However I am hugely in favour of regulating the shit out of social media, especially Facebook the Great Satan.

I hadn’t used it in probably 6-7 years, but went looking for an old friend on Christmas Eve last year and have been “on” it since.

I have reconnected with a bunch of folks from a town I lived in for a long time.

I am amazed at how many people I grew up and went to school with are full-blown Trumpers and anti-vax, COVID deniers. I watch them with amazement and disgust.

Rarely post, but will comment from time to time. A lot like here.

Yes, I've used it to find out someone's political leanings.

He is now super anti-abortion, yet he certainly wasn't that way in high school.

But I did connect with a HS friend, and she hasn't changed a bit, so that's a good thing. She is still a proud former hippie..LOL
My family and I moved away a few years after I graduated and I lost contact with everyone. I am also in a HS class group. It's kinda fun to see how people have changed. Most former classmates leave politics off their pages. I have stuff on mine because of volunteer work I do for the Democratic Party. (However, I don't post negative memes about Trump etc..)

The HS drop out guy is not in the HS class group.

to wish people a happy birthday. I don't find it much fun anymore.

I maintain a business page on it that has to be regularly updated.

he manages several business accounts such as yours.

Nor do I watch Fox News.

what's left of my family is on there along with close friends since junior high. They are the only ones who see what I post- and I am the only one who sees all the private stuff. If they are watching me... they are really bored. Apparently they want me to interact more since they show me posts from last april that one of my friends responded to - but alas... nope.

Family members post photos and videos on FB, and there's no such thing as too many photos and videos of grandchildren. I hardly ever post anything. I just do "Likes" and "Loves".

I also often find more information on local news and events. I quit subscribing to my local newspaper a lot of years ago because of it's right wing slant, but I still like finding out what's going on in my community.

I've also used it to sort through prospective tenants when I've had a vacant rental.

I just checked, and see that I have a whopping 30 friends. I need to unfriend one of them because I found out quickly she was just looking for customers for her MLM business. Another has died, so I guess I could let her go now too.

and music promo...and I share various environmental and political news with a select list of friends. It's been useful to continue friendships that may have faded away years ago...but it's an uneasy tradeoff as I view it as a cesspool of evil, for the most part.

polical stuff I see about Democrats. If someone shares any Trump bullshit I put the original author on ignore. What irritates me more than politcal ads are the assholes that have to make a remark about liberals on posts that have absolutely nothing to do with politics. I have never seen a Democrat do that. It could be a post about kittens and somehow they blame liberals for the price of cat food
or something.

I live in a very rural area so it serves as a bulletin board and local market, adjunct to craigslist. I use a nom de internet rather than my own.

I have avoided the more common features for reasons that must be all too clear today. When Facebook began the inherent data insecurity and the obvious potential for manipulation and abuse (much as we have seen), along with the seemingly rampant narcissism made it impossible to consider as a tool. I worked in IT then.

I will say that in my experience many people use it for ordinary communication and do not favor its "news" or other feeds. Although I have no doubt their likes and interests are captured for the greater good of Zuckerberg Inc.

Facebook was constructed from the start to incorporate advertising and influence pedaling so the "revelations" of Mark Zuckerberg's many sins are no surprise nor should they be. He is not very different from Rupert Murdoch in monetizing the ability to manipulate public behavior and belief, and selling that function to a wealthy elite clientele. IMO Zuckerberg's social goals are not all that different from Lord Rupert despite his remarks to the contrary.

Facebook is a tool; a screwdriver. You are the screw.

"Never had it. Never will."

Although my wife has an account and it annoys me.

there was no option for "FUCK NO! thats why Donald Trump was president."

Occasionally I try to go to a business Facebook page because the business is advertising and I am interested.
However, because I do not have a Facebook account, I am denied access to the business page.

Even businesses are FU'ed by Facebook. These businesses can't grow when they focus on the few.

For what I do for a living, keep in touch with friends, event happenings, costuming and interest groups I keep in touch with, learn from.

Like any platform, to be used wisely. The clients I have generated via FB keep coming back to me as they post photos of what I have done for them, sending referrals to me as well. The best form of advertising is word of mouth and photos.

It's great for small business.

I have a friend who is very involved with ren fairs. She doesn't sell, but she has costumes made. She tags the business.

With TRF set to start, I am sure many vendors have FB Business pages as well.

fake name, fake photo, fake bio and a good FB containment program - Badger, recommended by Mozilla.

It's the only way to see photos of two of my grandchildren from a daughter who otherwise is pretty damn smart.

Not very often. I lost all interest in Facebook years ago.

I think Congress needs to focus on Facebook's lack of oversight with regard to fake news and anti-democratic / hate groups and move on from the teens and self-esteem topic. The bottom line is that the self-esteem issue is not unique to Facebook/Instagram, it's a problem with socializing on the Internet in general. I've been reading studies regarding that years before Facebook was around. Adults and parents need to regulate themselves and/or their children. Hopefully modern day health textbooks include a segment on the Internet and digit well-being. Educational curriculum setters need to stay ahead of the game and keep current on the issues affecting people.

or if our cell phones ding that we have a message that's it. No other use for it.

Well so far, it shows that only a minority of DUers use Facebook. That's the case for most groups in the US. Facebook does not attract a majority of any group, I'm sure.

So, are those who choose to use that social media venue supposed to STFU, because more people are not users?

Most people do not drive Chevrolet vehicles. Does that mean that Chevrolet vehicles are a bad choice? Certainly not. People have preferences and do as they please.

Such polls only confirm that a sizable minority uses Facebook, while a sizable majority does not. That's information, but not very useful information, really.

I’m trying to limit my eyerolling though and be nice.

I’ve gotten really into TikTok lately though. Personally I just make videos of my dog, but I try to manipulate the algorithm so I get what I like. It’s fun to experiment with. I follow a lot of black creators, feminists, GBLTQ+, animals, especially rescue organizations. I even follow a sheep shearer. I generally limit commenting, but I learn a lot and have fun as well.

dancing and demonstrating their shuffle?

The reality is that there is a very broad range of creators making TikTok videos. It's a challenge to create and produce an effective video with public appeal and impact with such a short time length and limited to a narrow portrait-mode image that is designed to be viewed only on smart phones. There is a huge amount of talent on display there, if you look a little for it.

Or you can just watch young women dance and young men make fools of themselves. Like all social media, what you view is your choice, isn't it?

We're seeing a lot of criticism from people who have never even explored what they are criticizing. That's obvious.

One of my granddaughters has an account with a “black lives matter” profile picture. She’s 10.

I was enlightened recently through DU of just how important the platform is to a lot of people who rely on it and how it has become such a crucial part of their lives in a positive way. Because of this, I am convinced it should be regulated -possibly as a utility, especially if it can help prevent a lot of the serious issues we've been seeing with it.

no political stuff, mostly kitty & puppy videos and photos and funnies my friends and family (I unfriended the republicans) post.

to see pics of my granddaughter.

Got tired f the data mining.

Never felt comfortable posting on Internet under real name due to dangers of possible profiling by governments/businesses/wackos/whomever seeking profits/coercion/revenge/whatever. Gave it up after a short time.

Keeping touch with friends and family, commenting on things like sports, movies, TV and other fun stuff.

I will on occasion touch on news and politics, but I keep it at a minimum. I don't really feel like being the guy clogging up his apolitical friends timeline with political posts ever 5 minutes. So only when something is really important do I comment on it. Or I'll comment on someone else's post.

It's the only social media where I use my own name.

I don't use my real name here and I don't use my real name on Twitter.

Facebook has a highly preferable format to me over Twitter.

Everything has its time and place for me, and that includes Facebook.

Don't have a problem, with the exception of one college friend who is a Trumper. I shared a post by my husband's niece, who is a graduate nurse and working with Covid patients. She is Hispanic. Trumper friend made a nasty comment about the border and Covid. I hid her remark. I rarely see her posts anymore since I hid her comment.

My brother in law is also a MAGAT, but not very active on FB. He had the nerve to crawl out of FB oblivion and make a comment on one of my FB posts. I hid his comment.

I regularly posted memes and comics, occasionally political stuff, but little else until around two years ago when I stopped. Since then I've pretty much signed on only to wish friends happy birthday.

So, am I a user?

Facebook bought Oculus a while ago. Zuckerfck made it so that you must have a FB account to register and use it.

No getting around it. You don't have to connect while playing, unless you want to compete against other players. I really only use it to watch movies, so no biggie - I don't use the public rooms or play many interactive games.

But still...Z is a totally contemptible greedy self centered waste of protoplasm asshole. And he was like that b4 he got rich, from all I have read. Just like TFG.

And the ads for lingerie.

Just like DU!

Photography, some liberal & progressive politics, and more

I started in?2017