With all due respect, until FB nominally solved this problem, you (I) never even knew this problem existed. Before it became trivial to share pictures with a long lost acquaintance using FB, we got by just fine showing pics to a tiny subset of friends.
There was literally no idea in anyone's head that they needed to show pictures of their children to some guy they last spoke to 15 years ago. This notion that FB is solving a real need is false. It's like saying cigarette companies solve the problem of nicotine cravings among smokers.
commute times are probably the same (45 minutes walking/tram with a 4~5 mi dense city core, vs 45 in the freeway and a 60 miles of low suburban development) and we don't have the infrastructure for alternatives to travel outside the city.
As to the need for speed itself. I used to like big fancy fast cars.
Then I got a motorcycle. Now cars are... boring.
Also to Facebook's facial recognition software, without your kids ever agreeing to it and they won't have a way to undo it once they grow up, even if they want to.
I have no way of knowing who wants to see any individual pictures. My parents want to see nearly all. What about my second cousin who I haven't seen in person in 15 years because she lives so far away? What about the running back of our high school football team? I'm not close enough that I'd send any pictures to either of them, but in fact they like that once in a while they see pictures of my kids and remember I exist.
Facebook solves a real social problem that text, and phones do not solve. (There are other solutions, but Facebook is the popular one)
What made Facebook useful for me is when I blocked all games. I'm slowly eliminating political posts as well, but since I'm active in politics some of my real friends are also active which makes this impossible.