‘Tremendous guilt’: Ex-Facebook exec’s regrets on ripping apart the social fabric

[kingjason]

Been saying this for years. Days like today I don't mind so much but I still got a little bit done. Most days though I am out and about ignoring the world. Drives people fucking bezerk sometimes that I don't keep my phone on me, don't get updates to facebook, don't get my work email on my phone. I even had to tell my mother the other day "Mom, we got along fine for years with answering machines and wired phones, a couple of hours is not going to kill you".

[TX_92_Notch]

The other day at a restaurant my wife was on her phone (facebook) and my boys (10 and 7) were nose deep in their 3DS systems... I looked around and I was disappointed in the entire place, not just my table so I told my family to put that shit away and WE should TALK to EACH OTHER. It was really good, but it's bothered me for a long time how everyone is stuck in their phones. I keep facebook to mainly keep up with my hobbies and buying/selling shit and scroll past everyone else's shit. I post about my kids so some of my remote family members can see them, but other than that I would LOVE to get rid of it.

My children are not allowed to have cell phones yet (oldest are 10, 8 and 6) and they are only allowed to look at pictures on our phones and even that is kept to a minimum. My wife and I never touch our cell phones during any meal, whether at home or out. Some of my friends say we're too strict (hell, we don't even have cable), I say bullshit to that. I watch parents and children alike sitting through entire meals in silence, playing on their electronics and it just baffles me. The ones that really get me are the kids wearing headphones at the table. WTF is wrong with people.

[kingjason]

I wiped that shit clean tonight! Another relative I have zero use for or interaction with in 30 years tried to contact me. Always the why haven't we kept in touch BS. My brothers wife really pissed my mom off a few years back when she told her I was rude for not accepting her friends request, again I hadn't spoke to either in 25 years or more. Honestly all people want to do is drag up drama. If I wanted to keep in touch with you, you would have my phone number.

[4EyedTurd]

If I wanted to keep in touch with you, you would have my phone number.

Bingo! If we weren’t talking before there’s probably a good reason.

[snacksnack]

Still blown away at how it has destroyed sights like this. Good help is nearly impossible on fb.

[Broncojohnny]

If you want a good and recent example of the rampant stupidity on Facebook just look up any post related to Oregon's recent change in law that allows people in rural areas to pump their own gas.

[Jimbo]

Going Luddite in here, I like it. I shut down social media years ago because of family drama. It was a great decision.

[Strychnine]

Facebook lost around 2.8 million U.S. users under 25 last year. 2018 won’t be much better.

That’s according to research firm eMarketer.
By Kurt Wagner and Rani Molla Feb 12, 2018, 6:00am EST


Facebook is losing young users even quicker than expected, according to new estimates by eMarketer.

The digital measurement firm predicted last year that Facebook would see a 3.4 percent drop in 12- to 17-year-old users in the U.S. in 2017, the first time it had predicted a drop in usage for any age group on Facebook.

The reality: The number of U.S. Facebook users in the 12- to 17-year-old demographic declined by 9.9 percent in 2017, eMarketer found, or about 1.4 million total users. That’s almost three times the decline expected. There were roughly 12.1 million U.S. Facebook users in the 12- to 17-year-old demographic by the end of the year.

There are likely multiple reasons for the decline. Facebook has been losing its “cool” factor for years, and young people have more options than ever for staying in touch with friends and family. Facebook also serves as a digital record keeper — but many young people don’t seem to care about saving their life online, at least not publicly. That explains why Snapchat and Instagram, which offer features for sharing photos and videos that disappear, are growing in popularity among this demographic.

Overall, eMarketer found Facebook lost about 2.8 million U.S. users under 25 last year. And Facebook’s 2018 doesn’t look much better. The research firm released Facebook usage estimates for 2018 on Monday, and expects that Facebook will lose about 2.1 million users in the U.S. under the age of 25 this year.

EMarketer predicts that Facebook will see a decline in usage among all three age groups for people under 25:

• A 9.3 percent drop for Facebook users under 11 years old. (Reminder: Facebook’s terms of service require that users must be 13 years old in order to create an account, though it’s easy to get around that.)
• A 5.6 percent decline in users between 12 and 17 years old.
• A 5.8 percent decline in users between 18 and 24 years old. This is the first time eMarketer has ever predicted a year-over-year decline in usage for this age group, though it has happened before. In 2016, Facebook’s user base for 18- to 24-year-olds fell by 1.5 percent.

Take the numbers with a grain of salt — eMarketer is an outside research firm so it doesn’t have the full picture that, say, Facebook has. But the fact that eMarketer is predicting declines across the board is a bad sign for Facebook regardless. Young people offer a good barometer for what is popular, but more importantly for Facebook, losing out on the next generation of internet users in the U.S. is troubling for the company’s long-term dominance.

https://www.recode.net/2018/2/12/16998750/facebooks-teen-users-decline-instagram-snap-emarketer

[Ruffdaddy]

Still blown away at how it has destroyed sights like this. Good help is nearly impossible on fb.

Facebook isn't the only thing that "destroyed" this site.

But strych's post is great news. Facebook is just shit political banter and crappy advertising now. Back in the day you could watch the wall update in chronological order. Now I don't see any new content for extended periods.

[Rick Modena]

Facebook isn't the only thing that "destroyed" this site.

No, it wasn't the only thing, it was bitches like you!

[Strychnine]

No, it wasn't the only thing, it was bitches like you!

And suddenly it feels like '05 again...

**stares nostalgically into the distance and smiles**

[Ruffdaddy]

No, it wasn't the only thing, it was bitches like you!

I do have that power...and it's why you've always been terrified of me.

[abecx]

My god some of you are stuck in the fuck 1970's. I guess you dont think a white woman should marry a JC, or that Leon is contagious. Fucking get over it, the world is changing and this generations clicks are your generations mindless obsession over televisions and your parents mindless obsession over radio, and their parents mindless obsession over cocaine in a bottle. There is a shit load of free time in the world, filling it with trivial stuff is what humans fucking do. If you think sitting around a table means you should be talking all day then you must have a ton of empty fucking conversation.

I'm probably the only person on this site the could hold an intelligent conversation for hours, so unless you're me, shut the fuck up.

Also dont forget to like and subscribe and let me know what you think in the comment section below.

[jw33]

#metoo^

[Shaggin Wagon]

#youmad