Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think Facebook has had it's day?

134 replies

Flippedouthere · 12/06/2019 08:33

Been wondering this for a while and again today as I scroll through my feed and it's full of adverts, posts from pages I've liked and a few crap memes/inspirational quotes shared by the same handful of people. As always, very little in the way of actual posts from friends.

I joined Facebook over 10 years ago when I had small children - I now have teens, as do the majority of my approx 120 friends. While there was always some crap and attention seeking drama, I used to enjoy seeing people's news and updates. These days, most friends rarely post. I only post, on average, every couple of weeks as I'm now busy working and also don't feel very motivated to as Facebook is so boring! When I do post I usually get a fair amount of likes and comments, so people are clearly still going on there!

I do have Twitter & Instagram accounts but don't really bother with them and have no intention of starting now. Nor am I looking for a new SM platform (DD uses Snapchat - no thanks!).

I'll admit I do sometimes hanker for the days when the internet didn't exist and spare time was spent, reading, watching films, pursuing hobbies, getting stuff done! Maybe I'll go back to that and post ocassional Facebook updates to stay in touch!

OP posts:
AhoyDelBoy · 12/06/2019 08:36

YANBU, FB is just really lame. Most people don’t even like the thing but the common excuse is ‘keeping in touch with people’. Fairly certain you can deactivate your account and just keep messenger for that purpose.

Cmagic7 · 12/06/2019 08:36

YANBU, it's dead.

londonrach · 12/06/2019 08:37

No, everyone i know uses it. I use it daily. I use it to sell on dd stuff and buy more stuff. I use it to talk to friends. Never used twitter etc and dont know anyone who does. They may but not told me.

TitusP · 12/06/2019 08:37

I deleted my Facebook about a year ago, haven't given it a second thought. I think with all the data breaches etc, some people are starting to become more private again.

Fairylea · 12/06/2019 08:39

I use it a lot and so do all my friends but then we only tend to have a few people on it, with high security settings etc, so it’s quite personal and we all chat to each other on it. I think it’s never going to die to be honest. Evolve, yep but not die.

TheVanguardSix · 12/06/2019 08:41

Social media is incredibly dull. Go off FB for a few months, come back, and it's the same people regurgitating the same shit.
It's very stagnant.

sonjadog · 12/06/2019 08:41

I think it is still widely used. I use it for work now as well as keeping in touch for people, as do many others I know. I think for that reason alone it will keep going. It works well for spreading and sharing information.

TheVanguardSix · 12/06/2019 08:41

Fairly certain you can deactivate your account and just keep messenger for that purpose.

Yes, you can, which is useful.

Jaggypinecone · 12/06/2019 08:42

Have noticed the same. I used to enjoy seeing the odd pic and photo of folk far away to keep in touch but that rarely seems to happen these days - just screeds of adverts and stuff. I post far less stuff myself these days so perhaps everyone else is too. Will keep my account to stay in touch but am really not missing it.

nespressowoo · 12/06/2019 08:44

I hate it. I came off last year but had to come back on to sell kitchen and cooker, I hate eBay. Sold them within seconds. I shall be deactivating again ASAP.

Anniegetyourgun · 12/06/2019 08:46

It's also evil. I joined it for about 5 minutes at DIL's instigation, for access to cute DGC pictures and videos, but then yet another scandal came out about how it uses personal data and I just couldn't be doing with it. Unsubscribed and uninstalled. DIL then suggested I keep in touch through another platform, think it was Instagram. I downloaded it before noticing in the small print that it belongs to the FB group too, as do one or two others, and reserves the right to swap data with them. I deleted it immediately. Sorry DIL, not being awkward for the sake of it, honestly...

But yeah, DIL's family use FB extensively. I doubt it's dead. Like a vampire, just when you think it's all over it rises again.

KnittingForMittens · 12/06/2019 08:46

The main reasons I deleted it indefinitely is

  1. My son. He did not deserve being neglected. I should be caring about him, not about what other people are doing on there. My husband also deleted his at the same time as I did and we've not been back.

  2. It was depressing me. I felt so depressed and unconfident when I was on there. I would also feel a lot of envy towards people when they posted about their new house, their new car, etc (I no longer give a shit by the way).

  3. Taking up my time when I could be doing other things that are more important and accomplishing in life. The house needed cleaning, the dishes needed washing, the clothes needed to be put into the machine, wardrobes needed decluttering

  4. I enjoy watching real life documentaries and knitting in my spare time! I prefer doing them than browsing through Crapbook.

I've not been on Facebook for nearly 3 years. My friend still goes on it and from what I can see, it is the same shit. Everyone posting what they've had for dinner, why they went to the doctors, they're fed up, they're tired, their kids are being little madams.... I am honestly past caring. I didn't give a shit what they got up to then and I still don't give a shit now.

I may come across selfish and you all probably think I only care about myself but I was selfish when I was too busy on there when my DS was in the bouncer when I could have been spending time with him. Thankfully he was only a small baby when I deleted it! Otherwise I would never have forgiven myself now.

They designed it so that people can get addicted to it. It's awful. Children are getting neglected because of it and they do not realise and see the beautiful things the world has.

I will never, ever go back on it. If people want to talk to me, I have WhatsApp. If they want to see photos of us, I can send them it. I have a house they can come over for a cup of tea. I have a phone, they can text or ring me... I do not need Facebook for any communication or interaction. Thankfully I am an introvert so I enjoy my own company and not bothered if they don't want to talk to me Grin

Processedpea · 12/06/2019 08:47

I like it

Processedpea · 12/06/2019 08:48

I guess it depends who you follow. I do find twitter quite self congratulatory and smug

JacquesHammer · 12/06/2019 08:49

I use it for work. If anything it’s growing not waning.

Socially - its not dull because I don’t follow dull people and actually like my friends list Grin

LesserBohemian · 12/06/2019 08:49

I feel exactly the same. I want to see my friend’s news and photos like before but my whole feed is ads and pages I’ve liked and a few people (maybe 5 out of 125) who post regularly. I’ve tried to change settings and hide ads etc but the volume of them never changes.

Everyone who doesn’t post everyday gets dropped from my feed. I know this as if I visit their page, there’s several posts I haven’t seen. So I know I wasn’t getting featured on other people’s feeds. I stopped posting last year.

I still have my account because I’m a member of a few really active groups and hobby pages that I enjoy like a forum but the real-life friend connection is dead.

Iwantacookie · 12/06/2019 08:50

Yanbu.
I've flicked through this morning and most of the posts are either about cheap meals or universal credit screwing someone over.

flowersinthebedroom · 12/06/2019 08:52

I'm on fb but all of my details are fake. I use it for a couple of groups related to my medical condition and for the local stuff, getting recommendations etc. I don't have any friends on it.

CrotchetyQuaver · 12/06/2019 08:53

I like Facebook. Particularly the selling pages which work well for me, even if there are time wasters about. I'm not a fan of twitter and don't understand instagram - if there are more, I don't even know about them!

ZippyBungleandGeorge · 12/06/2019 08:55

If your feed is full of reshared 'inspirational' memes and little else, it's the people you're friends with.
I think it's fine as a social network, something you check in on every few days and use to keep up with friends and family worldwide. If you're neglecting your children or getting depressed because of social media, that's an issue, and surely the same could be said of MN? Smilarly to other things it won't die a death because some people can't use it in a healthy way.

user87382294757 · 12/06/2019 08:55

You can use it selectively. I rarely post much but go to see particular friends or unfollow others, just maybe check it once a week or something. I guess it depends how you use it. It keeps trying to get me to e.g. look at groups etc. But I just ignore it. Also the messenger part is quite good for anyone who is abroad

ZippyBungleandGeorge · 12/06/2019 08:56

Posted too soon
There are lots of positives, local selling groups, community information, specialist peer support eg SEN, breastfeeding etc that are not anonymous and therefore likely to descend into a bear pit

Lovestonap · 12/06/2019 08:58

I like it as a way of storing my memories. Every couple of years we get a book printed of our newsfeeds and it's lovely not only to have the photos to look at but also the updates and comments about our family. It's a personal thing. If you don't enjoy it then by all means don't use it. I personally think my mumsnet addiction is more of a concern, because most of the posts make me feel uneasy about life in general but I can't seem to step away!!!

theworldistoosmall · 12/06/2019 09:00

My wall isn’t littered with regurgitated stuff. My friends post all the time. It’s not the companies fault if friends don’t post/only do regurgitated stuff/limited who can see what. That’s down to your mates.

magneticmumbles · 12/06/2019 09:02

I've noticed this with Instagram. Hardly anyone posts anything now.

Swipe left for the next trending thread