Why are there so many d*ckheads on Facebook?

FractalAudio said:
Never use the site but curiosity got the better of me today. Wow, so much vitriol and snarkiness.
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As I said elsewhere, giving a voice to everyone with a pulse and a cell phone wasn’t such a bang up idea after all. Time was where you had to have substance to get a listen, but no more. It has lowered the value of conversation to the lowest common denominator. That level is astonishingly low, and all members of the class seemingly have a cell phone.
 
There's almost nothing of use on Facebook these days, it's just a stream of uninteresting BS that's nothing to do with friends.

I think "social" media is ruining social interaction. People just spout crap that they'd never dream of saying to someone's face but niw that's slowly leaking into society for real...
 
Internet seems to bring out the worst in people.

I have a rule that any group that is toxic, I don't participate in.

I once read a cool fact on this (below).

Thanks,
Brandon


A verbal exchange between physically present people is not only facilitated by what is being said but also by what is not being said. For example, looking into each other's eyes while talking is an important gesture in establishing what may be considered common knowledge among the interlocutors. Reading the facial expressions of the participants determine whether they get the point, whether they agree to it, disagree, are agnostic, angry, sad, concerned, disconcerted about what is being said.

The same goes for body language which is being deciphered while discussing, quarreling or debating. One step towards another may be considered a threat, an invitation, or some other expression -- it depends on the context, on what is actually being said, what that implies, and so forth. Taking one step back and putting your hands up may mean that you surrender, give up, withdraw, need a break to collect your thoughts, or perhaps a suggestion to the effect that other interlocutors should do same.

Some ten years ago we were presented with new mediums through which to conduct conversations, namely blogs, comment sections, social media, and other virtual platforms for exchanging opinions.

It's not just that we can't physically see the people we are communicating with; they may also not reveal their identity. It's possible to not know who you are talking to, or whether they mean whatever they may seem to be saying. It's not always possible to check who they are as they may have multiple profiles of which the details may not be verifiable. You can't really assess whether they mean what they say, because you can't look them in the eye, nor whether they accept this premise and not another, nor gauge their sincerity, and so on.

There is no opportunity to read gestures, body language or phonetics to align the conversation and keep it on track. There is only what is left on the wall, subject to multiple interpretations and misunderstandings, and every one of the participants are left hanging accordingly.
 
Yeah, I think Facebook may have started to surpass youtube as being the complete nadir of human discourse. I also find that facebook has a tendency to cause more negative and bleak feelings in people. They come away with, “well, everyone is saying x”, or “everyone hates y”. When in reality, no, not “everyone”, just the algorithm curated echo chamber is saying x or hating y, there are millions of people who don’t feel that way, or couldn’t care less, but a place like facebook is tuned for engagement, not communication, and, unfortunately, negativity fosters far more engagement and attention than positivity. I’m with y’all, I treat facebook now (really almsot the whole of the “social internet”) like youtube comments for years, just don’t read it unless you want to be pissed off, frustrated, disgusted, or annoyed, and then when I am, I know I only brought it on myself ;)

I’m just glad that this forum actually fosters discourse and community, and on the occasion where someone is being too negative, or attempting to troll, it’s easy to just not click on the particular thread anymore, or engage with them. There’s not an algorithm deciding what I should see in order to keep me glued to the page by appealing to my base lizard brain.
 
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I posted a similar thread here a few weeks back specifically about the Fractal Facebook group.

I've since left that group... There's no benefit, and the people who could benefit from my input don't seem to want it. So hasta la vista, baby!
 
I like Facebook. I simply go on for a laugh and sometimes I see updates about Fractal stuff first on there.
There are trolls galore but I either ignore them or block them. Its also great for finding out about local gigs so we can support live music.
Its not all negative.
 
It's pretty good to advertise, which is, finally, the goal behind it...
Otherwise i like the serendipity it creates on my wall
So it's not so bad, but yes people are pretty rude sometimes ..
 
Given the creator/founder and their focus on being rich, no surprise. I check on my family and call out spam supporting internet Hosts. Not worth much else ....
 
Have only an account related to some music mates. No discussions, no talk, no opinion exchanges..its no use and btw I don't have the time for it, it's just not interesting.
 
I'm always a little disappointed when I see a small business uses Facebook as their primary web presence. Yeah, it's free but gads does it suck. It usually limits my interest in that business whenever it requires a Facebook account to dig deeper on the business. I can't wait to see Facebook wane in popularity to the same level as Myspace and Yahoo.
 
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