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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be secretly pleased at the prospect that people may have to pay to use Facebook in the future?

127 replies

lovechoc · 07/10/2009 13:12

I recently heard that Facebook may start charging a monthly/annual fee to members who use this site. I personally don't use it but DH does and he just shrugged when I told him about it.

It is just a rumour at the moment, but if it happens, I can't help feeling quite happy about it. Means less people will be spending their time staring at a computer and putting useless 'updates' on their pages.

OP posts:
Annya · 07/10/2009 13:15

Oh I am sure there are other sites where you can happily waste time...

scrappydappydoo · 07/10/2009 13:16

As opposed to all the women who sit on mumsnet all day and start useless 'threads'
Sorry YABU - I love facebook cos it means I can keep better in touch with lots of friends and family in far flung places however I know there are negatives - perhaps a charge for all the pointless games that I you can waste my time on..

BloodshotEyeballs · 07/10/2009 13:16

That's nice of you, thanks very much What are you doing now then?

Tee2072 · 07/10/2009 13:17

Yeah, what's the difference between using Facebook and using MN? None, really.

And I would be really surprised if they started requiring money. They might do what Live Journal does, you get more features if you pay them.

KembleTwins · 07/10/2009 13:21

This rumour has been going round for ages - look on Facebook (oh, I forgot - you can't) and you'll see hoards of "I don't want to pay to use facebook" groups going back years. It won't happen. They finance it through advertising.

I love Facebook too - it's a really easy way to keep in touch with friends I would otherwise have lost touch with. It kept me going on maternity leave, when I felt incredibly isolated with tiny twins.

claw3 · 07/10/2009 13:22

LOL as oppose to less people spending their time staring at a computer and starting AIBU threads for free!

yojojo · 07/10/2009 13:25

yabu why does it bother you that other people want to use facebook? you don't have to use it.

Original poster
lovechoc · 07/10/2009 13:25

what's wrong with using email?? it worked long before FB came along. and no one complained. I am sure there are others out there who feel the same.

MN isn't the same as FB. This is a forum, not a social networking site. I don't have any personal ties to MN, but I suppose if you use FB you do and so it's easier to get sucked in because you have a list of friends you keep in touch with.

I just find it very impersonal (used it briefly before it became 'big' - for about a month or so but just didn't like it). Using a telephone to chat about what you've been doing lately to your friend is so much more personal and even an email is fine to let friends know how you've been.

OP posts:
Harimosbroomstick · 07/10/2009 13:26

YABVVVVVU

Facebook is one the best ways to stay in touch with other mums / friends when you have young kids and the hours you might be available aren't suitable to others (AKA you are awake half the bleedin' night! )

Though, I wouldn't pay to join and I'm sure millions of others wouldn't either - which is why it'll never happen,

I think you must be deeply unhappy in your relationship if you wish to deprive your DH of something he clearly enjoys - even though you 'sit in front of a mindless PC' yourself.

Original poster
lovechoc · 07/10/2009 13:28

MN isn't addictive (IMHO). I don't feel the need to use it all the time, whereas many people I know use FB daily, several times in a day.

I'd rather start AIBU thread for free than have to waste money on a social networking site, should it ever happen.

OP posts:
TrillianSlasher · 07/10/2009 13:29

"what's wrong with using email?? it worked long before FB came along. and no one complained. I am sure there are others out there who feel the same."

What's wrong with using post, or carrier piegons, those worked long before email came along.

If you are not on Facebook then people's 'pointless status updates' can't bother you. YABU

LoveBeingAMummy · 07/10/2009 13:29

You don't like it so don't use it, why should you be pleased that other people may ahve to pay for it???!!! Is it more that you want to get your DH off of it

Niecie · 07/10/2009 13:29

YABU.

Does your DH have a problem with it? If he does, take it up with him but don't blame FB.

You can use it as much or as little as you want and, as others have said, it is a good way of staying in touch with people.

Why does it matter to you what other people do?

Original poster
lovechoc · 07/10/2009 13:30

nope, have a happy relationship with DH but do think that FB sucks people in too much, and they waste their whole life on it.

OP posts:
Tee2072 · 07/10/2009 13:32

Do you know why I like Facebook? Because let's say I know Abby from University. And I know Betty from high school. They are both on my friends list, but they don't know each other.

I post a status.

Abby comments.
Betty comments on Abby's comment.

And suddenly, two of my friends, who will never meet and never have met, are having a conversation.

Email can't do that. Or telephone. Or even MN...

Original poster
lovechoc · 07/10/2009 13:32

I can comment on any given topic, doesn't mean that I have to be using it at present. It's called acquiring knowledge about various things in the world, doesn't mean I have to be a member of FB to have an opinion about it.

OP posts:
minko · 07/10/2009 13:33

Oh, I hope they start charging, then maybe I wouldn't waste half my life playing Bejewelled. It's very addicitive and annoying.

gorionine · 07/10/2009 13:33

When reading your Op title I thought it would be as a way of avoiding young children to join FB which in my opinion would have been quite a good idea (it would at least mean that the parents, if they decide to pay the feees are indeed aware their child is on Fb).

But for the reason you are talking about in OP, I think YABU.

RealityBites · 07/10/2009 13:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

scrappydappydoo · 07/10/2009 13:35

Sorry LMAO at 'mumsnet not being addictive'
For the record 'mn sucks me in too much and I waste a lot of my life on here'
I do get what you're saying but for me facebook works better than e-mail...

BudaBones · 07/10/2009 13:35

I find MN MUCH more addictive than Facebook!

I love Facebook for keeping in touch with friends all over the world. Yes you can email but I find I never make the time to sit and write a long email whereas just seeing a quick status update from a friend in Australia about what she has been doing that day and commenting on it is a much quicker way of keeping in touch.

I updated my status today on FB and got a reply from a friend in Bulgaria and my sister. Quick reply to both and I feel I have been in touch without having to either write a long email or make time for a phonecall.

I do email and phone people as well but FB is great for feeling like you are still in day to day contact with friends in far away places.

Bramshott · 07/10/2009 13:36

Mumsnet isn't addictive?!?!?!? ! You must be a stronger person than me!

WoTmania · 07/10/2009 13:36

YABU
Some of my family and friends live in America, Canada, France. It's a realy easy way to share info, photos, news with them.
Talking by phone may be nicer but in the case of my cousins it's also horrendously expensive. I also don't have to worry about (or work out) time differences.

GoldenSnitch · 07/10/2009 13:37

How mean spirited!!

I live 3 hours from where I grew up, 90 minutes from where I went to uni and have friends all over the world - It's so much easier to keep in touch with them all now we have Facebook. I might not have time to write them each an e-mail and they might not have time to reply but I still know what each one is up to now. Also saved me from going completely potty when DS was small.

If you don't like Facebook then stay off it! I don't like Eastenders and cannot comprehend how friends of mine can get so engrossed and involved with it or how they watch it for hours every week but I wouldn't want it to go to PayPerView just so they wouldn't watch it anymore!!

crazylizzy · 07/10/2009 13:39

YABU. If you're not on Facebook yet you feel almost smug about it, it says a lot about the person you are really

Besides, that rumor has been circling for ages. Like KembleTwins says, it funds itself.

I use Facebook myself, and agree with many others who say it helps stay in touch with friends and family, sharing photos/videos etc.