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NOFMAF
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NOFMAF
60 posts
Treasurer

What do you think are the upsides of social networks?

  • 15 Replies
ironblade41
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ironblade41
514 posts
Shepherd

I don't really know. I never use them because, in my opinion, they're stupid. They were meant for long-distance families but ended up being for trolls and fangirls.

nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

They were meant for long-distance families but ended up being for trolls and fangirls.


No, they weren't meant for that.

Social media for me is significant and delightful to use. I can easily check up on sports news, political events, or my friends. Contrary to what people think, it doesn't harm your relationships if you use it in the right way. It's utter tosh to think that you'll just coop up at home and communicate via phone once you have social media. If we're going out, we're going out, and tweeting 140 characters can't buy that, not for a price.

Social media let's me come into contact with people I can't meet, strangers I'll never see, but share common interests with. I can discuss and follow other football fans which I normally won't even dream off. People from all around the globe. That is precious.

And more importantly, it let's me maintain contacts with close foreign friends.
Maverick4
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Maverick4
6,804 posts
Peasant

Before anyone thinks about bashing social media, think about the use of profiles here on AG.

Not much I think I can add to this; Nicho nailed it IMO.

GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
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Herald

I'm able to communicate with distant relatives and old friends.

That's about it, I don't use it for news related things. I prefer other, more reliable sites for that. As for strangers/people I've met on the internet, don't think I'd ever add them to a social network. Two different parts of my life, I don't want an internet friend being able to see a lot of stuff that goes on in my personal life, I don't *really* know them after all.
Besides, I'm fine with other ways of communicating with them. Such as email or private messaging on another site.

daleks
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daleks
3,770 posts
Chamberlain

I'm able to communicate with distant relatives and old friends.

Same. I mean come on GOM. You said exactly what I was going to say.

But aince I got my FB account I have reconnected with some old friends I moved away from.
xeano321
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xeano321
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Farmer

I don't have a Facebook account (I do, but I don't use it.)

Most people I know I see in person everyday-every other day, I also have their phone numbers in the event I really need to talk to them.

Social networking is really just for sitting around saying nothing. I doubt if Facebook will be looked back upon in 1000 years as something that contributed anything positive to society.

ironblade41
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ironblade41
514 posts
Shepherd



No, they weren't meant for that.


Facebook was, originally.
GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
15,620 posts
Herald

Facebook was, originally.

It was originally meant for Harvard college students to get connected.
nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

Social networking is really just for sitting around saying nothing. I doubt if Facebook will be looked back upon in 1000 years as something that contributed anything positive to society.


Yes it will. It doesn't just connect you even more to people you know, but to people you would almost never have known.
GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
15,620 posts
Herald

It could since so many people use it, but I'm sure it'll eventually fall and another social networking site will sprout.

xeano321
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xeano321
3,152 posts
Farmer

Yes it will. It doesn't just connect you even more to people you know, but to people you would almost never have known


What difference does it make if I meet this guy in Timbuktu on Facebook? I highly doubt if that will change the world, much less have an effect on society.
rayoflight3
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rayoflight3
437 posts
Nomad

What exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to deny the impact that Facebook has had upon this world because you think it's a cesspool for useless blather? You may not find it particularly useful, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that it has been an innovation that has changed the world.

nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

What difference does it make if I meet this guy in Timbuktu on Facebook? I highly doubt if that will change the world, much less have an effect on society.


Greater connectivity, bringing people together, kicking off new initiatives from these new linkages. Facebook was used extensively during Arab Spring to organize people just to name one major usage.
xeano321
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xeano321
3,152 posts
Farmer

(Oh boy... Looks like I struck a nerve with a few people. -_-)

What exactly are you trying to say? Are you trying to deny the impact that Facebook has had upon this world because you think it's a cesspool for useless blather? You may not find it particularly useful, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that it has been an innovation that has changed the world.


No doubt Facebook has changed the appearance of the world. Now I cant even buy a pack of underwear without the package saying: Like us on Facebook!

My point is this: Facebook is not that beneficial to society in my opinion. It leads to useless blather, to use your own words.

Greater connectivity, bringing people together, kicking off new initiatives from these new linkages. Facebook was used extensively during Arab Spring to organize people just to name one major usage.


The internet in its entirety was used to organize the Arab Spring, don't give Facebook all the credit. Don't get me wrong, Facebook does generate positive constructive results, but the "blather" and sheer pointlessness it also generates far outweigh the positive side of it.

To save you fine gentlemen the time and effort in changing my opinion, don't even try. I know every argument you're going to generate, and they wont have an effect.
nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

The internet in its entirety was used to organize the Arab Spring, don't give Facebook all the credit. Don't get me wrong, Facebook does generate positive constructive results, but the "blather" and sheer pointlessness it also generates far outweigh the positive side of it.


People will talk like that without Facebook. People still take photos, even without Facebook. We write senseless notes and show them to each other even without Facebook. Facebook is not pointless, people themselves generate the ''ointlessness''. It's not like we spend the whole day poking each other, or liking random pages.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites get the main credits; they were used to actually stage and gather protesters, time, date, location, etc.
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