[iDC] Replacing Facebook

Tue Jun 1 10:00:53 UTC 2010

One of the things I've noticed about the departures from Facebook that have been announced for Quit Facebook Day is that most of the people doing it never engaged much in the platform anyway, and so little has changed. In that respect, the more active "suicides" suggested by Sean make a lot of sense as a political intervention.

For me, Facebook solves a simple problem, it allows me to keep in touch in a low-effort way with many dispersed friends in all parts of the world, and across many different disciplinary and familial groups (for better and worse, my mother is not going to join iDC and comment on my post). Facebook's governance is, to put it mildly, completely fucked in either democratic or economic paradigms, in ways that are potentially catastrophic if you are a sucker. But after editing a book-length study on ICANN/IETF governance back in the day, I can't say for sure that poor governance is that easily correlated with value. Until something comes along that's 90% as easy, it will continue unabated.

[FWIW- I think the only short-run competitor is some kind of HTML 5 wrapper aggregating photos and videos around a Twitter ID, while wrapping RTs into comments somehow. Think about how on the iPhone SMS messaging completely ignores the 160 char limit to make "messages" in speech bubbles that may be 2 or 4 messages long, but you don't really know and don't care that much if you can afford an iPhone. Yes, I know part of the value of Twitter is that it doesn't have extra features, but for many of my facebook friends, the main thing they'll want to share is baby photos. And I'll want to see them without clicking on a link.]

Cheers

Danny

--
http://www.dannybutt.net
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On 1/06/2010, at 6:13 AM, Andreas Schiffler wrote:

> 
> Isn't the problem one of collective inflexibility. As Nathan wrote:
> "however, for many, quitting facebook is not really an option (e.g., 
> because all of your peers use it)."
> 
> Why is it not an option? Isn't facebook just a "toy", seemingly 
> empowered by its reach? And if it isn't a toy, what does it really "do" 
> for the users? Quitters need only look for substitute of these "do's" 
> they'd give up online, or maybe more importantly offline as Geert 
> pointed out.
> 
> --Andreas
> 
> On 5/31/10 8:04 AM, Geert Lovink wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> bombing, deleting, committing suicide, with a machine (or not)...
>> These are not really the metaphors I call mine.
>> 
>> Leaving the scene is perhaps a better motive.
>> 
>> It reminds me of Baudrillard who writes about the art of disappearance
>> and the strategies that go with such moves.
>> 
>> Indifference is one of them. Who cares? Forgetting is another (the
>> password). What was my username again? Damned. No idea.
>> 
>> That's very likely going to be the way most Facebook users will say
>> goodbye to the System.
>> 
>> A computer crash. Moving town. A love affair. Life is strong. And so
>> are alternatives networks. Alternatives to networks.
>> 
>> Geert
>> 
>> (after my Facebook's gone)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 31 May 2010, at 3:57 PM, nathan jurgenson wrote:
>> 
>> 
>>> love Dockray's "FACEBOOK SUICIDE (BOMB) MANIFESTO" and the point
>>> that we can stick it to facebook by gumming up their system.
>>> database vandalism!
>>> 
>>> however, for many, quitting facebook is not really an option (e.g.,
>>> because all of your peers use it). another less extreme route is to
>>> simply have a "fakebook" where you do not use your real name and
>>> fill your profile with nonsense information. your real friends will
>>> still know who you are. you can still use the site to network and
>>> enjoy what it offers while simultaneously sticking it to facebook a
>>> bit by inserting so much false information (not to mention it solves
>>> many of the privacy concerns).
>>> 
>>> i wrote it up a bit here: "Trade Your Facebook in for a Fakebook" http://contexts.org/sociologylens/2010/05/26/trade-your-facebook-in-for-a-fakebook/
>>> 
>>> nathan
>>> ----------
>>> From: Sean Dockray<sean at e-rat.org>
>>> A roadmap for an effective Facebook suicide should do some of the
>>> following: catching as many viruses as possible; click on as many
>>> ?Like? buttons as possible; join as many groups as possible; request
>>> as many friends as possible. Wherever there is the possibility for
>>> action, take it, and take it without any thought whatsoever. Become a
>>> machine for clicking! Every click dissolves the virtual double that
>>> Facebook has created for you. It disperses you into the digital lives
>>> of others you hadn?t thought of communicating with. It confuses your
>>> friends. It pulls all those parts of the world that your social
>>> network refuses to engage with back into focus, makes it present
>>> again.
>>> 
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> 
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> 
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> 
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> 
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