Gyroscopic Investing

Curious what your guys stands are regarding facebook. I've been on it now for a couple of years mostly just as a passive observer but I've really begun to find that the whole thing sours my relationships with people in the flesh mostly because it makes all of the nice people I associate with seem like vain, narcissistic morons who are obsessed with personal image branding and promotion rather than exchanging useful and meaningful information or having a discussion. Maybe Facebook is the wrong medium for that, but what purpose do posts like these below have other than to stir up emotions of jealousy, resentment, irritation etc, etc...

Some examples:

- (artful picture of delicious looking dinner that has obviously been arranged so that it includes alcoholic beverage and glimpse of some girls cleavage)....caption.."so happy to be spending quality time with - Ms. hottypants so and so - at our fav restaurant."

- (picture of crystal clear water and beautiful beach) in Barbados on the beach sucking back some cold ones....off to go scuba diving on the reefs in a bit. So excited!!!

- just scored some backstage tickets at the (some artist I've never here of) concert! Woohoo!

- some inane overplayed quotation that has been misatributed to someone like Ghandi or Einstein.

- some cryptic message eluding that something bad has happened to them without giving any details....usually eliciting some reaction from their Facebook fan base like "oh no, what happened?!!! OMG, are you okay...so worried"

Maybe I'm getting old and crotchety but WTF is the point of this and why does it attract so many people?

I think people like to feel popular and loved and special even though they haven't done anything.

That and it's an easy, low commitment way to re-aquaint with people.

I go on it twice a year, usually late at night if I've had a few drinks and think about contacting old Army buddies or something. Then I have to wade through the messages and friend requests from family and old girlfriends and be sure not to read them so I can keep up the appearnace that I never go on facebook, not that I'm deliberatly avoiding them.

I'm going to start a site called AssBook.

Guess the premise.

Kshartle wrote:I'm going to start a site called AssBook.

Guess the premise.

Your autobiography?

I keed, I keed!

Xan wrote:

Kshartle wrote:I'm going to start a site called AssBook.

Guess the premise.

Your autobiography?

I keed, I keed!

Hahahahahah.......

Yes....personal blog and shrine.

I will include topics from here.

I love the "Assbook" idea. Someone should really do it.

ns3 wrote: I love the "Assbook" idea. Someone should really do it.

They have. It's called Tumblr.

WTF is the point of this and why does it attract so many people?

This too shall pass but it sure is annoying as hell. Or maybe it will morph into something less crappy. It's getting harder to get face time with friends because they spend their free time online "connecting." I'm not on FB but I can extrapolate from my experiences with e-mail and a couple of online forums that it's probably good in moderation but really bad in excess.

As a point of comparison, this forum never induces the same feelings in me that Facebook can.....while discussions here can become frustrating and exasperating at times between people that share different opinions, there is an honesty and camaraderie here that I feel is truly human. Facebook on the other hand comes across like a series of infomercial presentations hosted by each of my friends. There is a plasticky lack of depth to the whole experience that makes me leave feeling more estranged and disappointed in humans than I normally do. I'm all for the online sharing and exchange of information, feelings etc etc. but Facebook doesn't seem to be utilized for this. It seems like a platform from which individuals can run their own personal branding and marketing campaigns. I feel like my friends have become miniature corporations who carefully sculpt their personal brand image through Facebook.....it's kind of gross and it's making me feel estranged from people who I really like in real life. I want to walk away from Facebook but I'm a bit afraid that to do so would mean losing contact with a lot of people and eventually disappearing from people's memories altogether. It's like I am forced to keep updating and advertising my brand image in order to stay relevant.....

doodle wrote: I want to walk away from Facebook but I'm a bit afraid that to do so would mean losing contact with a lot of people and eventually disappearing from people's memories altogether. It's like I am forced to keep updating and advertising my brand image in order to stay relevant.....

Ugh, that's exactly how I feel too. I've actually quit Facebook twice, but I keep coming back because there's just enough real social interaction, and it makes it so easy to keep in touch with people I really do care about but who live far away.

The original post by doodle is just about the best description of facebook I've ever seen.  I left facebook in March 2012, and never looked back.  Good riddance!

edsanville wrote: The original post by doodle is just about the best description of facebook I've ever seen.  I left facebook in March 2012, and never looked back.  Good riddance!

+1,  But I'm slow, it took me a bit longer than March 2012 

I finally figured out those family and friends who would not communicate directly via phone, text, iMessage, FaceTime, Skype or email were not really "friends" after all.

... Mountaineer

I've been deactivated for two years, but I keep saving up my one-liners (and cleavage shots of Mrs Hottypants) for my big return. Actually, just one-liners, and no cleavage).

Reub wrote: Call me a contrarian, if you will.

You're a contrarian.

doodle wrote: Curious what your guys stands are regarding facebook. I've been on it now for a couple of years mostly just as a passive observer but I've really begun to find that the whole thing sours my relationships with people in the flesh mostly because it makes all of the nice people I associate with seem like vain, narcissistic morons who are obsessed with personal image branding and promotion rather than exchanging useful and meaningful information or having a discussion. Maybe Facebook is the wrong medium for that, but what purpose do posts like these below have other than to stir up emotions of jealousy, resentment, irritation etc, etc...

It's so High School.  I prefer not to revert in my growth, thanks!  But I'm a loner anyway, so I really don't care.  I do think if you participant in the mainstream world, you will have to keep up with the social network imaging/branding because it becomes a self-fullfilling social expectation.  But with all the teens jumping Facebook for other sites, it's just Baby Boomers and older farts now doing their "borng again" juvenile thing.  That too shall pass, hopefully.

This from a girl who literally posts every night about whatever wonderful restaurant she happens to be eating at. Why do I hate Facebook? Because it reveals how %*#^*+* idiotic human beings are. I'm so tempted to make a smart ass reply to her but I'm afraid I would be crucified:

Freaking out and tears are falling. I find a doctor that I like, that suits my needs. I relay my insurance information, I get in the system, I meet the doctor, I am comfortable with him, I go to check out and I am told that "Oh, we don't take your insurance. We take Florida Blue, but we don't take Florida Blue Select." Now I am stuck with a $200 medical bill and I am back on the phone with the Health Insurance Marketplace trying to see if I can qualify for a special enrollment change, which could take up to 30 days to hear back from the case worker assigned to my case. Fingers crossed I am approved cause right now, THIS SUCKS!!!

All that said, I do agree with her that the health insurance system in this country is equally as idiotic as she is..

doodle wrote: This from a girl who literally posts every night about whatever wonderful restaurant she happens to be eating at. Why do I hate Facebook? Because it reveals how %*#^*+* idiotic human beings are. I'm so tempted to make a smart ass reply to her but I'm afraid I would be crucified:

Freaking out and tears are falling. I find a doctor that I like, that suits my needs. I relay my insurance information, I get in the system, I meet the doctor, I am comfortable with him, I go to check out and I am told that "Oh, we don't take your insurance. We take Florida Blue, but we don't take Florida Blue Select." Now I am stuck with a $200 medical bill and I am back on the phone with the Health Insurance Marketplace trying to see if I can qualify for a special enrollment change, which could take up to 30 days to hear back from the case worker assigned to my case. Fingers crossed I am approved cause right now, THIS SUCKS!!!

At least she was detailed about her sucky day.


The worst is when people throw out obvious open-ended complaints... seeking sympathy:

"Worst day of my life, ever.  I've had enough!"


That is the stuff that gets me.  At least if I worked in health insurance, if I saw a friend post what you put, there would be something to fix. 

Not that I disagree with you, I just hate the open-ended stuff that much more.

moda0306 wrote:

doodle wrote: This from a girl who literally posts every night about whatever wonderful restaurant she happens to be eating at. Why do I hate Facebook? Because it reveals how %*#^*+* idiotic human beings are. I'm so tempted to make a smart ass reply to her but I'm afraid I would be crucified:

Freaking out and tears are falling. I find a doctor that I like, that suits my needs. I relay my insurance information, I get in the system, I meet the doctor, I am comfortable with him, I go to check out and I am told that "Oh, we don't take your insurance. We take Florida Blue, but we don't take Florida Blue Select." Now I am stuck with a $200 medical bill and I am back on the phone with the Health Insurance Marketplace trying to see if I can qualify for a special enrollment change, which could take up to 30 days to hear back from the case worker assigned to my case. Fingers crossed I am approved cause right now, THIS SUCKS!!!

At least she was detailed about her sucky day.


The worst is when people throw out obvious open-ended complaints... seeking sympathy:

"Worst day of my life, ever.  I've had enough!"


That is the stuff that gets me.  At least if I worked in health insurance, if I saw a friend post what you put, there would be something to fix. 

Not that I disagree with you, I just hate the open-ended stuff that much more.

I agree, vague cryptic facebook posts seeking pity made my original list of why I hate Facebook.....the real question though is why do I keep checking it everyday when it never fails to irritate me? I must be sick or some kind of addict

Horrible day today. Please no calls or emails!

It's been about a year and half since I canceled my Facebook account, but the comments in this thread are making me wish I could somehow cancel it a second time just for good measure.

By the way, I'm having dinner with Mrs. Hottypants tonight at our favorite burger joint, and OMG it's soooooo good!!11

I just thought of another thing that bothered me about Facebook: people who would use a photo of their baby or toddler as their own profile photo.

I like kids, so I'm not sure why that bugged me; it just did.

That, er, meal, really looks delicious!

And yes, the profile thing bugged me too.  I think it's because I've spent too much time dealing with databases, and really needing the right piece of data in the right spot.  The profile picture is supposed to be a picture of YOUR FACE.  Not you and 10 friends.  Not somebody you really like.  YOU.

Reub wrote: Horrible day today. Please no calls or emails!

LOL!!!

Great video on Facebook: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/this-is-why-y ... 1595563358