[bluGill]

Facebook is a much better way for me to share pictures of my kids to all my relatives. Sure I can text that picture to each individually, but some people want to see all pictures in full detail while some want to see just a few.

I have no way of knowing who wants to see any individual pictures. My parents want to see nearly all. What about my second cousin who I haven't seen in person in 15 years because she lives so far away? What about the running back of our high school football team? I'm not close enough that I'd send any pictures to either of them, but in fact they like that once in a while they see pictures of my kids and remember I exist.

Facebook solves a real social problem that text, and phones do not solve. (There are other solutions, but Facebook is the popular one)

What made Facebook useful for me is when I blocked all games. I'm slowly eliminating political posts as well, but since I'm active in politics some of my real friends are also active which makes this impossible.

[saimiam]

> Facebook solves a real social problem

With all due respect, until FB nominally solved this problem, you (I) never even knew this problem existed. Before it became trivial to share pictures with a long lost acquaintance using FB, we got by just fine showing pics to a tiny subset of friends.

There was literally no idea in anyone's head that they needed to show pictures of their children to some guy they last spoke to 15 years ago. This notion that FB is solving a real need is false. It's like saying cigarette companies solve the problem of nicotine cravings among smokers.

[wott]

That's the rhetoric of "the pressing 'demand' that must be satisfied". Each time I ask where the mass that actually 'demanded' something is, I get no answer.

[romwell]

Right, by a similar logic, there was never a demand for automobiles, so we can get rid of them without any loss.

[tedunangst]

Something about people wanting a faster horse.

[throwmea56]

They didn't. And, as a car obsessive, it was a mistake.

commute times are probably the same (45 minutes walking/tram with a 4~5 mi dense city core, vs 45 in the freeway and a 60 miles of low suburban development) and we don't have the infrastructure for alternatives to travel outside the city.

As to the need for speed itself. I used to like big fancy fast cars.

Then I got a motorcycle. Now cars are... boring.

[open_bear]

For every "wanting a faster horse" I give you "new iPhones every 6 months", "smart bottles that remind you to drink more water" and "Internet-connected $400 juicer that requires special cartridges to make juice".

[vaishaksuresh]

>Facebook is a much better way for me to share pictures of my kids to all my relatives

Also to Facebook's facial recognition software, without your kids ever agreeing to it and they won't have a way to undo it once they grow up, even if they want to.

[lioeters]

This is really worrying, that there's a whole generation growing up whose personal data are being gathered and exploited, without their consent. I'm already upset that my friends have tagged me in numerous photos on FB, giving them more info than I care to. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if that had been done throughout my childhood and teenage years..