I hate Facebook

[Steve Minkin]

It's much more active in reviews than discussions, but the Shakespeare board I post on has 27.5K members and adds people every day.

[Mo Noyz]

Yeah, the online bulletin board is all but dead.

A hilarious coincidence that shortly after I posted this MLB officially removed their team message boards.

[Alastair]

The only exception I know of is the Hoffman forums, but that's most because it is packed with the nearly autistic

And what do you even mean by this?

[Mo Noyz]

I mean it’s packed with mentally deficient and socially retarded individuals. Most remind me of the autistic kids my wife and I used to care for, except far less endearing.

[Alastair]

OK. I'm not keen on the use of autistic as a derogatory term. There are plenty of "socially retarded" people who are not autistic, and from my limited experience of the Hoffman forums I'd rather have discussions with the autistic people I know than the overwhelming majority of people who post there.

[Mo Noyz]

My point exactly. And it wasn’t actually meant as derogatory, there just isn’t a better way to describe them. Most of them are very Rainman-esque.

[negative potential]

The Steve Hoffman forum is living proof of every prejudice about hi-fi enthusiasts. Rather than seeking out new and interesting sounds, it's a bunch of boomers prattling on endlessly about the umpteenth reissue/remaster of 60s and 70s classic rock or the most well-known 50s jazz releases.

[Mo Noyz]

And drooling over the “superior” sound of vinyl. It’s truly a friggin’ cult. Or perhaps the digital embodiment of Nineteen Eighty-Four, considering how sanitized the “gorts” (a rather Orwellian title in and of itself) keep everything.

[negative potential]

Cork-sniffing about the superior sound quality of vinyl is hilarious because most reissue vinyl is made from digital masters.

The whole vinyl revival in general just baffles me. I can totally understood people who are 40+ years old and had already amassed large music collections before the CD era and who remained committed to that format. I get not wanting to go along with the record industry's new change of format every decade-and-a-half.

But beyond that, it seems like vinyl enthusiasts roughly divide into two groups, 1) the "vinyl is superior sound quality" fraction, and 2) younger people who buy a vinyl record, use the digital download code to access the music, and file the record away as a collector's object. I understand that cover art looks a lot nicer in that large format, but that just strikes me as an exorbitant expense. Then again, maybe that's the point.

Much of my favorite music was issued in the CD era and never had a vinyl release (Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog records, Horace Tapscott's Dark Tree, most Tilbury-era AMM). As far as classic 50s and 60s jazz, the prospect of replacing my CDs with vinyl reissues made from what are probably the same digital masters, and paying a premium to do so, strikes me as absurd.

[Steve Minkin]

reading Ulysses, which I'm determined to get all the way through this time

Two notes, having read the damn things three times and gearing up for a fourth.

The last three chapters -- beginning when Leopold helps Stephen out of the gutter and the two of them finally meet and get to talk with each other -- are the easiest to read and the strongest sections of the book.

The first time I read it, I was strongly urged to use Stuart Gilbert's 'James Joyce's Ulysses: A Study' as a companion read, which I did. The second time through I used Gilbert and 'The New Bloomsday Book' by Blamires as guides, felt like I got more out of it. Last time I read it straight through without any companion book, pausing only to check on classical references; and that was by far my most satisfying and deepest reading. My fourth reading will follow the same plan -- I DO think the companion books help some, and they clarify the formal structures Joyce was referencing. But unless you're embarking on an academic study of the book, I think the companion books -- on balance -- are more of a distraction than an aid. Unlike The Wake, the book doesn't require a commentary to follow the narrative.

[Mo Noyz]

Cork-sniffing about the superior sound quality of vinyl is hilarious because most reissue vinyl is made from digital masters.

The whole vinyl revival in general just baffles me. I can totally understood people who are 40+ years old and had already amassed large music collections before the CD era and who remained committed to that format. I get not wanting to go along with the record industry's new change of format every decade-and-a-half.

But beyond that, it seems like vinyl enthusiasts roughly divide into two groups, 1) the "vinyl is superior sound quality" fraction, and 2) younger people who buy a vinyl record, use the digital download code to access the music, and file the record away as a collector's object. I understand that cover art looks a lot nicer in that large format, but that just strikes me as an exorbitant expense. Then again, maybe that's the point.

Much of my favorite music was issued in the CD era and never had a vinyl release (Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog records, Horace Tapscott's Dark Tree, most Tilbury-era AMM). As far as classic 50s and 60s jazz, the prospect of replacing my CDs with vinyl reissues made from what are probably the same digital masters, and paying a premium to do so, strikes me as absurd.

More on this later when I have the time to vent. Just let it be known that I agree with all of this.

[Steve Minkin]

So you all deal with Facebook as a social media platform. But it is also a data-mining business, as of today being sued by 37 states and multiple agencies from multiple countries. One wonders if using Facebook is like going to a good restaurant known to be run by the mob.

[Mo Noyz]

What are they getting?

[Steve Minkin]

They in effect sell the data to advertisers, political groups, etc. and are paid in the form of highly targeted advertising.

[Mo Noyz]

Which is essentially akin to junk mail. No big deal in the grand scheme.

[Dan Warburton]

"An addiction that makes us stupid, bigoted and unhappy?" - Michael Buerk

[jon abbey]

like many things these days, your experience on Facebook is almost entirely what you make it and people who talk about it in universals sound pretty idiotic.

also, Twitter is way way worse but somehow seems to draw a lot less hatred, I'd recommend people get better 'friends' and/or improve their own preferences there. or stay away, that's fine too, but shut up about it, no one cares.

[Steve Minkin]

Which is essentially akin to junk mail. No big deal in the grand scheme.

Maybe not for you as a user, but Facebook takes in $4 Billion a year in advertising revenue. It's a big deal to them, and to the people now investigating them.

I take Jon's point as a user. I'm sure there are ways to intelligently adapt to Facebook that maximize its pluses and minimize its hassles. But for me, personally -- I'm in face-to-face group interactions every night, 5-6 different groups a week. For me, the game's not worth the candle,

[bryan]

like many things these days, your experience on Facebook is almost entirely what you make it and people who talk about it in universals sound pretty idiotic.

also, Twitter is way way worse but somehow seems to draw a lot less hatred, I'd recommend people get better 'friends' and/or improve their own preferences there. or stay away, that's fine too, but shut up about it, no one cares.

We get it, Jon, you like Facebook. That's fine. Why get so defensive? I saw the benefit of FB in the short time I was on it years ago. But to turn a blind eye to important downsides (both personal and universal) of social media doesn't strike me as a good way to go either.

In any case, your response here is just plain rude. Enjoy your internet socializing, dude.

[Mo Noyz]

Maybe not for you as a user,

Exactly, not an issue of concern for me. Which is why I wasn’t understanding why you brought it up.

As for Bryan’s hanky honking, I pretty much agree with jon on this one. Facebook is exactly what YOU as an end user make it. Most complaints I hear about it are from people who simply never figured out how to use it properly. Hey, sorry to hear that. But that’s on you, not Facebook.

I think the concept of Twitter is silly, but I don’t carry on about it. I simply don’t use it.