Why is Facebook worth £104 billion

[Phanerothyme]

I didn't claim that I could do everything facebook does 15 years ago without facebook though...

You could certainly email, blog, instant message, even group chat on IRC. But the majority of what facebook does wasn't possible.

Go on, I'll bite, what is this "majority of what facebook does" that isn't blogging/messaging/chatting/picture sharing"?

I still think that you're dismissal of facebook is a bit of techno snobbery, it's not the most important website out there, it's not even the one I check most often, but it's definitely got it's uses and value.

I dismiss facebook as the internet wrapped up for idiots. It has its uses, as many people using the internet don't go further than facebook - which is a plus.

 

The internet is greater than the sum of its parts. Facebook is quite clearly less than the sum of its parts.

 

It's simpy amazing how I live without it, although must admit it's desperately annoying to work with.

[Cyclone]

You couldn't share a status with a group of people, you couldn't share a photo on a hosted website which integrated with a list of friends and would automatically notify the ones you tagged in it. You couldn't rate your friends with interest levels and have a dashboard that displayed updates from them depending on that level of interest.

 

Sure you could email all your friends, every day to say "just watched this film, it wasn't very good" or "I'm getting annoyed of all the jubilee rubbish now", but they'd probably soon ask you to stop spamming them, and the effort to actually do that would be more than posting a status on facebook anyway.

Sure you could find somewhere to host your photos, you could upload them, email a link to all your friends, and then separately email a link to everyone who was in the photos. Oh, and I guess rename the photos or add meta data to indicate which people were in which photo. But you wouldn't, because the effort involved would be large and the pay off not worth it.

 

Facebook is what it is, it's not a synergy, it isn't really built up out of different components with the expectation that it will be greater than it's parts, it's social networking, it does what it says on the tin, it does it effectively and simply.

 

I'm not amazed that you live without it, it's very easy to live without, you'd probably manage to live without a mobile phone, or email if they disappeared tomorrow. I do wonder though if 15 years ago you weren't declaring how mobile phones were pointless and you could manage perfectly well with the phone box on the street corner. Maybe you thought email was a big waste of time because letters did the job perfectly well...

 

Still techo snobbery I say, facebook isn't pretentious, it's just a convenient way of keeping in touch with and sharing things with your friends, if you don't want to join in, then don't, but don't be so arrogant as to make out that it's because you know more than the people using facebook.

[Lynchee]

Maybe you thought email was a big waste of time because letters did the job perfectly well...

 

But they did!!! Don't you think that the use of Facebook has led to the more traditional ways of keeping in touch with friends being eradicated...ways that actually took a bit of effort, such as writing a letter or a postcard, or sending a few choice snaps through the post? When I was growing up me and my friends were always putting pen to paper and I found it so much more rewarding than being sent an impersonal FB message or a one liner on my wall. I also think Facebook is an easy, all too convenient way for people to not bother picking up the phone or pop round for a brew and a chat, which I find a bit sad.

 

I can certainly see the benefits of Facebook, but I personally find it a superficial, lazy way of maintaining contact with people who would have received a bit more effort before.

[buck]

So strange that so many people are never happy at Someones success

A lot of people on this forum are never happy about anything.

[Cyclone]

But they did!!! Don't you think that the use of Facebook has led to the more traditional ways of keeping in touch with friends being eradicated...ways that actually took a bit of effort, such as writing a letter or a postcard, or sending a few choice snaps through the post? When I was growing up me and my friends were always putting pen to paper and I found it so much more rewarding than being sent an impersonal FB message or a one liner on my wall. I also think Facebook is an easy, all too convenient way for people to not bother picking up the phone or pop round for a brew and a chat, which I find a bit sad.

 

I can certainly see the benefits of Facebook, but I personally find it a superficial, lazy way of maintaining contact with people who would have received a bit more effort before.

So it's too easy is what you're saying.

 

I don't think "it's too easy" is a good argument for why there is no point to it (which is what I was arguing against). If it's too easy then clearly there is a point, an activity which would have previously been done in some other way.

[Lynchee]

So it's too easy is what you're saying.

 

I don't think "it's too easy" is a good argument for why there is no point to it (which is what I was arguing against). If it's too easy then clearly there is a point, an activity which would have previously been done in some other way.

 

What I'm saying is it makes it too easy for people to neglect putting time and effort into friendships because they deem that a one liner on a wall will suffice. This isn't a good thing in my view, but if convenience is more important to you that's your call.

[Cyclone]

You're arguing that if you make communication with your friends too easy then you neglect your friends.

It doesn't make sense. Why would making communication harder somehow make you a better friend.

 

Using FB doesn't preclude you from using other means of course, so sometimes it certainly is more convenient for me, and other times I email, text, call or knock on the door.

If having a choice is difficult then that's your call and you can rule out some of those choices to make your life more simple (and harder).

[Lynchee]

You're arguing that if you make communication with your friends too easy then you neglect your friends.

It doesn't make sense. Why would making communication harder somehow make you a better friend.

 

Using FB doesn't preclude you from using other means of course, so sometimes it certainly is more convenient for me, and other times I email, text, call or knock on the door.

If having a choice is difficult then that's your call and you can rule out some of those choices to make your life more simple (and harder).

 

You're entirely missing my point and I'm getting bored so forgive me if I call it a day here

[buck]

You're arguing that if you make communication with your friends too easy then you neglect your friends.

It doesn't make sense. Why would making communication harder somehow make you a better friend.

 

Using FB doesn't preclude you from using other means of course, so sometimes it certainly is more convenient for me, and other times I email, text, call or knock on the door.

If having a choice is difficult then that's your call and you can rule out some of those choices to make your life more simple (and harder).

My wife and I recently enjoyed a personal celebration which doesn't need to be aired on SF. Personal friends photoed the occasion and posted them on FB. They then became available to people I didn't want them to know about. My friends would have been better friends not to have posted. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I believe it. We are becoming insular by sitting in front of a screen all of the time, instead of getting up off our backsides and talking to others face to face. I am guilty of it, and I dare say you are too.

[Cyclone]

I disagree (not about your celebration, about becoming insular). It's Friday right, so let me think back.

 

I taught my jitsu class yesterday evening and then went to the pub for a pint with them.

Today I've seen details on FB about the grading they will attend tomorrow. This includes where and when they are meeting, where they are going, etc...

Wednesday I went to my parents and called at one of my mates, I shared a photo of my parents dog on FB and several friends commented on how he looked. These friends will most likely never meet the dog in question as he's my parents dog.

On Tuesday (it was a BH) we went into town for a bit of shopping and I posted a humorous photo of my wife with a huge Costa cup. A few friends from all over the country commented on it. Emailing all my friends with that photo would have just been weird.

On Monday I spent most of the day out with various friends running, climbing and swimming, I probably posted something about my speed/time or climbing level.

 

Today I'm working, but I've managed to share a link about a telegraph story and have a brief conversation with a few friends about it. Couldn't really do that face to face, what with them being spread all over the country and it being a work day. And soon I'll be meeting another group of friends for a weekend away.

 

Facebook makes it easier for me to keep in touch in a casual way with lots of friends, it keeps the friendships fresh when they're people I might not see for months. There is no awkward bit when I do see them, I know what they've been up to, we've exchanged comments and seen photos of each other recently.

 

So, no, I disagree, FB in no way makes me insular, I use it whilst I am forced to be sat at my computer for work, but it certainly doesn't stop me meeting my friends face to face.

 

Maybe this is a generational thing though.