Social Media for those of a certain age?

[Tiki Tom]

So, for years I’ve had an e-mail list of people to whom I send a weekly mini-newsletter regarding a subject that we are all interested in. Some years ago these e-mails would generate a bit of back-and-forth discussion. Lately it has been dead silence. I mentioned this to my wife (also on the list). She essentially said “Tiki, old boy, that’s because you are a dinosaur. Outside of work, nobody communicates with e-mail anymore.”
I groaned. “So, I need to finally join Facebook?” I asked.
She laughed. “Tell me your kidding. Facebook is so “yesterday”.”
But when I asked her how a worldly, experienced and sophisticated guy (aka “old”) should communicate with other souls, she wasn’t much help with specifics.
I’ve sometimes toyed with starting a blog somewhere. But even that sounds old fashioned. On the other hand, I sometimes enjoy the fact that I’m virtually invisible when a google search is done on my name (other than that “could he be a super hero?” nonsense, of course.)
What social media do you guys and gals use? How has it worked out for you? Any recommendations or “steer clears”? In other words, I’m thinking about joining the 21st century but hardly know where to start.

 

[GHT]

What a great idea for discussion. Social media on the face of it, seems like a Godsend for the generation that grew up knowing that the only way to contact and keep informed, your friends and family, was to use the post. For us here in the UK that meant Royal Mail. Landline telephones didn't really become an everyday household item until the end of the 1960's, prior to that, it was deemed much too expensive.

When Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (he's known affectionately as Timberly,) invented the www concept, and then magnanimously gave it to the world for free, it spawned an unbelievable explosion of instant access communication. From e-mails to MySpace, then Bookface, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, internet forums, and, and, and.

Sir Tim might have been overly generous; had he retained some sort of royalty through world wide patents, some degree of control might have been possible, but now the genie is out of the bottle.

Prior to the world wide web, Big Brother had been keeping tabs on everyone via the ubiquitous plastic card. That is, credit cards, debit cards, charge cards, loyalty cards and so on. What you spent, where and when you spent it, how much you spent, was all meticulously logged to create a profile of your spending habits.

Then along comes the internet, with Sir Tim's www concept. Now 'The Boys' can really keep tabs on you, and they do, right down to the tiniest detail. Why do you think that the pop up adverts are so appertaining to you and what you do, think, vote? They harvest everything and I mean, everything. The UK has a law known as: "The Freedom of Information Act," using this, a journalist requested from Google all the information that they had about him. He received 108 A4 pages full of every single trivial part of his life. They not only harvest your details, they both buy and sell, meaning they sell copies of the profile that they have amassed about you, and buy copies of other profiles in order to fill in the blanks.

Then the marketing begins, a daily constant stream of adverts, but if you baulk at all this Big Brother activity it's you, not them, that's in the wrong. After all, what have you got to hide? If you think that I'm being cynical click here, you will be shocked. Have you also noticed how customer service has diminished with the advent of the internet? Nowadays you can only buy from big business by plastic or direct debit, they got us all well and truly trussed up.

The only reason that I'm allowed on The Lounge is because I signed up, and to do that I needed an e-mail account. To get around that, I went into an internet cafe, (they didn't last long,) had help creating an e-mail address and used it whenever I get asked for my e-mail, I have never sent or received an e-mail. Next time you fill in one of those so called 'fields' online, ask yourself why do they need all that information. You might also notice that you can't continue until you have filled in the obligatory boxes marked with an asterisk.

So, Tom, if you don't have my cell or landline number the only way that you can conact me is a personal message on The Lounge or, write to me.

 

[bluesmandan]

I use Facebook to post pictures of my little girl for family and friends. Other than that it’s not much use. Frankly it’s mostly reposted memes and political rants, which greatly annoys me... doesn’t anyone have an original thought to contribute? Show me a picture of you and your day; don’t repost someone else’s repost of a repost.

I do have a few Facebook groups set up ( a chosen set from among the many ‘friends’) so I can send announcements to fellow church members or to my immediate family, that sort of thing.

Instagram and Twitter don’t appeal to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LizzieMaine]

This would be about it.

My 80 year old mother is all over Facebook, and is all LOL! ROFL! OMG! with it. Judging from what I've seen of it, the kids gave up on Zuckerburg's Pleasure Dome a long time ago. They tell me Instagram and Snapchat is where the action is, and since my mother has never heard of either one they're probably right. One of the kids, who was a heavy Facebook user, went cold-turkey on it about a year ago, declaring she was sick of the all the stupid drama, and she hasn't looked back since.

I still belong to an email list for 78rpm records that I joined in 1997. I'm one of the last survivors on that list.

 

[Doctor Strange]

This kind of forum is as close to social media as I'll go. I resisted joining Facebook for years, and all my fears about privacy violations were dismissed by my friends as luddite paranoia... but it turns out I was right. Sorry, I don't exist to be data-mined and dossier-ed under cover of "connecting" me with friends and family.

I have a barely-like/absolutely-hate relationship with my phone, and I absolutely refuse to do anything on it related to my finances. And there's no way I want anything in my house listening to me all the time, or any of this internet-of-things stuff. Sure, putting control of everything critical in our lives out on the internet is a GREAT idea, what could go wrong?

All these technologies are just amazing... but they are NOT making the world a better place. I fear for where we're headed.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Thanks for all your responses.
On second thought, maybe I will continue to be relatively "off the grid." Like some of you, maybe participation at the Fedora Lounge is as far as I care to go. Why the sudden hesitation & rethink, you ask? It sends chills up my spine to realise how exposed we all are. Exhibit "A" is the following story which I found particularly horrifying for some reason:

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/tech/...oke-talked-nest-security-cam-home/2262816002/

 

[Doctor Strange]

We all know our smartphone GPS data is tracked to some extent... but this NYT piece from a few days ago scared the heck out of me!

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/12/10/business/location-data-privacy-apps.html

 

[Edward]

I use Facebook for the simple reason that everyone else does. I don't much like it for all sorts of reasons, not least that I hate the notion of a private, profit-making company having such a near monopoly on social interaction, monetising anything it can, even if indirectly (for this reason, even with things near home I have refused to engage with the "I'm safe" feature). I wish a less rapacious option, run by someone who wasn't an arrogant ass who only cares about privacy when it affect them, was available, but there you go. I'm not interested in blogging - I don't flatter myself that anyone else is interested enough in what I might have to say about any given topic, and I certainly don't have any time or interest in keeping a diary (online or of any sort). I post very little personal material on FB.... the odd political comment, but that less and less, mostly just silly stuff that amuses me. Years since I bothered to post a photo, though it's a good source of finding photos of events I've been at. I won't mourn it when the next thing replaces it, but so far Twitter is too limited for anything more than inanity. Instagram looks like it might be more my speed, but I can't be bothered to have multiple social media things to deal with, so that's out for now.

 

[Tiki Tom]

So many scare stories about how we are being spied on and how files are being developed about YOU. Turns out it is all chillingly true. The following article is good in that it explains exactly how it is done (or at least one version of how it is done). Pretty spooky. Ingenious. And it is hard to imagine how anyone can escape its grasp in our modern world.

Title: I Got My File From Clearview AI, and It Freaked Me Out​

"Beyond the creepiness factor, Clearview’s intelligence gathering raises an age-old question. If you’ve done nothing wrong, should you care that the company is gathering data about you? If you’re a law-abiding citizen, it shouldn’t matter, right? The issue with this is that doing “something wrong” is a very slippery concept. Clearview could be used to investigate serious crimes. But it could also be used to identify every person who attended a political rally or protest, using only surveillance photos or images posted on social media. We assume that we can enjoy a certain level of anonymity, even in public spaces. Clearview’s technology turns that assumption on its head."

https://onezero.medium.com/i-got-my-file-from-clearview-ai-and-it-freaked-me-out-33ca28b5d6d4​

Great article.

 

[Old Mariner]

I pretty much gave up on social media. I had only really used it to connect with others who fall into the "spiritual/pagan/witch" type umbrella. But over time, I realized just how "secular" my own path is compared to many others and as a result, I never really developed a strong connection. So, this, coupled with the increasingly toxic behavior coming from certain people, along with my "old haunts" (places that I had been with on and off over the years) finally closing, pretty much killed it. I have tried a sort of singular approach with blogging, but again - goes back to my first point on how "secular" my own path is to others under that umbrella - so, no connections made there. (That, and I ran out of things to really discuss, as my focus shifted. Plus, I put in a journal things that were sorted out better. So, no more blogging. Over time, since my own path is very individual - I just felt more awkward having things up about it, for some reason. Which was a partial reason to stop blogging as well.)

My own life circumstances leave little energy to devote to living an extroverted life. I am not an extrovert for one thing, and living with CFS, leaves little energy for anything else but the essentials...never mind surgical recovery and living alone taking care of oneself while recovering. This is why I really have -0 tolerance for immature behavior. I have neither the energy or disposition to deal with it, and so kill it before it has a chance to start, by not involving myself anymore in it [social networking]. If that makes me a grumpy Walter [ref. Jeff Dunham] so be it...too tired to care anymore.

 

[Zombie_61]

...She laughed. “Tell me your kidding. Facebook is so “yesterday”...

How can Facebook already be "yesterday"? That's when I joined.

 

[GHT]

I read the link Tom, now I'm not sure if I'm glad I did, or wish that I hadn't. It makes the collection of marketing data look small fry, and that example of mis-identity, imagine if you were arrested and accused of paedophilia.
The UK had some high profile cases in the last couple of years, all based on the "evidence" of a fantasist. Admittedly the accusations that were made did not come from harvested data, but the results could well be the same. And as Sir Cliff Richard, one of the accused, said: "No matter how much you prove your innocence, the smear sullies you forever."

 

[Tiki Tom]

Yes, it is completely Orwellian. Your face gets picked up in a random surveillance frame. Within minutes, the Agency (or other paying client) asking "who is that?" gets a complete file on who you are, who you associate with, where you work, etc. (Even worse that some of the data might be incorrect.) Today as I came to work, I played the game of "spot the surveillance cameras". Probably 80% or more of my route is covered. Solely based on an image of my face, everything that's ever appeared about me on the internet ---whether approved by me or not--- can be vacuumed up in minutes and a report issued. What could possibly go wrong? As GHT pointed out, "Presumed guilt" by association is always a risk. And it seems nigh impossible to dodge this insidious surveillance and intelligence capability. Oh, well. Don't worry, be happy.

 

[GHT]

Today as I came to work, I played the game of "spot the surveillance cameras". Probably 80% or more of my route is covered.

You might have the Valium ready before looking at this link.
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/daily-mail/20200728/281964610046221

 

[LizzieMaine]

What I find most unsettling is that so much of this surveillance is privatized and monetized. Which ensures that it will only get worse as time goes on.

 

[Zombie_61]

Meh. What are "They" going to do, catch me driving 5 mph over the speed limit? Scratching my crotch in public? Flipping off the ******* neighbor with the illegal fireworks? I'm a 59-year-old married heterosexual white male with a bad back; it would be one of the most boring surveillances "They" ever performed.

 

[Bushman]

So, for years I’ve had an e-mail list of people to whom I send a weekly mini-newsletter regarding a subject that we are all interested in. Some years ago these e-mails would generate a bit of back-and-forth discussion. Lately it has been dead silence. I mentioned this to my wife (also on the list). She essentially said “Tiki, old boy, that’s because you are a dinosaur. Outside of work, nobody communicates with e-mail anymore.”
I groaned. “So, I need to finally join Facebook?” I asked.
She laughed. “Tell me your kidding. Facebook is so “yesterday”.”
But when I asked her how a worldly, experienced and sophisticated guy (aka “old”) should communicate with other souls, she wasn’t much help with specifics.
I’ve sometimes toyed with starting a blog somewhere. But even that sounds old fashioned. On the other hand, I sometimes enjoy the fact that I’m virtually invisible when a google search is done on my name (other than that “could he be a super hero?” nonsense, of course.)
What social media do you guys and gals use? How has it worked out for you? Any recommendations or “steer clears”? In other words, I’m thinking about joining the 21st century but hardly know where to start.

I'm in the same boat with my mother. She's finally accepting Twitter into her life, and I'll be helping her set up an account later today. She's not finding emailed newsletters adequate for her needs anymore, and social media, as I told her, "is the way of the future. You can't go to the store and buy a VHS anymore."

 

[Benny Holiday]

For my sister's birthday last year (pre-virus; ah, the good old days) we went to a steakhouse for dinner. A young couple were seated near us and barely spoke to each other. They spent the entire time tapping away on their phones. Was that a date? Weird. Even if was just friends on a social outing . . . Well what was social about it?

As a musician I've really noticed the huge impact on culture over the years. 20-30 years ago, people came to hear us live and enjoy our musuc. Now we're just the backdrop for their Instagram photos as they pose in front of the stage, starring in their own version of an online reality show that they call their lives. They have all the selfie pouts and poses down pat.

I grew up in age on real human interaction and I prefer to keep it that way. Yes, the technology does have its advantages during the current mess the world is in, but if this was all we had, it'd be pretty sad I think.

 

[Edward]

" If you’ve done nothing wrong, should you care that the company is gathering data about you? If you’re a law-abiding citizen, it shouldn’t matter, right?"

I always have a wry chuckle to myself when people in position of authority whether public or private sector cite variations on the "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" maxim - a maxim that, to the best of my knowledge, originates with none other than Josef Goebbels.

What I find most unsettling is that so much of this surveillance is privatized and monetized. Which ensures that it will only get worse as time goes on.

Quite so. The state can, at least to a limited extent and after a fashion, be held to account. Multinational companies with a GDP higher than all but a few states, presences everywhere, and utter contempt for any law other than their own "community standards", are quite another animal altogether.

As a musician I've really noticed the huge impact on culture over the years. 20-30 years ago, people came to hear us live and enjoy our musuc. Now we're just the backdrop for their Instagram photos as they pose in front of the stage, starring in their own version of an online reality show that they call their lives. They have all the selfie pouts and poses down pat.

I grew up in age on real human interaction and I prefer to keep it that way. Yes, the technology does have its advantages during the current mess the world is in, but if this was all we had, it'd be pretty sad I think.

I think it goes beyond merely interaction, and into the creeping attitude of "me first" and "give me convenience or give me death". Friends ran several big fan conventions in the 90s of a type for which there is no longer the demand. Even with the last one in 1999 they had moe emails from people asking when they could view footage from the event online (inevitably 'for free') than asking about attendiung the event. Friends in the music business know they are being royally taken advantage of by Spotify, yet they have been made to feel they will never get live gigs if they can't show a goodly number of Spotify plays. Nobody wants to buy their CDs any longer - they just ask if they are on Spotify. Shamefully, some of the absolute worst offenders on this front are themselves musicians.

 

[GHT]

I always have a wry chuckle to myself when people in position of authority whether public or private sector cite variations on the "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" maxim - a maxim that, to the best of my knowledge, originates with none other than Josef Goebbels.

Quite so. I remember when the MP: Richard Graham was accused of quoting Joseph Goebbels in defending a new surveillance bill in 2015.

The point about the right to privacy and multinationals riding roughshod over it, using Goebbels quote, is that the right to privacy is lost when it has to be justified. The way it should work is, that conglomerates and governments should justify the intrusion into your rights.

The loss of privacy and the blasé attitude of the general public, is akin to knowing that ozone depletion and global warming are negative developments, but the immediate gains of driving your car to work or your missus putting on her hairspray, outweigh the often invisible losses of polluting the environment.

Where will it end? Just read that link that Tom posted, proof if ever proof was needed, that companies really do ride roughshod over us.