Not too off-topic, I hope. I think I need to join Facebook

[yogapam]

Originally Posted by superfit41

I have been seriously considering de-activating my account. There is way, way too much negativity. Just today I saw an ugly post making fun of people. It's just pure meanness. Ugh.
Sherry

I've unfollowed a few people that and other reasons. Some people are negative, others are, IMO, guilty of TMI and airing personal issues I don't need to know about. Now I don't see their posts unless I go to their page, which I seldom do.

It requires tweaking to keep it enjoyable and responsible. I love keeping in touch with old friends who live far away and whom I don't see often. I chat with friends and family on FB messenger, love the video chat option.

[Jennifer R]

You can also sign up with a name that's not yours and lock down your privacy settings so that basically unless someone knows the name you're registered under you'll be invisible. It's pretty self explanatory by going to settings -> Privacy.

[rvagal]

There's a browser add-on (if you're using Facebook on a computer or laptop) called FB Purity that helps you cut down on their advertising and simplify your experience.

Mostly I'd say that if you fear getting sucked in (because you might find an old friend and then another and then another and then it becomes something you compulsively check) then set your privacy settings so that only "friends of friends" can look you up. If you have no friends to begin with, then no one can look you up.

You're technically not supposed to use a fake name to sign up but as long as you don't have more than one account I don't think anyone would be any wiser. I have heard of people with secondary fake accounts having them deleted.

I am reading that new book Irresistible about internet addiction so all of this is on my mind today. I'd encourage you to know what you're looking for going in, and to understand that you can get sucked into wanting more connections, more friends, more likes, more, more, more. If you just want to use it for business stuff, then don't add friends or photos or anything.

[nyskier]

I use FB, but I have my settings so that only friends can see my page. That way you control who sees what you post. If anyone becomes annoying, you can unfollow (not see their posts) or even unfriend entirely. I use VF Roost and try not to waste too much time on FB in general. To be honest, I prefer to come here!

[sillygirl]

Originally Posted by IceQueen07

I have an account that I only use for VF Roost and a couple workout related sites. Other than that, I don't use and really don't care to, no personal information, no pictures, nothing. It serves my purpose for when FB is the only way to get info. Not for everyone, but it works for me.

This is me! I follow businesses and fitness instructors for sales and discounts I otherwise wouldn't know about. My family and friends know I have a Facebook account strictly for this purpose so they have never asked to "friend" me nor have I offered to connect with them. I don't have any personal information attached to my account other than what is required.

[Mopsy]

I appreciate all the information. I admit there's a part of me that wants to go look up everyone I've ever encountered in life I actually do like some of the silly stuff that gets around the internet, which is, ironically, what scares me. I can certainly imagine get bogged down. It happens now, following a link, then another, and another, and before I know it, I've detoured far from my original path and have no idea where I am.

I'm sure FB can be used well. That's the info I'm looking for. I would certainly want to protect my privacy, and since I don't have any local relatives, and just a few friends, it may be a good way to keep in touch and find out about events before they actually happen.

[lunarraine]

I use a Chrome browser add on called StayFocused. Basically it lets you add certain sites to a list and then you only get so many minutes per day to look at those sites, total. For example, I have twitter and fb on my list and a 10 minute limit. So if I look at FB for 9 minutes I only have one left for twitter.
This forces me to get in, look at the posts/groups/etc I REALLY want to see and get out before I can really get sucked in to all the shiny distracting stuff

[ddj]

I'd like to be on FB just so I can keep up with others. I feel like I miss out on so much because everything happens there. But I'm a private person and don't want anyone trying to look me up. Hypocritical, I know.

That "not now" box annoys me. It used to be that the box would disappear when you clicked "not now". It makes me angry that FB would bully us like that. It seems that most people are on there anyway. If someone chooses to make their page public, why are they doing that? Do they want every single human on the planet signing up?

[Vintage VFer]

I belong to FaceBook. I have turned off about everything you can turn off as far as privacy and security.

I can't say I enjoy FB. I just go on to see how some of my friends are doing. Then, you have to sift through political rants, animal abuse stories, endless food pictures, conspiracy theories, folks demanding that you like and share their cause of the day, and then, if you are lucky, you'll see the good stuff.

By the time I post something, it is so far down the wall, it may as well not exist.

[Juliepie]

Social Fixer helps a lot with filtering out the stuff that's most annoying to you.