Facebook and You

[nikasaur]

Some people totally LOVE Facebook, and this is what I'd like to know more about.

We're doing a little redesign of the Facebook page to be fun. What are your favorite pages? What do you like about them? Link 'em! We're gonna steal their ideas!

[Ribs]

Well, I 'like' every single post on the Jolly Rover Page. Because The Game looks amazing. :)

[Avistew]

I think you should have more pictures of your male employees.

[Irishmile]

I guess video and the most recent pictures..... If at all possible some facebook browser games or apps to get fans involved.

[patters]

To me simplicity is key to a successful facebook page. Too much makes a cluttered page. Updates should be semi regular, too often and people get annoyed, too infrequent and you lose the advantage of facebook.

[nikasaur]

I want liiiiiinkssss! What pages out there are doin' this right?

[patters]

I want liiiiiinkssss! What pages out there are doin' this right?

To be honest, you guys are. Other cool ones are:

http://www.facebook.com/flickr?ref=sgm
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Withington-United-Kingdom/2000-Trees-Festival/217377606914?ref=sgm
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flobots/124949638449?ref=sgm
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gremlin-Solutions/176462096626?ref=sgm
http://www.facebook.com/roosterteeth?ref=sgm

[Avistew]

I want liiiiiinkssss! What pages out there are doin' this right?

Well, I found facebook pages with pictures of your male employees but if I post the links I'll be called a stalker again >.>

[Rather Dashing]

I have an account, but I haven't used it in months.

Oh, except a couple weeks ago when I went to change my profile picture from "Me and my ex girlfriend" to "Me with the Laputa robot at the Ghibli Museum", because it had been about a week/a week and a half since the break-up and it was getting pathetic.

...

I have a somewhat antagonistic view of the site.

[Wapcaplet]

I have a somewhat antagonistic view of the site.
Aside from their horrendous privacy track record and the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is a complete tool?

I hate Facebook with the fiery heat of a thousand suns.

[Avistew]

I have an account, but I haven't used it in months.

Oh, except a couple weeks ago when I went to change my profile picture from "Me and my ex girlfriend" to "Me with the Laputa robot at the Ghibli Museum", because it had been about a week/a week and a half since the break-up and it was getting pathetic.

...

I have a somewhat antagonistic view of the site.

My profile picture shows me with Goblins. If you were wondering.

Honestly, in all seriousness, I don't know what to suggest for the facebook page. Sorry Nikki. I'm sure other people will be more helpful.

[Irishmile]

Oooooh of those pointless gift applications could be cool... and a clever tie in for Sam and Max..... you could have little graphics of toys and descriptions of what powers they give...

I would even help make some of the graphics.

[Ribs]

oh, obligatory post from me:

GIVEAWAYS EVEN THOUGH I OWN ENTIRE CATALOG

[GaryCXJk]

I never visit company Facebook pages. I just click on the "Become a fan" button and that's it.

In fact, I very rarely visit other Facebook pages at all.

[Irishmile]

Before the DVD/Bluray came out they did this virtual card collection thing... it was kind of cool.
http://www.facebook.com/SupermanBatmanDVD?ref=sgm

here is the card app
http://apps.facebook.com/supermanbatman/

[kaptein_kaffe]

With me it's mainly music related stuff because I like to keep myself updated on what they're doing.

Things like:
Steve Vai
Joe Satriani
Kaizers Orchestra
Symphony X
Iron Maiden
Mike Patton
Pantera
Spotify

etc.

Also:
Become a fan (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Become-a-fan/104802410390?ref=sgm) :D

[The Highway]

break-up

our little Rather Dashing wasn't dashing enough for the ladytypes, rather.

[Scrawffler]

I'm a fan of about 25 page thingies on Facebook and really I think Telltale has one of the best ones.

Another good one I'd recommend taking a look at is this:
http://www.facebook.com/DisneyPixar

But really the best advice I can give is to continue doing it the way you are. If it turns out there's anything that can be added then hey, that's great, but you seem to be doing a good job so far.

Perhaps adding videos to your page would be cool. But I don't know how necessary that'd be considering you usually post links to the blog when there's a new trailer out.

(... I apologize for the uselessness of this unhelpful post!) :D

[Rather Dashing]

Aside from their horrendous privacy track record and the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is a complete tool?

I hate Facebook with the fiery heat of a thousand suns.
Yeah, that's more or less why I stopped using it. I can understand how it can be a useful social tool for certain people. It's annoying because there's no alternative, because everyone is on Facebook, which is a good service on the basis that everyone is on Facebook. You can't exactly us a smaller, unknown social networking site and get the same or better results.

I don't remember when I left, but it was pretty soon after a change in privacy rules and some really dickish comments from the site founders that made me just sort of phase the site out. I wasn't even using it that much anyway, I checked it maybe once or twice in a day if I wasn't particularly busy.


our little Rather Dashing wasn't dashing enough for the ladytypes, rather.
Well, thanks, way to kick a man while he's down I guess.

[Gman5852]

Dont do anything on this and you will be fine. (http://failbook.com/)

[jeeno0142]

I hate Facebook with the fiery heat of a thousand suns.

Me too. I always thought that the whole point of a social networking site was to meet new people and socialise. Instead, all I've seen it used for is talking to your current friends. That quickly got on my nerves as everyone in my college class were talking to each other through facebook, even though they were sitting next to each other. Isn't it easier to just turn and talk?

I much prefer the forums, now I'm socialising with people I don't know, but have the same(ish) interests as me.

[Friar]

Hmm.. i really should get a facebook page...

[Avistew]

At first I was happy when I found all of my friends from various schools that had lost contact with.
Then I realised why I had lost contact with them :p
And those I'm still in contact with, what do I need them on facebook for?

... I say that, but I like playing their games. So I keep going anyways.
But I deleted almost all of my contacts from my friends list.

[Jenny]

I thought of facebook as one large address book online. My friends told me to join so that they could keep in touch with me when they graduated. Of course, thinking back, that makes no sense, because they could just email me instead.

Then it turned into some ridiculous popularity contest. Who has the most friends? Silliness. Then everyone I ever passed on the way to my class "friended me", even if I had only spoken two words to them. Maybe this happened on the off chance that we might want to be friends sometime in the future? I don't know. And then there are those people who terrorized you in high school, that find you and friend you, for who knows what reason.

I guess it is a way to keep in touch with people you don't want to loose complete contact with (but whom you don't have time to really devote time to). Although, I use it now as a form of networking for work, but it is really bothersome to me. Especially when you're tagged in random pictures of you eating spaghetti (when you look your absolute worst) and there is no way to stop them, unless you are constantly untagging these photos. So I don't use FB very much anymore, and made my privacy settings as private as possible.

Yet, if you were ever on FB, your friends expect that if they send you something on FB they don't have to actually call you, because they assume that you checked your FB. Which is absurd. Luckily, a friend of mine called me a few days before her birthday asking me why I hadn't responded, and I had no idea what was going on. Thankfully she remembered to call me, or I would have missed it entirely. It's kind of scary how dependent you can become to a site like that.

So, um, I'm not very happy with Facebook. But it has its uses, I suppose.

[Avistew]

So, um, I'm not very happy with Facebook. But it has its uses, I suppose.

That it does. (http://i42.tinypic.com/95omsx.png)

Stalker's heaven.

[Jenny]

That it does. (http://i42.tinypic.com/95omsx.png)

Stalker's heaven.

Best photo!

While I was all worked up in my facebook rant, I completely forgot how much fun stalking is. Facebook really does promote and teach the art of stalking. :p

[Wapcaplet]

At one point earlier today, the phrase "delete facebook account" was the ninth most popular Google search (http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2010/05/14/delete-facebook-account-trending-google/) in the USA.

This pleases me.

[Rather Dashing]

Facebook's idea of "privacy" has gotten more and more lax. Like how, for example, EVERYONE ON YOUR FRIENDS LIST can be tricked into sharing YOUR information.

[Wapcaplet]

Facebook's idea of "privacy" has gotten more and more lax.

Aside from their horrendous privacy track record and the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is a complete tool?

I think there's an echo in here.

[Avistew]

I personally don't understand the privacy thing. If you want your info to be private, why do you put it on the Internet on a networking website? Isn't the whole point of it that anyone can access your info and catch up with you?

[The Highway]

I agree

[Wapcaplet]

One of the issues is that Facebook has changed its default privacy settings, so that information that you thought was only visible to friends could now be seen by everyone.

I could write a massive tome on all of the unsavory things Facebook has done. Wikipedia has a long summary (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook) of them.

Here's a quick timeline (http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-timeline) from the Electronic Frontier Foundation showing the changes in Facebook's privacy policies over the years.

And Mark Zuckerberg's claim (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jan/11/facebook-privacy) that online privacy is a "social norm... that has evolved over time" is absolute crap. He can take away my right to privacy from my cold, dead hands.

Edit: another good writeup at Wired (http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/05/facebook-rogue/) about how Facebook Is Evil.

[jeeno0142]

Facebook Is Evil.

This, I have no doubt.

[tredlow]

You should watch the South Park episode You Have 0 Friends (http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/267112). (Don't worry, the link is legal and the episode works everywhere on Earth)

[Alcoremortis]

I usually just use facebook as a texting service online. I've also found it to be easier to put together outings with multiple friends at a time (whereas before I might spend up to an hour calling back and forth between multiple friends to agree on a time I only need to make one or two posts on facebook to get the same job done).

It's not perfect, I agree, but because so many people use it regularly it's useful, especially for people like me who have a phone phobia.

[Jenny]

It's not perfect, I agree, but because so many people use it regularly it's useful, especially for people like me who have a phone phobia.

I used to have a pretty bad phone phobia. It was more with strangers than friends though. Although leaving messages on friend's answering machines was very nerve wracking. So I overcompensated and made my message into this big dramatic monologue, which ended up being quite entertaining. I started to think of the anxiety as more of an adrenaline rush, and I slowly got over the phobia.

But yeah, a facebook-like service has its uses. It would be nice if a competitor came along that also gave more user control.

[estariel]

I think Southwest Airlines does a good job: http://www.facebook.com/#!/Southwest

[The Highway]

ive just begun dedicating all my posts to so i herd u liek mudkipz

[Alcoremortis]

It would be nice if a competitor came along that also gave more user control.

I agree that that would be nice, but only if people using the different networks could communicate to each other via them. Like how people using different phone services can still talk to each other. Otherwise, it would just be another monopoly.

[Harald B]

You should watch the South Park episode You Have 0 Friends (http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/267112). (Don't worry, the link is legal and the episode works everywhere on Earth)I was just about to say that that episode sums up why I'm not on Facebook.

Oh and that link does not work everywhere on Earth, "Due to copyright and other legal reasons".

[Jenny]

I agree that that would be nice, but only if people using the different networks could communicate to each other via them. Like how people using different phone services can still talk to each other. Otherwise, it would just be another monopoly.

Yes, it should be able to cross networks. That would be fantastic!

[LowMoralFiber]

I spend too much time on Facebook, but mostly because I spend a lot of time on the internet and keep it open in a tab.

It's a fun little toy, and pretty damn useful. You just have to be smart about how you use it and NOT let things like friend count affect you outside of cyberspace.

[Tor]

Yes, it should be able to cross networks.
Yeah, it'd be like a network of networks--an inter-network, or "internet" if you will.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it started out pretty good.

[Rather Dashing]

Yeah, it'd be like a network of networks--an inter-network, or "internet" if you will.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it started out pretty good.
Obviously you were making a statement about the inherent openness of the internet as a whole, simply due to its nature of being a network of other networks, and that a closed and proprietary system like Facebook goes completely against the very meaning of Net Neutrality and the Internet itself. Quite profound, really.

[Tor]

Quite profound, really.
Indeed, I amaze myself sometimes :D

[tredlow]

I was just about to say that that episode sums up why I'm not on Facebook.

Oh and that link does not work everywhere on Earth, "Due to copyright and other legal reasons".

Really? It's from the official site, and I'm far outside the US, and it works. The official site shows episodes for free worldwide after it's released.

[The Highway]

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Cultural-Zest/112886838754809?ref=ts