Comments on: Facebook account deactivation http://blog.seanwhitton.com/2009/12/facebook-account-deactivation.html The unexamined life is not worth living ~ Socrates Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:01:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: James Wallbank http://blog.seanwhitton.com/2009/12/facebook-account-deactivation.html/comment-page-1#comment-21107 James Wallbank Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:01:04 +0000 http://blog.seanwhitton.com/?p=367#comment-21107 Couldn't agree with you more, Sean! Social networking sites are simply a way of chopping up your integrated communications infrastructure into a series of walled gardens, each of which is saturated with advertising. Not only do all these different sites NOT integrate their content (while email accounts integrate your conversations, whatever the service provider of the sender) they sometimes even censor your content! LinkedIn, for example, refuses to let you communicate email addresses or URLs to your supposed "contacts". This is information bottlenecking of the most cynical, opportunistic kind. I guess Facebook may do this, too - but I don't know, I've never had a Facebook account. (I've scrapped my LinkedIn account now, in disgust.) In 1997 I wrote in the Lowtech Manifesto "Email is still the killer App" and now, in 2010, I think it's even more true. That's one reason I'm putting this posting in an email, not on a website. Oh, damn. Couldn’t agree with you more, Sean! Social networking sites are simply a way of chopping up your integrated communications infrastructure into a series of walled gardens, each of which is saturated with advertising. Not only do all these different sites NOT integrate their content (while email accounts integrate your conversations, whatever the service provider of the sender) they sometimes even censor your content! LinkedIn, for example, refuses to let you communicate email addresses or URLs to your supposed “contacts”. This is information bottlenecking of the most cynical, opportunistic kind. I guess Facebook may do this, too – but I don’t know, I’ve never had a Facebook account. (I’ve scrapped my LinkedIn account now, in disgust.) In 1997 I wrote in the Lowtech Manifesto “Email is still the killer App” and now, in 2010, I think it’s even more true. That’s one reason I’m putting this posting in an email, not on a website. Oh, damn.

]]> By: James http://blog.seanwhitton.com/2009/12/facebook-account-deactivation.html/comment-page-1#comment-14950 James Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:13:40 +0000 http://blog.seanwhitton.com/?p=367#comment-14950 This may surprise you, but I agree. I really dislike the way Facebook approaches the whole kaboodle. In theory I like the idea of it, and it's certainly convenient as a way of contacting people quickly and easily in a way that E-Mail isn't ( in the sense that knowledge of someone's email is reqiured before you can email them ). But the "you and X have mutual friends" and the "suggest friends for X" suchlike are wearing. Facebook's useful as communications medium in the short term, but is useless for long-term planning or meningful discussion of any kind. For that, e-mail is still the simplest and best method. Or of course, Google Wave :P This may surprise you, but I agree. I really dislike the way Facebook approaches the whole kaboodle. In theory I like the idea of it, and it’s certainly convenient as a way of contacting people quickly and easily in a way that E-Mail isn’t ( in the sense that knowledge of someone’s email is reqiured before you can email them ). But the “you and X have mutual friends” and the “suggest friends for X” suchlike are wearing.

Facebook’s useful as communications medium in the short term, but is useless for long-term planning or meningful discussion of any kind. For that, e-mail is still the simplest and best method.

Or of course, Google Wave :P

]]> By: Jonathan http://blog.seanwhitton.com/2009/12/facebook-account-deactivation.html/comment-page-1#comment-14744 Jonathan Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:04:54 +0000 http://blog.seanwhitton.com/?p=367#comment-14744 There was a <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/sathnam_sanghera/article6937890.ece" rel="nofollow">column in the Times 2</a> about this yesterday, saying that email was going the way of snail mail, but not really rebelling against it. I think it's sad that the default method of communication among us young people is going from open protocols (snail mail, email) to closed, proprietary systems (facebook, myspace, twitter). Only if the medium is free (in the <em>libre</em> sense) can communication with it truly be free. J There was a column in the Times 2 about this yesterday, saying that email was going the way of snail mail, but not really rebelling against it. I think it’s sad that the default method of communication among us young people is going from open protocols (snail mail, email) to closed, proprietary systems (facebook, myspace, twitter). Only if the medium is free (in the libre sense) can communication with it truly be free.

J

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