Facebook Skeptics And Their Reasons

The amazing growth of Facebook would defy all the laws of fast-growing phenomena if it did not have its detractors. And it is unquestionable that Facebook does, very much, have people queuing up to find fault with it. It would be dishonest to suggest, too, that all of these detractors were arguing from a position of ignorance. Many of them know what they are talking about – and many, indeed, do not. But what are the arguments against Facebook?

It is frequently said that Facebook is boring and banal. There is a sliver of truth in this belief, especially if you read tweets from people who are not particularly eloquent or interesting. Yes, a lot of people hate their boss. Some people can be amusing about how they hate their boss, and others can be spectacularly boring about it. By the same token, no-one says that speaking out loud is boring and banal, and we have all had conversations with people who are spectacularly boring to us.

Other detractors say that Facebook distracts people from talking to each other in the old fashioned way, directly face to face. And while this view has its merits, the same is true of e-mail, telephones, letter-writing and semaphore. Others argue that the 140-character limit encourages the use of “text speech”. There is a great deal of truth in this, but one has only to look around at some of the more eloquent feeds to see that even in 140 characters, it is possible to say something interesting and spell it perfectly. In the end, some people like Facebook and some hate it – which describes hundreds of thousands of other things, too.

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The Perils Of Immediacy

It is often said that one of the best things about Facebook is that it updates in real time, and that when things are flowing well it is not unlike being at a party, or at least a reasonably lively meeting. But there are two sides to every coin, and it is worth taking account of the fact that immediacy can make things very hard to take back, particularly when the information you have posted is sensitive, and/or is reported quickly by other people in such a way as to make you look stupid or expose something you would rather not have said or done.

If you are in the jaws of a negative mood – be it sad, depressed or angry – then it is possible that you will make the mistake of saying something that you will later wish to take back. If you add alcohol into the situation, as many do, then it lowers the inhibitions which would usually prevent you from saying such things. Sitting in front of the world’s most immediate information exchange, you can easily go over the line and do something idiotic. Posting personal details about an ex, making unwanted advances to another individual, or just saying something that makes you look like a moron – that sounds bad, yes?

Now imagine that what you say is re-tweeted by someone either innocently or maliciously. You can delete your own tweet if you regret it swiftly, but it is still there in another person’s feed. Put simply, if you don’t want it to be common knowledge, don’t Tweet it.

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