because you socialize on someone else's property? It's not really any different than going to a bar with 10 different channels playing on TVs showing various sports events that have ads running.

With the way Facebook mixes ads with content, a more apt description would be "It's not really any different than going to a bar with 90% of the people present actually being paid actors there to promote something"

No one would go to that bar. The one cigarette rep at a busy bar of over 50 people is annoying enough...

Anecdotally, that sounds about right. However, FB claims to have ~2.9 billion monthly active users, and countries like the UK and India have significantly more active users than in the US or Canada, so your experience on FB is largely dependent on how active your network actually is.

Not to beat the bar analogy further to death than it already is, but the last bar I went to had TVs on every wall... no matter where you looked or who you were looking at, there was a TV within your peripheral vision just waiting to display a flashy ad that would draw your attention.

In any case, I hate the social experience at bars and on FB equally, so I generally choose to socialize elsewhere, and don't have to deal with the ads either way.

I just go to bars that don't have TVs. Gay bars in SF, especially "bear bars" don't tend to have 24/7 content streams running.

They're not. To test this, go hangout with your friends in a park or someone's backyard or basement or wherever.

Social platforms are by definition, advertising companies. Of course they'll show ads, that's what their business model is. Just like if you go to a bar they will show you all of the alcohol you can buy.