james186

It doesn't always seem like it these days, but believe it or not Facebook is optional! For now at least (he says in a cynical and conspiratorial tone lol).

I prefer email, but it's amazing how many people set up facebook without having a clue about the wider 'net and have never sent one!

stairs

I have gone through liking facebook a lot then deleting my account in a period of total aversion to the mindless memes and misinformation, pictures of little kids with chocolate smeared all over their face or pottying updates, I especially take issue to the "Yeah I am ___ and ___, if you don't like it f*ck off" type memes....anger management anyone? I also cannot stand the "chicken little" posts about "the man" and political rants.

Then the privacy issues. When it came out that facebook owned my photos I was irritated and the whole CIA thing was a real turnoff. So between the bs mindlessness and the privacy issue, I sayonara'd facebook for awhile.

But, I missed the positive aspects like being in touch with high school friends who now live all over the world. Facebook helped us to reconnect. And being in the loop with my recovery friends locally.

Though I am not a fan of blatant announcements that break anonymity or being tagged by some guy who wants a ride to a meeting so I set my tags to be reviewed first and now that stuff goes to my activity log so I can decide what gets to show up on my page.

I have all my settings to the most private and least invasive possible and next to no personal info in the "about" section, and this works for me. Facebook keeps asking me questions to fill it in but I simply ignore them.

My friends are sorted into categories using the "lists" feature, and it is easy enough to unfollow someone and stick them in a list I barely look at if they are annoying me repeatedly.

Mainly I post occasional family pics, say happy birthday to people. For me it's a light social connection place and that's working for me.

Facebook is pretty cool but definitely has it's down side.

Thomasthetank

I think too much internet in general can be bad for you, it shortens your attention span because it's such an impatient environment. Too many things vying for your focus. I try and read and listen to records to restore a little bit of balance. I went offline for a week a while back while trying to get my head together, I found myself much more patient and in many ways, happier. So yeah, everything in moderation.

Facebook is just an extension of that.

AlexEmk

Facebook is a fine tool to me! I've grown my business because of it and I use it for information purposes mainly (get info in and out for clients)...

I do post some personnal stuff on it (pictures of my kids) for my parents and other far away family members to see, but I use Facebook 90% of the time for business and information...

There's not a day that goes buy without booking a client from facebook!

I think we make facebook what we want it to be... the impact in someone life can be positive or negative... it truly depend on YOU and how you use it!

james186

Just found this on the net and thought it might be relevant:

Facebook knows who your friends are. Now it could know about your health too | Technology | theguardian.com

The top user comment is note-worthy - 'Data mining is where its really at with FB. Health insurance companies may not be selling ads but Facebook could sell users health information to insurance companies who could then deny coverage. CREEPY!!!'

PolarBlue

People you work with are not good to have on FB. I was warned when I first joined. I ended up deleting all of them and started a work account. Nope, that didn't go well at all. It started out with a bunch of gossip and escalated to other things. No, I'm not friends with Bill from another department nor care how ugly you think his new GF is.

My main account is mainly to stay in touch with family as others have said. I've even met some who I would have never known existed, and traveled across the country to meet them. It was a blast. One even wants me to move in with her and start a new life. Debating. I have a few old high school friends and random people on there that I don't pay much mind to.

The game requests and such can be obnoxious, but you can block them. Candy Crush was the first one to get the block. What pisses me off are the stupid fake pictures and articles people share because they're too lazy to google something that looks completely ridiculous. I've seen that Michelle Obama has nudes, Kanye West beat a crippled boy at basketball, miraculous Japanese "moon melon" that costs like $1000 each (a watermelon photoshopped blue), and on and on. That I can't stand.

People claiming to have perfect lives filled with rainbows and roses used to bother me until I realized what they were doing.

Db1105

For me it's a great tool to stay connected with family and friends all over the world. Like everything else in life, living in the drama is optional. Plus , it's done wonders for my stock portfolio.