Facebook Discussion - Do you use it or not? Why?
mod
Hey all, I wanted to start a discussion about Facebook. The main question is, do you use it? Why or why not?
There's no doubt it's good for networking, and staying in contact with people. But, it's also a good source of high blood pressure and a time waster.
I've considered getting rid of it, but I'm also worried it will hurt the networking side of things. Do any of you -not- use it? Do you find it hurts your career at all? Did you used to use it then quit? What were the major changes you saw in your life? Good or bad! Or just your two cents on it would be great! I want to hear everyone's opinions.
This video relates to it a bit as well. Well worth a watch, and the reason I'm bringing it up right now, actually.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER0Qp6QJNU
There's no doubt it's good for networking, and staying in contact with people. But, it's also a good source of high blood pressure and a time waster.
I've considered getting rid of it, but I'm also worried it will hurt the networking side of things. Do any of you -not- use it? Do you find it hurts your career at all? Did you used to use it then quit? What were the major changes you saw in your life? Good or bad! Or just your two cents on it would be great! I want to hear everyone's opinions.
This video relates to it a bit as well. Well worth a watch, and the reason I'm bringing it up right now, actually.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER0Qp6QJNU
Replies
but no, i dont have facebook. never had it. never missed it really. the bad greatly out weighs the good.
but im pretty sure it has affected my career. my last jobs, and interviews ive been to has been forwarded to me by a friend who is in many game related facebook groups. im considering making a account solely for job hunting.
communication suffers a lot being put through texts and posts. and the freedom to put up this face facade is almost only hurting in my opinion. like sure you can make yourself look good by taking nice looking photos and writing witty posts. but eventually, its the real world that matters. and you cant fake that stuff there. if you are depressed, insecure or insincere, everyone can tell. as it should be.
Linkedin is focused on work so I use that for work related stuff.
I use a flip phone. $25 a month vs $90 a month. $65 x 12 months = $780 a year saved plus it removes a huge amount of time wasting from my life. I use company phones for testing our games. I have an iPod for music and photos. The only time I take pictures of food is when I catch it myself.
The video is interesting. Living in the city, I see a certain class of parents who do raise their children as "special snowflakes" (for example RIE parenting). I have no idea how they will turn out later in life but I keep my kids far, far away from them.
News feed Eradicator
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicator-for/fjcldmjmjhkklehbacihaiopjklihlgg?hl=en
Now I just use the messenger and the groups which can be pretty useful when it comes to getting in touch with people. I think Facebook can be a useful tool, but it can be very damaging if you're not careful with it.
1. I use it for arts related stuff. There are many good FB groups about arts. Ten Thousand Hours, Artists old N new, and more. Not mention products-related groups like Zbrush, Substance Designer, or Marmoset Toolbag 3 Beta Group. Or tutorials stuff like Cuberush, and etc.
2. Many friends I don't meet quite often in person. But if they are cool people, I will keep in touch with them, and interact with them.
3. Entertainment. Games, tv shows, movies, etc. Also mostly from Reddit.
4. News. Mostly from Reddit.
I mostly use LinkedIn for professional contacts though and I even there I feel I end up wasting time getting distracted by LinkedIn's Facebook-ization.
I prefer linkedin for professional contacts and since the class has a forum now, I will probably delete my FB account soon. Not that I've been using it for anything except that group anyhow.
edit: I use the same thing Joebewon linked
I occasionally log in to 'like' some stuff, maybe repost something of 10K hours and then hop off again in a timespan of 10 minutes. The whole site just gives me the creeps.
But otherwise, nothing inherently wrong with using it. I view it as a platform meant for twitter length posts, you should link out to other places if you have any kind of detail.
As a professional artist I think you only have something to gain by staying connected and sharing your art,
all other things that might seem negative about it just doesn't matter in comparison.
Bounchfx, this right here is exactly what I do. I could be surfing facebook, get bored, hit a new tab, then press my facebook bookmark. Sometimes I`ll have multiple tabs open for facebook at the same time. I also do it with polycount.
I think it's time I start organizing my friends and what I see. What they see. etc.
Definitely going to give that plugin a try, though. Thanks for sharing, Joebewon!
starts with a cat video that takes you to youtube which later turns into Russian car crashes, dangerous circle.
I post all my game art there. I find it much more lively and active to post on. You get more feedback. Networking is more natural, with real faces and realtime messages to connect people.
Like any social platform you need self-control to not spend all day on it or get drawn into arguments about nothing, but it's very valuable as a way to spread your work.
The biggest issue with Facebook (and many other sites) for me is that they default to a white background with black text - it's like staring into a light bulb. If this hurts your eyes as well, try installing the Stylish extension and use a custom style for the site. The one I'm using below is Dusky Gray Facebook.
Without it is just a totally random post? why is it garbage, what do you dislike, why cant you take it seriously?
Since getting my first games job and the heavy progression of my career I often think a lot more of what I post. Now my Facebook is mainly an ongoing timeline of my artwork and career of which family and friends can keep up to date with. I do get a lot of feedback mainly through ex-colleagues messaging me feedback when I need it.
The first thing I always think now before posting is 'will anyone one care?' and then i take it from there.
I have experienced though I do get sick of Facebook with the constant onslaught of annoying as fuck memes and occasional offensive videos and shares. I do follow certain art groups, but I hid 10,000 hours as it was getting too annoying.
I guess ultimately it's a case of habit and the fact I can update everything so that close friends and family can know is a lot easier then sending multiple messages.
Back to Facebook: I personally would prefer using a forum because I like the control over the discourse that forum moderating gives, but I also find myself really enjoying that I can network with a lot of artists who I'd never have met had it not been for Facebook's relatively open discussions. The trouble I have with it is that my ~500 friends have a lot to say in my news feed, so I find myself using the unfollow option for things I find distasteful - like non-stop politics. FB Purity will remove most of the junk on the site, so that certainly improves the non-work experience for me, but it doesn't catch everything - which is why I spend most of my time on Facebook within art groups.
We might want to consider splitting this discussion off into a new thread so we don't derail this one though.
Same with twitter, or anything else, really. Its merely a platform, it comes down to how you choose to use it.
I know this might sound a bit odd or even subversive, but there is some value in isolation - even isolation from seemingly positive influences. Being part of a tribe is great, but many people seem to follow hundreds of things/artists, join self-improvement groups ... but this can all end up as one massive echo chamber with not much original stuff coming out of it.
Producing and fostering fresh ideas/concepts/designs sometimes takes a little bit of boredom (or focus, whatever one wants to calls it
If anyone can suggest some smaller, nicer groups then I'm all ears!
PS: For the record, I'm not a new artist, nor have I experienced this kind of bashing to my own work but I have seen it happen so many times to other people that the jokes have just worn very thin.
Part of the downfall of Facebook is the comment sections. If you try and have a discussion, people seem to just get offended or start name calling when you don't have the same opinion as them. Or, if you`re having a thoughtful conversation with a few people, then someone else, who you don't know and cant control through extensions, joins in and starts name calling. It adds a certain level of negativity to your life that can really add up over time. That's kind of where I`m at, personally. It's a mix of the time sink, and the negativity that's got me on edge. It goes with what @Melazee said with the groups bashing new artists. Even with real names attached (for the most part), people still spew hate from behind their screens. Manners seem to go completely out the window.
One thing I just learned about though is that you can now decide who's stuff you see first. Before it was all done on the back end. The more you liked or commented on someone's stuff, the more you would see of their posts, and less of other peoples who you don't comment on. Now, you can go in and select who has priority. I did that a few weeks ago. Spent the time and went through the list, really only selected my close friends, and it's helped a decent amount. Though, I was also on vacation, so I was hardly on Facebook. No computer for 2 weeks.
Another thought on it is, if we use all those apps, and the feature I just mentioned, we`re essentially creating a safe space for ourselves. I'm not sure if that's the best thing, either.
It will be interesting to see what kind of research comes out in the next 10-20 years on the effects of social media.