# For friends, I actually think life was better without facebook and twitter



## Javale (Oct 6, 2013)

Mark Zuckerberg insists that facebook is supposed to connect all of us and improve our lives. Facebook has become a part of many people's lives. But here is the problem. Most people on facebook are truly not connected with all of their contacts. 

Chances are that you already have the numbers & emails of your closest friends. How often are we really ''connecting'' with the people from our past? More Not than often. Facebook is simply a way to try to get attention and portray your life to others digitally. In a way it is a way of life, in itself.

The truth is facebook was never needed to really connect with others. There are several of other tools to find people. And if you really have to look that hard to find someone, you are probably just a stalker anyways. 

Life before facebook was more interactive and more engaging. People were not concerned about digital status. Even if you do quit facebook, you will find people looking down on their smart phones everywhere you go. It's quite annoying. People would rather live a digital life, and update their status, and press the Like button, than live their actual life. 

I hope people understand that nobody cares about every snack they ever ate. People pretend to care in hope that they will also get liked on their photos. It really is sad. It's a waste of time. I can't believe it's almost a prerequisite to have a facebook. Having a facebook now is like having a phone number.

And as far as twitter, I don't understand why fans actually join a celebrities twitter. See the thing is, if you're a fan of somebodies, you can just check their personal website every now and then. If something important happened, you'll most likely hear about it on the news. As far as I'm concerned, reading a music stars twitter makes me appreciate being a fan less and less. The reason is because most people's twitter is either boring or idiotic. I'm more interested in hearing an actual interview than a 60 word or less tweet. Half the time, tweets are ambiguous and it's all just mental masturbation trying to decipher the meaning of them. At least message boards allow you to hear people's entire thoughts on their minds and hopefully they're more meaningful or insightful than not. But tweets surely dumb things down.


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## fm5827 (Mar 7, 2011)

I couldn't agree more. I have about 170 friends on facebook and probably wouldn't strike up a conversation with around half of them if I saw them. Its really just a popularity contest. The phone thing annoys me as well, people just can't look away from their phones its ridiculous. I can't even imagine what the world will be like in 5 or 10 years as the technology gets better.


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## Donnie in the Dark (Mar 15, 2011)

i don't do social networking sites. I think uni would have been better for me if I had gone in the eighties. not that I actually want that, my point is just that people actually had to meet and talk, or find a phone to use, or write a letter. 
That said I think email is pretty great. I wish people just used email..... instead of social networking sites.
People act like it is a big deal if you aren't on Facebook, and tell you you should get it so you can communicate. I never say it, but I always think to myself that if they were bothered enough they could send an email or ask for a phone number or whatever.....


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## Euripides (Sep 20, 2013)

I agree with the majority of what you said. I've never been much of a fan of facebook to begin with. Friends are always on my back asking me why I'm never online anymore. I just can't be bothered with the whole thing. Also, I don't like being constantly available. That said, it is quite handy for contacting people when you actually want to, as it is all in one place. Personally, I use facebook like a list of contacts, or a place to discuss a project/assignment/plans in group, rather than a place to "share my life". Outside of the whole social networking thing, it is quite useful as a practical tool.


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## sawako (Sep 28, 2013)

With celebrities, the website is most likely maintained by some PR company. But the Twitter is usually controlled by the celebrity (and sometimes there may be posts by their PR as well). So some like to join those sites, especially Instagram to take a peek into their life.

I used to not use Facebook. I didn't see the point because I rarely talked to anyone and FB's privacy stuff kept changing. Then I dated someone years ago who really wanted me to rejoin so he could change his relationship status to dating me :no 

I wish I didn't have FB now, but my job has changed. So I need to be on there to promote business pages. Same with Twitter. I rarely talk to anyone on FB otherwise and often people read my message and don't reply.


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## nightheron (Sep 30, 2013)

I often wonder if school would have been easier for me if texting and social networking existed because it's easier for me to interact online than it is in person just because of my anxiety. That said, as online networking in all it's forms became more popular, I found that people were less wanting to actually spend time in person. It was easier just to connect digitally because everyone could talk with everyone at once while not having to go anywhere or stop what they were doing. It seemed like connections became more superficial and impersonal. I got caught up in that and didn't like it. It kind of made me feel even more alone.


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## Pizza (Oct 5, 2013)

Yes!! It seems as if we're connected, but disconnected at the same time. What happened to having lunch with someone, and talking to them in person? Now all you see is people taking pictures at their frappuccinos and cranberry muffins, only to upload on instagram. I feel as if we're losing our touch with human interaction (verbally wise) One of the best decisions of my life was deleting my facebook.


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## glossy95 (Sep 27, 2012)

Yes it is a sad fact.. I have them and I don't wanna use them cus it is embarrassing but sometimes I feel I'm missing out from all the people around me. That's why I can't delete them..


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## TicklemeRingo (Jan 11, 2013)

I've never had a facebook account. :stu


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## Occasional Hope (Dec 9, 2012)

I deleted my FB years ago simply because it was all too much for me to be honest. So many status updates and things to 'Like' or comment on that I just had enough of it (especially since they never even put in a 'Dislike' button :b) and so I gave up and deleted my account.

I think FB can be great for people who really like to be up to date with a lot of people's lives all at once and also very good for those who need to branch out further than their home town/city to find others with like minds or common interests. One of my only friends whom I know from my college days really benefits from FB and it has allowed him to find a group of friends who are into his music style, have similar interests and, as a bonus, also share his sexual orientation. Admittedly, this group of friends is mainly based up in Scotland whereas he is in the south-west of England so he doesn't get to see them that much. The point is, however, that he has been living in his home town most of his life and he has never really been able to find a group of people that he feels he can fit in with and FB has facilitated him in finally achieving that.

I just personally don't like feeling as if I have to stay up to date with all the information going on. I had enough of seeing people posting pictures of their holidays, meals, family occasions, new products they'd bought and whatever else they felt the need to share. That has always been me though, I'm just not very interested in those sorts of things socially. I enjoy talking about opinions and ideas. If a friend has something like holiday snaps to share then I'd much prefer to be sitting with that person and talking about their journeys whilst they are showing me the photos. I guess I'm just more demanding with their time than most people :b but then I tend to go for having a small group of intimate friendships rather than a large and diverse social circle (to be honest with my SA I wouldn't last long with such a circle lol). So, basically I'd say that I'm just unfortunate in that FB encourages the type of social conversation that I'm not into. Not going to blame FB or myself for that, it's just how it goes really.

The only thing that I will say annoys me with FB, which I experienced last week when I was setting up an account for my Mum, is how some people (in fact a lot of people) have moved away from using FB as a way to communicate with friends and instead started to act as if they're trying to promote themselves to an audience. I was fairly surprised when looking at how people I know (people I was adding as friends on my Mum's account) had done up their FB pages with professional photos and wedding pictures etc. They almost looked like something you'd see on a movie poster or a promotional website :b. 

Fair enough if you want to put forward your personality but a lot of people seem to have started going further and trying to create a digital identity/brand which they obviously feel the need to maintain. I think there's too much advertising already, especially with these new targeted ads on a load of websites nowadays, so I really don't want more people getting into the industry.


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## greenbear123 (Oct 6, 2013)

Facebook its always been the cause and solution to my problems. Deleated everyone off it, now have an anon account with a few chosen few. Did this 5 days ago and it has improved my mental health already


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## AstroBoy93 (Dec 21, 2012)

I created and deleted countless accounts because it kinda crushed my self esteem. Now I created a new one a couple of months ago only for closest friends and people who don't annoy me. I mainly use it to participate in college discussion groups. Don't get the point on twitter either. I tried to use it, tried to fit in but nope, that's not for me.


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## Zack (Apr 20, 2013)

I wish the Internet was around (in its current state) when I was at uni. Emailing was just becoming the communication standard then and most students didn't have a laptop even - that was only 10-20 years ago.


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## licorice (Oct 5, 2013)

People weren't always connected with everyone in their address books, either. I remember paging through my mom's, and there were many people we hadn't had over for quite some time even though they didn't live out of state or anything. Facebook is just the address book of 2013.

I do think it's a new social atmosphere, though. Everyone I know still connects offline, but there's an online form of connecting that I don't like participating in and sit out now. I have a small number of relevant people.


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## chemengchick (Oct 7, 2013)

I love having Facebook. It helps me keep in contact with people I wouldn't get to hang out with normally. I live in the Midwest now but I went to high school on the east coast, middle and elementary in the south, and most of my family lives in the Caribbean. I don't make friends really easily and I am very close with the ones that I did make.

I like Facebook mostly for the pictures. I like to see what everyone is up to. When my best friend had a baby in FL. I couldn't be there but I got to see the baby minutes after it was born, saw video of his first steps, and was on Skype with them a few times. I keep up to date with everyone and when I do call them we have stuff to talk about. It's far easier to post a comment than to make a phone call and online all you friends can comment on the same things. Facebook is like and international conference call for current life events and opinions.

I don't know many people where I am now but it does make getting together easier. A coworker put up a post asking if anyone wanted to go to the movies last week. Everyone who was tagged in it got to respond quickly and make plans. I think that's a lot easier than having to call up each individual (6) and ask what a good time for them was and then call back someone and cross reference the new time with them and so forth. 

I think some people use online as an excuse to never have to really talk to other people and that's when it becomes a problem. My issue with Facebook is that it makes me feel very boring in comparison. I'm single and never been married, I have no kids, I didn't just buy a house, my job is far less than stunning, I didn't just win a bowling tournament, don't have a closet full of great shoes, didn't just go sky diving, etc., etc. Sometimes I look at my page and other peoples and feel pathetic.
I try to post about my good grades in college and get my hair and make up done for cute profile pics. It's not the same but I try :?


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## changeme77 (Feb 22, 2013)

I have to disagree with your sentiments. I only recently just started using facebook and my life was not significantly better without it. To me this just sounds like you're trying to place the blame on something else. Facebook is what you make of it. Nothing more and nothing less. It can certainly benefit you if you use it properly.


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## VaultThirteen (May 23, 2013)

changeme77 said:


> Facebook is what you make of it. Nothing more and nothing less.


Not true. The prevalence of these online social sites means more people staring at their device, which leads to a lot of effects on socialization which have nothing to do with what you make of it.


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## anisan (Oct 9, 2013)

I agree, Facebook makes you _think_ you're connecting with people but your not. It just makes you depressed and feel incredibly lonely. Without 'social' networks people would've made more of an effort to keep friendships/relationships going.


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## changeme77 (Feb 22, 2013)

VaultThirteen said:


> Not true. The prevalence of these online social sites means more people staring at their device, which leads to a lot of effects on socialization which have nothing to do with what you make of it.


It is true. You just misinterpreted what I said.


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## TheAceInTheHole (Jan 10, 2013)

I haven't logged into my facebook account for a few weeks now. And I got to tell ya, I feel much better.


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## FunkyFedoras (Aug 30, 2013)

At this point, I am contemplating using Facebook because lately, every single organization I belong to is promoting it's Facebook page or how it's posting a poll on Facebook for us to give feedback or how they're going to add everyone to a Facebook group, etc. and I feel like such a loser because I don't have one and they're just doing all that stuff with other people that do and everyone's in the loop because of FB. Ugh. :| 
I really don't want to though because I'd have like 12 contacts at most...probably less even.

I also don't like the phone thing. Everyone is always staring at their phones everywhere I go, all the time. It's really annoying because I'm just awkwardly not on my phone like everyone else. Sometimes though, in settings with other people, I just look through my phone for nothing in particular because at least it gives me something to do and it's not weird since everyone is looking down at phones anyways.


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