way. Looking to change that. Upbringing comes in the way.


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## Bulldog

helenora said:


> Good to know many people here on TC don't have it or deleted it


I can't see any advantage to avoiding FB. If nothing else, I get to see all the photos of my brand new grandson in Basel, Switzerland.


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## Triplets

Bulldog said:


> I can't see any advantage to avoiding FB. If nothing else, I get to see all the photos of my brand new grandson in Basel, Switzerland.


I mainly use it to post pictures of my grandkids.


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## Huilunsoittaja

I connected to my musicologist friend through facebook (she made her own Glazunov fan page and well, who's to say I wouldn't look up such things??), and also a number of other cool friends, some of which I would never have met in real life. Plus I write my stories on facebook in the Notes section (remember that app? ). Those are the good sides of facebook, and this is why I stay there. I stick around for the best things. But the worst things, I certainly can do without.


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## Antiquarian

No, never have, never will. I try to keep my online presence to a minimum, due to privacy concerns, information sharing fiascos, and identify theft probabilities.


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## Pugg

Antiquarian said:


> No, never have, never will. I try to keep my online presence to a minimum, due to privacy concerns, information sharing fiascos, and identify theft probabilities.


Hear, hear.............................


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## Guest

Yes, and I have a love/hate relationship! Sometimes it seems like the biggest waste of time ever, but then it's also a great way to keep in contact with relatives whom I don't see often. I also follow some favorite musicians, such as Denis Matsuev, Yevgeny Sudbin, Daniil Trivonov, etc.


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## helenora

Antiquarian said:


> No, never have, never will. I try to keep my online presence to a minimum, due to privacy concerns, information sharing fiascos, and identify theft probabilities.


very true Antiquarian!
there are happy people who are still in illusions as for fb and other social networks. Good for them....maybe


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## Pugg

helenora said:


> very true Antiquarian!
> there are happy people who are still in illusions as for fb and other social networks. Good for them....maybe


Besides that, real friend known who you are.

I do get Kontrapunctus point also to follow the artists, however if that's the price I have to pay, so be it.


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## helenora

Pugg said:


> Besides that, real friend known who you are.
> 
> I do get Kontrapunctus point also to follow the artists, however if that's the price I have to pay, so be it.


ํYes, I do understand people who stay on fb and follow artists or anything, there is sense in it and it can be informative and entertaining....but sometimes price is too high especially when you see there is no privacy at all, not even in your ironically called "private messages".

and yes, it´s true, then you know who your friends are and how many are left :lol:


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## millionrainbows

It's too complicated. Where do your messages go, and who sees them? 

I think they purposely made it confusing so that privacy would be at a minimum; I'm sure law enforcement has a vested interest in knowing all they can about you.

I posted something on there about my mother, which was a true fact, that a family member got offended by, and she got my account "suspended" (not deleted) for about a year, saying that I "embarrassed" her in front of her rich students at a private school, and was accused of "airing our family's dirty laundry."

She accused me of intentionally trying to embarrass her, which was not the case. Anybody who was my "friend" could have seen this on my "bulletin board."

The impersonality of this structure, that messages go out to God know who, is my main complaint.

It's obviously designed this way, so that everything is "public" and none of it is "private." But this also makes it impersonal. I had no desire to communicate with those rich, spoiled brats at a private school.

Facebook never explained why my account was "suspended," but I just finally figured it out.

After that, I decided to withdraw.


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## superhorn

P.S. : My Facebook friend trombonist Abbey Conant got in trouble with Sergiu Celibidache at the Munich Philharmonic, because he said he wanted as man as principal trombone . Forgot to mention this. She brought a lawsuit against the orchestra, but was not rehired . She is now one of the world's leading trombone pedagogues .


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## TurnaboutVox

What is a "Face book"? Is that where the young people post "twitters" and have "snap chats" with one another? It all passed me by, I'm afraid.

Back to my trusty Olivetti!


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## Vasks

Yes, I do FB. I have a whopping 60 "friends". I intentionally limit friend requests to people that (1) I actually know and (2) I really did like them during the time I knew them. Now that also means I have the entire gamut of "friends" that are on all sides of the political and religious spectrum, but that's OK. I can tolerate reading viewpoints different than mine. I just keep my opinions to myself and enjoy reading what's going in their lives and share with them what's happening in mine.


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## hpowders

I use Facebook to post my best selfies. The problem is I have all my friends listed as acquaintances, not as close friends, so I am the only one who can actually see the photos.


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## senza sordino

I've never used it, never had an account. And I don't want an account. My extended family use it to keep in touch. I'm out of touch.


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## Pugg

TurnaboutVox said:


> What is a "Face book"? Is that where the young people post "twitters" and have "snap chats" with one another? It all passed me by, I'm afraid.
> 
> Back to my trusty Olivetti!


You sound just like my dad.


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## Krummhorn

I regularly use FB to reach out to my family. We are spread out far and wide from the west coast to the east cost in the US, and stretching across the ocean to Denmark. 

It makes for an easy method to share what is happening in all our lives, sharing pictures and stories. I keep my FB account tightly restricted to immediate family and a few invited friends only. 

I have several interests groups that I also participate with, one deals with pipe organs and other with VW owners and a private club.


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## Jos

Tried it for about two days, got amazed by the absolute stupidity of it all and used the, at that time still functioning, "suicide machine". That got rid of my nonsense Linked In account as well. Good ridance afaic.


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## majlis

I'd been on Face for 5 years now, and post there every day. But consider that I'm retired and unemployed, and have nothing better to do. But I enjoy it a lot. There are many music pages ( I've mine, as you know), atheists groups, Stephen King groups (I'm a fan), and many others.


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## Merl

I use FB frequently to keep in touch with my boys in Manchester, my parents in New Zealand and my friends from 'darnnn sarrrrf' and in Europe. Now I live in Chillyjockoland, it's essential. I'm pretty easy to find but if anyone from here ever wants an add to experience the joy of my life then a simple PM on here is sufficient. Spoiler alert: my life is not very exciting but I do have several selfies where I'm doing ducky lips or smiling like an imbecile plus a few pics of me when I was little.


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## Tristan

I do, but not very often. At this point I mainly use it to keep track of events I've been invited to and sometimes to post travel pics. But really I haven't updated my profile pic in over a year. My Facebook page is very neglected.


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## millionrainbows

I was watching "The Justice Network" and there was a story about a Facebook posting that caused a murder. Also, on "Hot Bench," a Facebook post had caused some trouble.

It's no good. Facebook is no good. Stay away from it.


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## majlis

Probably Zucker' is the Antichrist? All you have to do, is avoid publish any post about what are you doing, where are you, and any personal information about yourself, relatives or family. Not any personal information of any kind. All of them know all about you, and strangers don't have the right to know, and shouldn´t


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## Varick

I call it "FakeBook" because NO ONE has 500 friends.

However, I have used it to promote a few events, find a few long lost friends, and I do see how it could be VERY useful to promote business. I visit my account every 2 or 3 months and spend about 10 minutes on it. Then I do something productive. Like read and post on TC.

V


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## hpowders

The greatest source of enmity and misinformation is Facebook. I avoid it.


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## Art Rock

In 2016 I voted "Yes, and I enjoy it";
Now I would vote "Yes, but I'm getting tired of it";
Probably next year: "No, but I used to".


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## elgar's ghost

Perhaps it needs policing better. I've seen so-called 'conversations' by some who use it and Facilebook would be a better term. It is absolutely riddled with dross. I also don't like the way that people use it to gain cheap and unnecessary laughs at the expense of others via text and/or pictures, especially when those others are unaware of what is going on. That to me constitutes a serious invasion of privacy, and I'd be furious if I ever found out it was happening to me.

Unsurprisingly, the folk who use it for the right reasons are in the minority compared to the amount of imbeciles who don't.


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## Dorsetmike

Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, AKA Farcebook or Faecesbook.


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## Manxfeeder

I use it and enjoy it. Plus, I always get Friend requests from stunning porn stars. Okay, they're really Russian trolls, but it's still strangely affirming.


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## Botschaft

Dorsetmike said:


> Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, AKA Farcebook or Faecesbook.


I would call it Failbook.


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## starthrower

I lurk a bit. But mostly I waste time on music forums.


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## Judith

Since my last posting, I'm more a tweeter than a FB user. Went off Facebook and found myself loving Twitter


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## Guest

Judith said:


> Since my last posting, I'm more a tweeter than a FB user. Went off Facebook and found myself loving Twitter


Who reads your tweets? I have had a twitter account for years, but I've only made one tweet. I feel like I would be tweeting into the void, throwing a message in a bottle into the ocean. No one would see it.

I also have a facebook account where I post very little, but poke around. I've come across some old friends from school days. My on-line socializing is almost exclusively this board or other similar boards in the past.


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## Desafinado

Facebook feeds usually have a lot of garbage in them, but in the site's defense being able to update all of your acquaintances / friends / family about major life events in one place is a pretty good use case.

In the past 15 years I've attended four different schools, and lived in four different cities, so my friends are scattered. If not for Facebook I'd lose touch with most, if not all of them.

But I won't touch politics on the site with a ten-foot pole.


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## starthrower

It's good for concert notifications. I can follow the pages of venues and musicians so I don't miss a show. And the messenger feature is great for communicating with my friends overseas.


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## Bwv 1080

Who doesn't like arguing about politics with you inlaws?


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## millionrainbows

They should call it "fecesbook."


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## Huilunsoittaja

millionrainbows said:


> They should call it "fecesbook."


Or "Buttbook" to be honest. Or there should at least be a branch-off website where you can only talk about the bad stuff in your life, because Facebook has a facade of good things and not as much sincerity. Better to keep the negative stuff and positive stuff on their own separate places, neither trying to drown the other out.


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## joen_cph

Besides the plans for an independent, over-national Facebook currency, the Libra (plans that are however facing some obstacles, it seems), the company's scheme for working against regulations from the authorities (including undermining the chances of a somewhat popular US presidential candidate), latest media story here is how FB collected information about gambling interests of 36,000 teenagers and children down to 13 years of age, among other things, it seems, to facilitate advertising for gambling and dubious and very expensive, online 'quick-loans'. It's illegal to facilitate gambling for young persons, and this adds another piece of negative information about the company.


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## joen_cph

More players have been leaving the Libra project, including eBay, Booking.com, Visa, Mastercard.


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## Forsooth

Nope, not me. I despise Zuckerberg and all he stands for.


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## haydnguy

I did but not now. I keep up with classical music performers, classical events, and other things to do with classical music on Twitter.


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## Rogerx

haydnguy said:


> I did but not now. I keep up with classical music performers, classical events, and other things to do with classical music on Twitter.


Or Instagram, you can do it on your P.C, no smartphone needed.


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## haydnguy

Rogerx said:


> Or Instagram, you can do it on your P.C, no smartphone needed.


Instagram is owned by Facebook. They tie your Instagram account to your Facebook account. If you have a Facebook account.


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## Strange Magic

No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no anything like them. I communicate via email and vent my enlarged spleen on Internet forums only.


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## Guest

Strange Magic said:


> No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no anything like them. I communicate via email and vent my enlarged spleen on Internet forums only.


Good for you. Instagram is for 12-year olds and Twitter is certainly for birdbrains!


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## Merl

As I've said in this thread before I am on Facebook but use its Messenger function quite a bit. I rarely put anything on my wall but use Messenger to keep contact with my family in NZ, friends in the UK and abroad and random friends from my past. I have a few regular TC members on my friends list and speak to a couple on a regular basis. Whilst there's plenty of crap attached to FB, it's easy to traverse thru the rubbish, and I value the chance I've had to get to know certain people I like from here on a more personal basis. If anyone ever wants to say hello on there I'm fine with it. Just send me a PM here at TC and I'll send you a link. I also use WhatsApp but that's just to keep in contact with my oldest son who doesn't use FB.


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## haydnguy

Twitter has banned political ads so that's a relief. Zuckerberg has just stated that he will allow them. I'm glad I'm not on there anymore. For me, Facebook was toxic. I'll never go back. Facebook can still track you even though your account is closed (like mine).


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## Jacck

Author Stephen King quits Facebook: 'Not comfortable with the flood of false information'
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/02/au...fortable-with-the-flood-of-false-information/


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## mrdoc

Strange Magic said:


> No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no anything like them. I communicate via email and vent my enlarged spleen on Internet forums only.


I used it to get in touch with old school boys and to use messenger which I must admit is so useful but get sick and tired of all the notifications etc.


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