> At one point, escaping the negativity of it was enough, these days you're plastered with its toxicity even when not being a part it.

Most people I know have Facebook accounts and use sparingly to keep up with friends, family, and hobby groups. For the majority of users, the realities of Facebook are relatively boring. Nothing like the hyper-dramatic portrayal of social media as a "threat to our democracy" or an incurable, society-destroying addiction.

I think traditional media is overplaying their hand by cherry-picking the most problematic Facebook users and trying to tell everyone that those rare edge cases are actually the norm on Facebook. These stories are extremely popular with people who don't use Facebook because they validate their decision in an almost self-congratulatory manner. Everyone likes being told they made the right decision, so reading stories that Facebook is evil is some nice validation for someone who happens to fall into the non-Facebook camp.

Meanwhile, I think the general public is going to tire of these hyper-dramatic Facebook stories. The anti-Facebook news stories are starting to feel like an exaggerated moral panic relative to the boring realities of the average person's Facebook experience.

I am, however, concerned about the second-order effects of this new anti-Facebook culture war. What, exactly, do people expect to come of all of these calls for more regulation of speech on the internet? It's starting to feel like the tech communities are being tricked into rallying behind calls for more government intervention and censorship of speech on the internet, which is not something I would have predicted a decade ago.

I don't think people are asking for a regulation of speech, but really a regulation on usage of dark patterns, and FB practically wrote the book on these.

A decado ago we didn't expect the following either:

  * That a complete madman would be elected president of the US.
  * That people would gobble up all kinds of nonsense facts on an ongoing pandemic; which for many lead to them not getting vaccinated which ultimately lead to their death.
  * Some LARPers on a chan forum would garner a cult following in and outside the US and "anon" would be an almost household name. Many people believed this cult so strongly that it in many cases lead to families being shattered; a few even lead an insurrection on the US capital.

That's the problem with the downsides of social media. Even if you don't use Facebook, Twitter, and the like, their negative impacts still reach you through the people around and the rest of society. I suppose it's a bit like second hand smoke now that I think about it.

That said, the article makes what I think is an important point, that social media is not universally negative, it has some positive effects for some people. I usually use the word "cancer" to describe my attitude to Facebook and Twitter, and why I won't use it, but that is intentional hyperbole to stop further discussion.

Not buying that point at all... Fill the missing word(s) in the following statement. "43% of respondents said using _________ usually makes them feel better"

Heroine.

I like Facebook. Always have. Ways will - I stay in touch with friends I'd have a hard time otherwise. If you're unhappy, don't use it.

OP doesn't use it. That was exactly the point. Even if one doesn't use it one can't escape Zuck's empire.

I don't. Unfortunately teenagers and everyone at Jan 6 does.

I don't use it.

Perhaps there is a browser extension that an HN power-user has created to weed out topics by keyword. I had a similar extension filtering out animal abuse content on Reddit in the past, so something like that could easily weed out undesired topics.

Sure thing. Except that its not just on HN, its on regular media, blogs, colleagues, etc.

I used to believe that rhetoric like 'permeates the fabric of society' was so cheesy used when used to refer to the outward damage generated by social media, and yet here we are today when even when not being a part of it you are made to be a part of it.

You even see it everywhere, ads, media, recruitment agencies asking you for social profiles, etc... I dont know a single person [IRL] that does not have a Facebook account, not a single one. And everybody acts like they actually depend on them... How sad is that?

That's pretty sad. I'm sorry it affects you this way. I dont know if it is any consolation, but I can say that not having a phone, as well as not having social networks (in my case I'm on HN) helped immensely by weeding these people out of my life.

I'd like to reference a past comment I made on this issue: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28314603

Is it social media as a technology that you feel is sad/negative? What is the negative or damage that you feel is caused to people who participate?

Not social media, I've been around for the last 20 years on all kinds of scenes. I created my Facebook account on 2006 and closed it in 2014.

I used to enjoy web forums a lot, back in the PHP dominated era (MyBB, PHPBB, SMF, vBulletin, Invision, etc). I was an active part of that culture... Had Fotolog, MySpace, DeviantArt, and the like for ages... Grew up as social media evolved and enjoyed Facebook as much as the next guy at a time... I even evangelized for it when other social networks were leading... matter of fact, I reported a XSS vulnerability to them back in 2006, never got thanked for it...

But it changed... It became dark, negative... I felt worse after logging in, and became antagonized by it... So I figured it was me, and maybe I was just too old for it, just like that old pub I used to go, 'its all kids these days'... So I quit... And now more people are realizing the same... Maybe its an age thing... A lot of people go with 'but that's the way I reach my loved ones', bullshit... I live half way across the world and got no problem reaching my fam through Telegram or whatever...

I grew out of Facebook, I guess...

You are not alone, I followed almost this same path to leaving around the same time. Have a good weekend!

There's an unfortunate "us vs them" rhetoric that I feel is going to bite a lot of people in the butt. It all begins with this misconception that Facebook is a common carrier: they're large and valuable, but much like Microsoft Teams, iMessage and AWS, they're still private entities. There's an EULA, clear as day that states who's right and who's wrong here, and they've got your digital signature to corroborate it. It's not like the US government has any interest in giving up these invaluable domestic data sources, so they'll happily turn a blind eye to every complaint you can draft. It's a catch 22, a total stalemate where your only option is to spin your wheels. Without any practical way forwards, it seems like most people just default to complaining online as a way to vent their frustration towards Facebook's oblique victory.