I may end up giving it a shot regardless of my own hesitations. I just prefer to be headed to slaughter with my eyes open.
It’s worth (to me at least) giving it a try. As noted above, it is useful for keeping some connection to family and friends (not “Facebok Friends”). There are some folks that I know that don’t get out much that seem to enjoy the pictures that I post there from my trips.
I do try to be selective about who I friend. I also stay away from comment strings that attract trolls. I have been known to block people that keep re-posting some of the real nasty stuff.
Just in the last two hours I’ve gotten 7 new emails from facebook, all of them worse than useless. For example, when they send me an email just to say “Did you see that _______ updated her status?” Good grief, you mailbox spammers, if I’d have wanted to know her status every second of every day, I’d log in that often! If I had wanted to know her status at all today, I’d have logged in once.
Are there really people in this world who find such ceaseless reminders anything other than an annoyance?
What else can people who can’t put the phone down be doing?
I’m watching Clemson beat up on GA Tech.
FB, like anything else online these days is really just a matter of settings, turn on or off the notifications you want or don’t want. Awesome idea above of creating an account first for paddling groups and not friending Aunt Martha or Cousin Barthalemew. Keeps the cat pics and click bait to a minimum.
Just for myself, I recently joined several groups on FB here in Phoenix, and realized how many paddle opportunities I had missed last spring and summer… Previously only relying on word of mouth or Meetup. You need an account to access them, but you can eliminate a ton of “fluff” in your settings, and just ignore the rest.
@Sparky961 said:
You guys aren’t making a very convincing argument on the “for” side.
Would it be better if I said that you can look at cat videos if you want to?
@Guideboatguy said:
Are there really people in this world who find such ceaseless reminders anything other than an annoyance?
I have a separate email address for Facebook. So I never see those notifications unless I log into that email account. I guess I could also configure Facebook so it will not send them, but I haven’t tried.
So once again: Just because you make a Facebook account, you are not obliged to hand over your life to them. You don’t even have to hand over your personal email address.
@Guideboatguy said:
Just in the last two hours I’ve gotten 7 new emails from facebook, all of them worse than useless.
You can change your settings so you don’t get emails. Go to Settings/Notifications. If people tend to post stuff you don’t like, you can unfollow (or unfriend) them. I think it is manageable, but for some it is more bother than it is worth.
For me it would be a huge bother.
I have better things to do with my time, and do.
Most of the communications I see, hear, or read are totally useless.
Where are you? What are you doing? Who’s with you? Did you go anywhere this afternoon?
Hey! You don’t need to know where I am, what I’m doing, who is with me, on what I did this afternoon. And no; I’m not going to be your friend.
I’ve seen young relatives zone out on Facebook, shortly after sitting down for Thanksgiving/Christmas dinners.
They were on their gadgets until I threatened to take them.
A couple of them looked at their mom & dad for support; they just shrugged & smiled; they knew I’d do it!
Kids put em away.
Have seen adults come into a restaurant, order, and then bury their faces in their gadgets for the whole meal. 4 adults at the same table; no communication at all between them. Must have been some really important BS on Facebook.
Why in hell did they even bother to get together?
A large percentage of people go to Facebook because of peer pressure.
Membership is a “perceived” need, not a “real” need.
If it make you happy; go for it…
P.S. Zuckenberg & the other big time shareholders of Facebook thank you for your participation. Keep up the good work! He now has a net worth of about 75 “billion” dollars.
BOB
I’ll not try to persuade one way or the other. For myself, it is a way of keeping up with my river peeps. I only accept friend requests from people I’ve paddled with. That’s it. No family, no coworkers, no exceptions. If any of my “friends” post about politics, religion, or other non paddling topics, I just quit following them. Simple.
I have two accounts. One for business, high school friends , and others. The second is for family and close friends. It is often a way to keep up with distant family.
I’m not going to try to sway your mind. You either do it or don’t . My 86 year old father did. My 87 year old father in law does. It’s not an age thing.
I closed my first account for a variety of reasons. Took a hiatus and went back with a pseudonym. Now only those I want to be friends with are in fact friends. Many of the old timers from here are on FB, and we are friends.
This should gladden your refusenik’s heart. …Even the people who helped design it are weaning themselves off.
I avoid social media like the plague that it is. I do have a Facebook account, but only so I can (rarely) view content that others post. There is zero information about me on my page other than my name and there never will be. Facebook is run by a creep (Mark Zuckerberg) who thinks he’s entitled to know everything about everyone and use that information in any way he sees fit, including selling it to anybody who waves a buck under his nose. He’s seriously deranged.
I know a lot of people who use it all the time and are willing to accept the abuse of their information in exchange for being able to post every time they fart or run into a signpost because their nose was buried in their phone, but I suspect that they will regret that trade-off someday soon.
Personally, if I need to communicate with someone who’s not nearby, I’ll call them, since there’s no substitute for actually speaking with a human being. If it’s not urgent enough for that, I’ll email them, which is at least somewhat more personal than a social media post.
There have been recent studies that have concluded that social media is ripping society apart, as it’s producing a generation of people who have no idea how to interact with each other in person. The only saving grace is that if we’re lucky, they won’t be able to figure out how to reproduce, since there’s no “app” for that.
I joined several years ago as a way to keep in touch with my daughters, and friends who live far away with whom I would otherwise have no contact. It can be a useful way to keep in touch with other paddlers.
There is no question that the site generates way too many junk emails. I have recently pretty much avoided it because it has become polluted with posts from those practicing “social activism” which convince nobody of anything whatsoever and only serve to anger and alienate others.
I also object to the political way in which the content of the entire site is manipulated by Zuckerberg (who I agree is a creep) and the other controllers. In fact, I think the entire “social media” phenomenon is helping to tear the fabric of our society apart and I really don’t wish to be a part of it, or be as little a part of it as possible.
I honestly didn’t expect so many to share many of my own views. I’m a bit "speech"less.
You have a bunch of old guys on an old style message board - responses are just about what I’d expect. I can only say this - if you want to paddle whitewater in southern New England, it is a lot easier to find trips on Facebook. Now I actually enjoy it, I have also spent a little time understanding and learning how to managing my privacy - it’s not hard. I have no idea whether you would find it easier to find trips on Facebook or not, but you’ll never know until you try.
(It’s funny, I’m actually friends with a couple of guys who have posted on this thread. I’d say they are less active users than I am. 
)
@eckilson said:
You have a bunch of old guys on an old style message board
Probably why I stick around here. I’ve always related better to people a bit older than I am.
I do appreciate the comments on here, and I’m trying to take everything and apply it to my own situation. I like the idea of using it with a pseudonym, just as I do here (but not likely the same one). I’ve seen some of what goes around in my extended family’s network and have little interest in that.
My prediction is that I’m going to run into a similar geographic problem though. There just aren’t that many people nearby, thus the ones that are into the same sort of kayaking I am are going to be limited as well. Maybe there will be a move in my future. Any suggestions? 
You can easily limit what you see from your extended family - just unfollow them and you won’t see their posts. When they ask if you saw something on Facebook, just act like you know what they are talking about.
If you can find the right group, Facebook can solve your geographic problem. I had a similar problem since there aren’t many whitewater paddlers in RI anymore. Now I am in groups with folks from all over New England - we all paddle the same rivers anyway. The trick is to find the right group. Ask the folks that you paddle with if they are on Facebook - that’s a good place to start. Might work for you, might not.
Back in the day, it was message boards and email lists, now it is all Facebook. Like everyone else, I hate to line Zuckerburg’s pocket, but it does work for me.
And besides, “resistance is futile…”