The First World Problem Thread...Voice Your Struggle

[nightflameauto]

I don't know if Facebook has this option, but on Youtube I have to reset my history every couple weeks to get anything resembling what I'm looking for to show up on the front page. If I don't, the algorithms slowly suck me into non-stop political bullshit that I really don't give a fuck at all about. Start with a couple guitar videos, somewhere along the line an attractive female commentator shows up that I may not click away from fast enough because the part of my brain that enjoys looking at attractive females isn't completely dead, just mostly, and whatever it is they're talking about becomes a secondary focus that slowly gains traction and all of a sudden I'm like, "Wait, what happened to the guitars? Why is my feed filled with bile-spewing hate-mongers?"

Maybe Facebook just needs a "delete my entire history" option? Or at least for the sorting algorithms.

 

[TedEH]

I wish there was a way to delete Facebook the app, but still get the parts of it that aren't the social media part - the events, the marketplace, the messenger, etc. I know the messenger is separate, but I wish the rest was too. Then I could go browse gear ads and be up to date on shows without having to see all the weird conservative "memes" that have flooded the platform. And by "memes", I mostly mean trad-wife propaganda and anti-LGBT stuff. I have no idea why Facebook thinks I want to see that.

 

[crushingpetal]

I have no idea why Facebook thinks I want to see that.

The only reason is that it might (or likely) gets you to spend more time on FB.

 

[thebeesknees22]

I wish there was a way to delete Facebook the app, but still get the parts of it that aren't the social media part - the events, the marketplace, the messenger, etc. I know the messenger is separate, but I wish the rest was too. Then I could go browse gear ads and be up to date on shows without having to see all the weird conservative "memes" that have flooded the platform. And by "memes", I mostly mean trad-wife propaganda and anti-LGBT stuff. I have no idea why Facebook thinks I want to see that.

FB is 90% adds these days for me. I have to scroll a good while to see anything from an actual person I'm FB friends with.

If it weren't for having friends and work contacts spread all over the world, I would just delete it. ..I have a few times actually but work stuff and whatnot keeps me bringing it back

 

[wheresthefbomb]

For anyone needing the little extra encouragement, I deleted all socials a few years ago now and haven't looked back. I'm no more or less lonely and isolated than I was before.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

I’m currently using Facebook to look for a new apartment and I sometimes sell stuff on there. It’s a utility for me as opposed to real social media or entertainment

 

[Moongrum]

I never knew Facebook could do all those things you guys just mentioned lol.

 

[wheresthefbomb]

Qualifier to the above, I have a "secret" fb account that is locked down to the max, no friends, nobody can add me, completely un-googleable, that I use to cruise marketplace and occasionally sell things.

 

[TedEH]

Legitimate question: How do folks normally hear about local shows? 'Cause without facebook, I would have no idea who is playing when or where. A giant chunk of all of our scene's marketing is facebook-based, and I assumed that was the same everywhere.

 

[BlackMastodon]

Legitimate question: How do folks normally hear about local shows? 'Cause without facebook, I would have no idea who is playing when or where. A giant chunk of all of our scene's marketing is facebook-based, and I assumed that was the same everywhere.

That's the best part, I don't!

My city also doesn't have much on the way of venues for small- to medium-sized shows, so it also just makes me think that our music scene is tiny.

 

[Big Dumb Bitch]

Legitimate question: How do folks normally hear about local shows? 'Cause without facebook, I would have no idea who is playing when or where. A giant chunk of all of our scene's marketing is facebook-based, and I assumed that was the same everywhere.

That's literally the only reason I still have a facebook account lol.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Qualifier to the above, I have a "secret" fb account that is locked down to the max, no friends, nobody can add me, completely un-googleable, that I use to cruise marketplace and occasionally sell things.

The only reason I still have a fb account is for looking at guitar gear groups and buying shit on marketplace.

 

[p0ke]

Legitimate question: How do folks normally hear about local shows? 'Cause without facebook, I would have no idea who is playing when or where. A giant chunk of all of our scene's marketing is facebook-based, and I assumed that was the same everywhere.

Same here. There's only one venue in my town that ever has any shows I might be interested in, so in theory I could just check their website every now and then, but who does that these days? The algorithm also works pretty well in this particular case, so I usually get a notification on my phone when a new show is announced.

 

[Moongrum]

I thought Instagram and TikTok were the most relevant social media apps. Do people not announce shows there? I'm surprised FB is good for that

When I was young and still liked music, I would find local shows via a local record labels website. I then got familiar with the local venues and would check their websites to find shows. I had assumed everyone was doing things on Insta and TikTok now.

 

[nightflameauto]

I've got a couple sites I watch for local shows. Venue sites and a local boy does a "bands hitting the shit bars" list he sorta updates every once in a while when he feels like it. Sometimes you catch a winner there.

FWP: There is not enough coffee in the universe to keep me awake this morning. Last night was great. Today? Not so much.

 

[TedEH]

I thought Instagram and TikTok were the most relevant social media apps.

If you're under 20, maybe.

 

[MFB]

I was off FB for ...3 years give or take? I left at the end of 2020, and rejoined sometime in 2023 - honestly, without it, I didn't hear about fuckall in my local area; now, it's the only way to keep track of paintball events for the New England leagues (despite obviously having my teammates also setup calendar invites, etc) as well as who's coming around for shows from band announcements, and check local gear.

The actual FEED portion of it? Absolute garbage, nothing but recommendations for new groups/shit that I have no intent to join since it means more time spent on FB. Honestly, even my friend's portion is pretty useless for the few people I cared to keep in touch with as they all had kids (or at least 90%) and the guys don't share anything, so it's just their wives sharing the same fucking garbage mom-memes ABOUT having kids, and then the kids themselves; which also seems like a huge oversight on their end, taking photos of them for yourself is one thing, but new shit multiple times a day being uploaded online? Yikes, no thanks.

 

[Moongrum]

If you're under 20, maybe.

I'm 32, and I don't know anyone in my circle on FB. I know that's more reflective of my social group, but I thought most everyone was on Instagram these days, and TikTok was a young person's game. I guess that's just my own perception/bias.

 

[p0ke]

Yeah, I guess the venue I was talking about before also posts their events on Instagram, and generally all the same entities post everything on both. I just somehow prefer checking Facebook.
Oh man, I still remember the days when I was hoping that Google+ would take off and people would communicate there instead of Facebook. It would've integrated very nicely with how youtube works these days too.

Personally though, I mostly use Facebook because of their messenger. It's basically what replaced MSN/Microsoft Live Messenger for me. A lot of people prefer Whatsapp over it, but I always thought that was redundant when the FB Messenger could do the same + all the people were already there anyway (yes, basically all my friends and family are indeed on Facebook). And it's even more redundant now that Meta owns both platforms...

 

[TedEH]

I don't understand instagram as a social media platform. I knew it as a photo hosting site, and it still seems like that to me. Like twitter/X is all about short updates, for hot takes and news. Facebook is just another stream / blast of constant scrolling, that used to be a lot of news (before Canada stopped that). Tiktik is short form videos for the attention starved. Reddit serves as an aggregate and a place to tell on yourself for how much of an asshole you are. But Instagram....? It's just.... photos? Every other platform does photos. Why would I spend my day scrolling only through people's photos?

And it's not like the site makes any waves outside its platform - people will post links frequently to tiktoks or facebook content or tweets, but not IG. It has no reach, it doesn't do anything that other platforms don't do better, so what is its purpose?