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Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
If this is where the world is heading, i'll be dead before it happens.
Absolutely terrifying 
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Profound change for Facebook set to "lock in" users [for life]
by Relaxnews
Facebook on Friday begins rolling out its biggest ever shake-up, in a move observers say will not only profoundly alter how its 800 million users interact with the site, but will keep them coming back for decades to come.
The new "Timeline," revealed last week by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg will also likely shock some users, notorious for backlashes in recent years over even small adjustments to the site, let alone a complete re-think of how their lives are presented to the world.
The changes amount to the "heart of your Facebook experience, completely rethought from the ground up," Zuckerberg told an annual developers conference.
Rick Marini, CEO of the Facebook-focused "career network" BranchOut, which itself boasts millions of users, marveled this week in a conference call with marketers and reporters how the site had managed to build an enduring model.
"If your Timeline becomes an important part of your life -- the diary of your life -- Facebook may have just locked people in for the next 20 years," Marini said Wednesday.
If Facebook is "where all of this happens, all your pictures, all your video, everything you've ever done," he added: "you're never going to leave."
Zuckerberg said his team's main aim was "to design a place that feels like your home," prompting Forrester analyst Sean Corcoran to note that Facebook was "positioning itself as not just your social graph online, but your life online."
Pete Cashmore, founder of influential tech blog Mashable, this week anticipated the expected response from users in an article for CNN.com under the blunt headline, "You'll freak when you see the new Facebook."
The move, Cashmore said, would be likely jarring at first for millions of people who visit the site every day.
But when they see their lives laid out before them in a neat, single page, they will realize Facebook has "unleashed something so remarkable that you didn't even recognize it at first: A meaningful social network," he wrote.
Observers saw a clear challenge to ubiquitous search giant Google, as 27-year-old Zuckerberg explained that the site he launched from his Harvard dormitory room in 2004 sought to be a central hub for the Internet.
The overhauled "Timeline" profile pages, as users will see as it opens up to the world Friday, with access further expanded in coming weeks, shows that the social network behemoth has saved everything that's ever been uploaded.
Mapping people's lives -- through photos, videos, status updates, comments, and even "likes" of specific content -- the new Facebook catalogues it all, literally from the beginning: scrolling to the bottom, every user's Timeline kicks off with an entry for their birth.
"Timeline is the story of your life," the young CEO announced last week with a barely contained sense of glee.
Yet apart from a relatively small number of industry geeks who followed the Zuckerberg announcement last week, the vast majority of 800 million users have little idea of the extent of the changes afoot the next time they log on.
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
I use facebook all the tiem but it's becoming pure garbage. This guy doesn't get it that if it ain't broke don't fix it. I understand you need to evolve with the times but the amount of changes he's rolling out is ridiculous. Facebook is litered with complaints everyday about this stuff. I have nothing to hide on facebook and I'm not stupid enough(liek so many others) to put confidential stuff on facebook but it's actually quite scary how non private it's becoming. I limited myself big time at the start fo the year and recently deleted my account entirely for a week but realized I enjoy chatting in real time with people on afcebook durring football on Sundays so reactivated it.
What I find really scary is the idea that some people think their lives are facebook. Like the most important thing in their lives is updating their status or checking who's updated theirs I can't fucking stand people who put thier day to day drama on facebook. I deleted 76 "friends today because let's afce it I'm not friends with them.
My biggest concern is how it's training people to communicate with one and other. I see the illeffects it has on people even my age I can only imagine how the younger generation is taking to this shit and how the little kids of today are growing up knowing nothing other than texting, facebooking and tweeting. People are losing the ability to communicate as human beings.
I do see the benifits of things like facebook and other social media outlets but it's getting to the point where real life is just being sucked out of people. And the sad part is if you don't keep up with this stuff at least a little bit you will get left behind. I mean I can't count how many times someone has said "What do you mean you didn't know about it I posted it on facebook" and that's normal people forgetting about real communication because they've grown to think life is a bulliten board. Post your status and we're good. Fuck that shit. It's getting crazy. It really is.
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
Completely agree. I don't have a Facebook account (never have, never will) and people who I knew that had public accounts would tell me "just check my Facebook page at [...]" and it got ridiculous.
"What do you mean you didn't hear that I was having a party? I posted the info on FB" And I started to realize after awhile that they were actually pissed that I didn't fucking live on their wall, and continued to refuse to have a FB page. It was like they were gonna "show me".
Finally I just made an official boycott of all things that were "info gathered from FB". If there was a party, if there was a meeting, if there was a picture, if some girl just got gangbanged really good.... if you don't call me on the phone like a normal fucking functioning human being and tell me about it -- it didn't happen and I don't care.
Guess what happened?
I don't have hardly any friends OR FAMILY at all anymore. I found out who my friends (family is extinct) were real quick.
I have 2 that stay in regular contact with me, and that's it.
If people don't break this Facebook addiction, and it's just that -- addiction.... it truely is 'game over'.
And if i'm just being paranoid and "you'll be left behind Axlin, and it's your fault"... fine, I tip my hat to you all and wish you the best of luck as I burn out... you guys are gonna need all the karma I send your way, and when 'it' happens, just remember I told 'ya so. Even if i'm long buried.
- monkeychow
- Rep: 661
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
Interesting.
I can understand what you guys are saying, it's a definate and fundemetal shift in the way humans connect to and communicate with each other - on a scale not seen before in many lifetimes.
It's akin perhaps to the invention of the telephone or something of that nature.
However I'm not sure it's so bad - rather it's just different. There are some troubling socological aspects - such as the things you identify - but to me overall it's enhanced my use of the internet and is a positive tool to keep in contact with people and find out things I'm interested about.
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
Why I am getting flashbacks to TV here? They said TV will kill social communication, TV will kill peoples interaction and TV will create zombie looking humans watching the screen all day long. The gov. here debated in the 80s whether they should allow satellite channels due to social problems connected to it.
Do you watch TV Axlin?
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
I think its pretty simple, dont upload information you'd rather keep private.
There you go, easy peasy 
It amazes me what I see folk put online, not even people I know, "friends of friends" or even more random strangers. They would be as well opening up their living room windows, throwing all their photo albums into the street and shouting through a megaphone all their daily activities and whereabouts. Facebook must be a burglers wet dream.
I uploaded some photos of gardens I work in, on really wealthy rural estates in the countryside. Folk were asking me "oh where's that" etc. and I didnt want to say just for the sake of my customers privacy. Then I started seeing some real junkie scumbags from around town popping up in the "people you might know" section at the corner of the screen. It made me a bit uncomfortable and noticed that some of the folk commenting on my photos were the type of FB "friend" with like 1000 people on their friendlist, and it made me worry that because they had commented on my photos did it mean everyone on their list could see them, including the scumbags who make their living breaking into houses.
Probably total paranoia, but I took the pictures off anyway. It made me realise as well that there are a few people on my list who dont have my total confidence, purely cause I grew up with the cunts and I know exactly what they are capable of 
But the minute FB tries to bully its way into my life even more is the minute I hit the off button, its not that important to me, and its not even that good. For other people though its like an addiction, I've seen a few dramas played out on FB recently and I've thought a lot less of the people involved, private affairs played out on FB for attention... I think its pathetic.
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
Why I am getting flashbacks to TV here? They said TV will kill social communication, TV will kill peoples interaction and TV will create zombie looking humans watching the screen all day long. The gov. here debated in the 80s whether they should allow satellite channels due to social problems connected to it.
Do you watch TV Axlin?
No offence dude but it's not even close tot he same thing. They may have thought that about tv's back in the day but you can't honestly say it's even remotely comparable. TV never created a society where people don't need to see each other to interact. TV never created a society of people refusing to live in the moment. Even telephones still kept the apsect of physically talking to one and other alive. Facebook is taking that away and the younger generation is falling prey to it big time as is the older generation to be honest. In fact tv brought people together physically in some ways. People get together to watch the game or a movie or what not. NOBODY gets together to facebook. Has tv created couch potatos? Absolutely but that's more a case of the individual being lazy as fuck really
As someone who's delt with kids for over 16 years now I can say without a shadow of a doubt kids today have a much harder time communicating in real life than they did 15, 10 and even 5 years ago. It's like they are all burnouts or something. Facebook and twitter is just one aspect that's contributed to this. Texting is killing the human aspect of communicating as well. It's pathetic how many times I've been in a situation where me and my buddies are sitting around having beers and everyone(myself excluded cause I refuse to do it) is talking to someone else not in the room. Nobody lives in the in the moment anymore. It's always more important to text someone rather than give your attention to the person you are actually with at the time.
I can't tell you how many times I wanted to talk with my exgirlfriend(when we were together) or ask if she wanted to talk and she'd say she didn't wanna talk but the second I left her house my phone would be going crazy with nonstop texts from her. Like what the fuck? Not even a phone call cause she was too cowardly to actually talk OR she's a product of a new society where talking is the last resort because all other ways of communicating are easier and less personal and there's no accountablility for what is said that way. You don't have to face the person so.... Also I found she loved the fact that communicating via text and email she was able to document everything. In fact we'd argue about something and I'd tell her exactly what was said and she'd say "show me the email" or "show me the text" she was living her life via those means and if it wasn't documented through either avenue it didn't exist to her. It was aboslutely asinine but it's the direction the world is heading and this facebook this is proof of it. "Document your life online" If it doesn't happen online it never happend. Kinda the opposite of Axlin's approach(which i think he's got the right approach)
anyways sorry got sidetracked with my exgirlfriend but it is a microcosim of what's taking place in society.
I'm not saying facebook. twitter, texting are all bad things. There's a defiite positive to all of these things. Unfortunately society is becoming manipulated into thinking these are acceptable means of communication ALWAYS.
People break up via facebook and text messages, People end friendships over facebook, people throw their personal shit out there as though their lives are a fucking video game. In fact that's exactly it. Our lives are becoming a real life online video game.
Texting and constant facebook notifications to our smartphones is allowing people to decieve one and other right in front of their face. You could be on a date with your wife and she'll be texting some other guy right at the dinner table smiling at you saying she's texting with her girlfriend. If you ask to see, you're an untrusting asshole. So you trust her and she gets away with it. Relationships are being killed by this stuff. Again that comes down to an individual's character but at the same time it's just contributing to the ever fading attention span of everyday people.
again sorry sidetracked and this time it has nothing to do with a personal expereince
It's definitly not all bad but i believe the more advanced and more all encompasing it becomes the negatives are going to far outweigh the positives. I think that's happening already to be honest.
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
It's not dumbing it down, it's putting the finger right on the basis. Everytime thru history new technology pops up, we get the same talk of impending doom and armageddon for the human race, be it lack of skills in talking or zombie TV watching or even fucking Nintendo games. I sort of thought my generation would know this and tackle it better than the previous, but nope. Same old, same old, just a new wrapping.
I work with teenagers, I have not see anything that shows this. This technology is just another add-on to our lives which we did not have before, like radio, like TV, like Nintendo and like computers.
For the past ten years I have been writing more English than Norwegian thanks to the internet and the only negative thing coming out of all that writing was waiting for a book contract in English to arrive in my mailbox. It will arrive next week from what the editor said.
Better team up with Tipper Gore and fight those nasty lyrics!!:haha:
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
It's not dumbing it down, it's putting the finger right on the basis. Everytime thru history new technology pops up, we get the same talk of impending doom and armageddon for the human race, be it lack of skills in talking or zombie TV watching or even fucking Nintendo games. I sort of thought my generation would know this and tackle it better than the previous, but nope. Same old, same old, just a new wrapping.
I disgaree. It's not the same. Not even close in my opinion. When I was a kid I had a tv but I played outside, I interacted with people in real life. I didn't bury my head in a phone and I didn't sit at home and hangout with friends via facebook. It's a lot different man. People left their tv's behind when they went out. People don't leave anything behind when they go out now. facebook is attatched to their hip literally and it's always breaking news when they get a notification.
Oh my God Sally just posted that she broke up with Steve. I gotta comment to see if she's ok..... Oh good she's ok it was a misunderstanding.... oh wait she's texting me right.... now 30 minutes later it's liKE why the fuck are we even hanging out if you'RE gonna be texting with Sally and posting on facebook all night.
Totally made up but you get the point.
Re: Game over man: Facebook to "lock in" users for life
It also reminds me a bit of the day when live TV sports first came on the scene. There were major discussions around it because people thought no one would ever bother coming to the actual event since it was live on TV. Why bother going when you can see it live in your own house right?
Or when the first travel documentaries came on the air. The travel agencies were scared shitless as they thought no one would bother travel to actual places any longer since they could watch all the exotic places on TV.
I remember one grandmother visiting my junior high being extremely upset over our entertainment for the day, as we did several songs...in English. She later wrote to the local newspaper with extreme worries that the kids of today would loose their own language and within a few years only speak English.
Just fucking relax about it grandmas and grandpas, texting and the ability to communicate with texting is an add-on. There will be victims to this, as it has been victims to too much TV watching, too much Nintendo playing, too much this and too much that. It won't dumb anything down and if Sally broke up with Steve, who's to say this person would have cared at all if it wasn't for that text. I know I wouldn't. I wouldn't call everyone I know wishing them happy birthday, I would just call my three closest friends. Now, everyone on my FB list to a certain extent gets a happy birthday from me. My Facebook has actually increased my social network, not decreased. I hang out and talk to people now I would never have re-connected with if it wasn't for Facebook.
