I actually miss Facebook as it was

[Echobelly]

I genuinely found Facebook a positive for my life as I have disparate friend groups and it was a great way to keep all my news in front of them and to see what they were up to. Then 3 years ago it just became a meme and AI slop site, less than half of which was my friends' feeds (I've heard some people say there is a 'friend feed' option, but I've never seen it, only an option to prioritise a handful of people). I gave up and unfriended everyone except a few people for whom it's my main link to them and don't really look at it. Also Zuckerberg has sucked up to Trump and said it's OK for people to shit on less privileged groups they don't like on there in the name of 'discourse', so that's another reason it can fuck off now and I wouldn't go back even if I could see my friends' feeds.

Honestly I would pay a few quid a month to have a functioning actually social app similar to it, without ads, algorithm and slop, although obviously that doesn't seem to be a model anyone can make at scale.

When I tell people I've come off it they'll go 'Oh yeah, I was much happier too, less stupid arguments' etc, and actually that's not the case, as I just didn't friend anyone who was an arsehole, or argue with anyone on there.

you can use the Feeds - Friends thing only on a laptop or pc, not with the mobile version.

It is rubbish tho

**I just didn't friend anyone who was an arsehole, or argue with anyone on there.
**

Baffling to go to the effort of defriending most of them then

It’s a load of shit now. I rarely see stuff from people I’m friends with, just stupid reels from randoms and posts from pages I don’t follow.

I agree, it takes effort to find posts from my friends.

It wasn't because I didn't like them, it was because I could keep I touch with them in other ways relatively easily, or see them in real life frequently. That way I hoped I might at least be more likely to see FB posts from friends for whom FB was my main point of contact.

I totally agree. 10 years ago it was amazing. Just my friends posting stuff that kept me in touch, made me laugh etc.
Its awful now. Sometimes I don't see their posts at all for days. And its full of rubbish.
And people on groups who fight.
The only thing I like is the Memories, whicb take me back every day.

The algorithm wasn't even good at guessing what I liked. It was like uhhhm, you're a woman in your 40s with geeky friends so you want Lord of the Rings and Schitts Creek and Big Bang Theory memes.

Yeah, memories is pretty much all I look at it for. You apparently can download your entire feed so at some point I will do that and then delete my account... I think my husband has an external drive that could hold the data, just need to dig it out.

I can’t understand the algorithm- it is forever putting stuff up late

“major road closed “ is time sensitive
“Event on Saturday “ arrives on the Sunday

seems such a simple mistake

I agree OP. And it's a vicious circle; lots of people think the same so they don't bother with it any more, so there is less "friend" stuff on my feed (yes I know about the "friend feed" option but if people aren't posting, there isn't much there).

I completely agree. The trouble is barely any friends post on it anymore so it’s filling the gap with completely random shite. And for all the billions they have the algorithm isn’t even serving me anything relevant. Today I’ve had gay men’s dating groups (straight 40yr w), incel groups, and for weeks so much Charlie Kirk content when I’m UK based. So much AI bollocks too - half of it is just robots.

I stay on it for the groups on certain areas which can have gold in them, but really need to wean myself off the abysmal scrolling.

Feel a big swing back to real life is on its way

Yep, same. Some of the most utterly random shit. Such a disappointment - I was one of the few people who still liked using Facebook to keep up with friends’ lives.

They just don't give a shit anymore... I think soon it'll just be bots posting at bots - 'dead internet'

It really is horrendous now they've sacked all the content checkers. Multiple videos of people actually dying in accidents started appearing on my feed, and the last straw was cctv of a man committing murder. It's become a dystopian hell site.

I agree 100%. I use it a bit like a diary and like seeing the memories but has become no good for keeping up with people as most don't post anymore, or post on their stories instead of their feed so I miss them most of the time. The friends feed function works on my mobile, but there's not much to see. Is Instagram the same now? Never really used that so not sure if that's gone the same way.

Agree. It’s shit.
They’re drowning it in ads.
In time, there will probably be an ad-free subscription service.
Once society is sufficiently socially broken up and everyone’s feeling isolated and dependent on the online world, obviously.
Urgh.

I deleted it, dont regret it in the slightest. I dont know anyone who still really uses it to post anymore, Its had its day its like myspace that died out too.

I agree 100%. The school and the village group on there have important info that I regularly need, otherwise I would delete it too. It's a real shame as it was an amazing way to keep in touch with distant family and friends, or for hobbies etc. I would happily pay a few quid to have it back to how it was, but I'm sure they make FAR more money serving the slop to people.

Feeds is definitely on the fb app, I use it all the time.

The group for my town is very strictly moderated, so no nasty comments. Just useful information with a fair sprinkling of lost cats, found keys and suchlike.

I belong to a couple of groups aligned with my interests so go straight to them through the search facility and miss all the dross on my feed.

I can find "feeds" on my mobile, but can't filter it to "friends" - any advice?

Where do you find the Friends Feed? I can't find it on the desktop.

I agree that it is crap now. All the recommended pages are from all over the country for stuff I have absolutely no interest in. I keep hiding them in the hope that it will show less but nothing seems to change. Sometimes it shows posts that are a week old.

I want to open it and see my friends posts and stuff I have actually signed up for

I tried switching to insta when I mostly came off FB to see if more friends had gone they're, but it's exactly the same (it is Meta after all) - just a meme site led by algorithms, not who you choose to follow.

I have deleted my FB account because as you described, my feed became a stream of memes, shorts and adverts.
i reported twice some racist memes but the first time the post was not removed and the second time there was an “unexpected error” which prevented me to report it further (i reported, then it wasnt tenoved and then theres an option to challenge that decision and i wasnt able to access it “unexpected error” that was there the 2-3 times i tried to challenge the same decision).
it is sad but i do not want to be part of something that promotes racist views, not do i have an interest in spending hours in my life watching mindless ai generated content.
i am feeling all the better for it.

on the desktop version on the left hand side in the first image, you might have to click the "show more" - but the more you use it, the higher up the list it goes

then you click friends in the 2nd image