“Alas!” you say; “You might be able to do those things without Facebook; but my friends are only on Facebook and refuse to communicate with me otherwise; they only plan events via Facebook; and Facebook is the only way to stay up to date on developments in my field.”
This may be true—but whose fault is that, but Facebook’s??
You could wield a similar criticism against any communication technology that people like. If there was no Internet, and people preferred to speak with each other via phone (as opposed to, say, writing letters), it would be a little odd to blame the phone company of destroying value and being at fault for everyone preferring to use a phone. Many people prefer Facebook, because it’s genuinely a better way of staying in touch than many other methods.
I do those things too.
Without Facebook.
There’s deep connections and there’s light connections. Deep connections are the kinds of friends you would always find a way to stay in touch with; light connections are those who would probably drop off your radar if there wasn’t an easy way of staying in touch with them, because although you do like them and like hearing about them, there’s only that much time and energy that you have for staying actively in touch with people.
With Facebook, I can stay in touch with many, many more light connections that I could stay otherwise; if there wasn’t a form of social media, these people would just vanish from my life. There are people like former classmates, who I genuinely do enjoy hearing from, but who had totally dropped off my radar until I reconnected with them on FB.
And it’s in part through social media that complete strangers may turn into light connections, and light connections may turn into deep connections. I wouldn’t be exposed to anywhere _near_ as many different perspectives and fascinating articles without social media; the simple numbers of how many people it’s possible to follow with active vs. passive effort, means that this kind of a diversity of views would literally be totally out of reach for me without social media.
Many people prefer Facebook, because it’s genuinely a better way of staying in touch than many other methods.
Better how?
I wouldn’t be exposed to anywhere _near_ as many different perspectives and fascinating articles without social media; the simple numbers of how many people it’s possible to follow with active vs. passive effort, means that this kind of a diversity of views would literally be totally out of reach for me without social media.
That is not a function of Facebook vs. not-Facebook. I encounter many different perspectives and read many fascinating articles, without social media; many, many more than the overwhelming majority of people who do use Facebook. (Frankly, the idea that this would be impossible without Facebook is somewhat absurd. This sort of meme—”without Facebook I couldn’t do thing X!”—is excellent for Facebook, since it makes you think you need it; but it’s just not true.)
Even if true for you, this “diversity of views” business you’re talking about is extremely atypical, in terms of how people use Facebook and what they get out of it. (Or perhaps it is, in fact, illusory? How sure are you that you’re really getting a diversity of views?)
You could wield a similar criticism against any communication technology that people like.
Wrong. A phone vs. a letter is a huge practical difference: instantaneous communication vs. really-not-instantaneous-at-all communication. Facebook, on the other hand, is the same capabilities that can be had without it (but actually worse in almost every way); so value is only destroyed, and not created.
You could wield a similar criticism against any communication technology that people like. If there was no Internet, and people preferred to speak with each other via phone (as opposed to, say, writing letters), it would be a little odd to blame the phone company of destroying value and being at fault for everyone preferring to use a phone. Many people prefer Facebook, because it’s genuinely a better way of staying in touch than many other methods.
There’s deep connections and there’s light connections. Deep connections are the kinds of friends you would always find a way to stay in touch with; light connections are those who would probably drop off your radar if there wasn’t an easy way of staying in touch with them, because although you do like them and like hearing about them, there’s only that much time and energy that you have for staying actively in touch with people.
With Facebook, I can stay in touch with many, many more light connections that I could stay otherwise; if there wasn’t a form of social media, these people would just vanish from my life. There are people like former classmates, who I genuinely do enjoy hearing from, but who had totally dropped off my radar until I reconnected with them on FB.
And it’s in part through social media that complete strangers may turn into light connections, and light connections may turn into deep connections. I wouldn’t be exposed to anywhere _near_ as many different perspectives and fascinating articles without social media; the simple numbers of how many people it’s possible to follow with active vs. passive effort, means that this kind of a diversity of views would literally be totally out of reach for me without social media.
Better how?
That is not a function of Facebook vs. not-Facebook. I encounter many different perspectives and read many fascinating articles, without social media; many, many more than the overwhelming majority of people who do use Facebook. (Frankly, the idea that this would be impossible without Facebook is somewhat absurd. This sort of meme—”without Facebook I couldn’t do thing X!”—is excellent for Facebook, since it makes you think you need it; but it’s just not true.)
Even if true for you, this “diversity of views” business you’re talking about is extremely atypical, in terms of how people use Facebook and what they get out of it. (Or perhaps it is, in fact, illusory? How sure are you that you’re really getting a diversity of views?)
Wrong. A phone vs. a letter is a huge practical difference: instantaneous communication vs. really-not-instantaneous-at-all communication. Facebook, on the other hand, is the same capabilities that can be had without it (but actually worse in almost every way); so value is only destroyed, and not created.