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General Category => General Talk => Topic started by: Carrion Crow on April 24, 2012, 09:23:04 pm

Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Carrion Crow on April 24, 2012, 09:23:04 pm: I think I have an addiction to Facebook, Twitter and whatever can be beamed through the tiny rectangle I keep in my pocket. It's got to the stage now where the last thing I do in bed at night won't be reading my book, it will be uncomfortably browsing whatever social network because my brain just can't turn off yet.

When I'm at work and I'm programming the temptation is too great.

I don't want to disable my accounts or change my hosts file as that seems a bit extreme. It seems like it's become a habit akin to sucking my thumb. There's some inexplicable reason that I *need* to use social networks but I can't figure out why.

Has/does anyone else have this problem and if so have you done anything about it?

Ten points for the first member to fly into this thread, ruffling their cape denoting their superhuman nature and accuse me of having poor self control. I... I'm aware of this?

I think that if I can stifle this social networking problem I will become creative as I once was in 2005/2006 and the emphasis was a lot more on personal discovery and introversion than sharing everything that happens all the time.

It's like we're all objects sending out events in a message loop. Barf.

N.B. I gave up sucking my thumb when I was 12. That's 50% of life ago.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Ragnar on April 24, 2012, 09:37:21 pm: just STOP IT - Bob Newhart
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Roman on April 24, 2012, 09:57:54 pm: you fool. I don't even HAVE a facebook.

sike nah yeah I do. just quit being so popular bro.

edit: in all realness though better self-control or just straight up deleting your accounts are probably the only answers? like I'm not sure what else you expect anyone to say. but good luck to you my friend.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: jamie on April 24, 2012, 10:09:09 pm: they make it very hard for you to actually get rid of these accounts, with month long waits after you hit the delete button, so you are likely to cave and go back on at some point during that month inspiring a flurry of social media activity immediately preceding a sharp pang of disliking yourself and your weakness so i think the only answer is to just start reminding yourself how dumb you are being and stop using it so much that it bothers you over time.

it's just another bad habit. i don't think 'breaking' is a good word to use with a lot of these things, just graduate yourself out of it.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: hero_bash on April 24, 2012, 11:14:38 pm: There is a useful addon for Firefox called Redirector I use it to redirect unwanted sites when exams are nearing to a selfmade html file. The key is that page should be inspirational or something.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Farren on April 25, 2012, 02:36:24 am: I use facebook as a means of communicating with my family and friends when I'm on ship. So its kind of a necessity. I don't give as much of a shit when I'm at home though. I do check it alot.

I like it way more than phones because I hate talking on phones. Phones to me are just a direct method of small talk, I can't do small talk. Well I can but its pretty much forced. If I'm talking on facebook its like writing a letter I can summarize my thoughts and put em down the way I want them and thats that unless theres more to talk about. Phones are awkward. Even speaking in person is much much better to me than phones. I hate phones....

I gotta fuckin evo or some shit and I only really use it for txting, calls from work/business, and facebook...
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: ATARI on April 25, 2012, 03:04:05 am: dude. you're on facebook ALL the time.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: ATARI on April 25, 2012, 03:04:14 am: wait. how would i know
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: EvilDemonCreature on April 25, 2012, 04:15:47 am: Man, this is exactly why I make sure I never engage in this social media crap. I have been distracting myself for years before, and the last thing I need is exactly the next big thing.

And the sad thing is I do have a facebook account, just to keep track of one group too lazy to put their updates on something that isn't facebook. The floodgate is now open, and I fear that it is only a matter of time now.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: DDay on April 25, 2012, 04:18:01 am: Quote from: ed on April 24, 2012, 09:23:04 pm
I think I have an addiction to Facebook, Twitter and whatever can be beamed through the tiny rectangle I keep in my pocket. It's got to the stage now where the last thing I do in bed at night won't be reading my book, it will be uncomfortably browsing whatever social network because my brain just can't turn off yet.

When I'm at work and I'm programming the temptation is too great.

I don't want to disable my accounts or change my hosts file as that seems a bit extreme. It seems like it's become a habit akin to sucking my thumb. There's some inexplicable reason that I *need* to use social networks but I can't figure out why.

Has/does anyone else have this problem and if so have you done anything about it?

Ten points for the first member to fly into this thread, ruffling their cape denoting their superhuman nature and accuse me of having poor self control. I... I'm aware of this?

I think that if I can stifle this social networking problem I will become creative as I once was in 2005/2006 and the emphasis was a lot more on personal discovery and introversion than sharing everything that happens all the time.

It's like we're all objects sending out events in a message loop. Barf.

N.B. I gave up sucking my thumb when I was 12. That's 50% of life ago.

Let work on glitch work and you will be saved.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Terrorantula on April 25, 2012, 05:03:22 am: Heck I've been keeping in touch with Vivi and assisting her with resources for Essence partly via Facebook. i use it to keep touch with people, but I'm not like addicted to it I think. I wonder if part of your reaction is somehow that you're being validated by having others see your stuff- I mean, it's worth it whether or not someone else knows. That said, i will sometimes go on a chat client or to here or another forum and do stuff there.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: mellytan on April 25, 2012, 07:51:16 pm: easy: destroy all humans
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: mellytan on April 25, 2012, 11:19:45 pm: OR limit your checking of email/FB to 2-3 times a day (IE morning, noon, night)

and ONLY check them in between if its vital to your job/an emergency

limiting dumb expectant email/fb checks in this way has been known to boost ""productivity"""
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: tristero on April 26, 2012, 12:57:00 am: change your password so that it's still the same thing, but put AREYOUSUREYOUREALLYSHOULDBEDOINGTHIS at the front of it, and then sign out of facebook each time you use it
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Biggles on April 26, 2012, 10:04:21 am: none of my friends use facebook so can't help but not using facebook sure is great. so productive. you should try it. i used to waste a lot of time reading twitter but then i realised that i want to do other things more than i want to be updated on the latest musings of rappers. if you really care about getting the latest in inane things your acquaintances blabbing about then you should just keep using it though. if you can justify every visit you're not going to stop. if it's for keeping in touch with foreign friends, you don't really need to get updated on them more than once a week. if you do, maybe use a platform that isn't filled with a billion other distractions and creepy advertising. i'm probably not going to be much help though because i find facebook incredibly disconcerting to use and can't go near it without becoming really unhappy. facebook thinks breastfeeding is porno and will ban a female looking shirtless looking man photo until it's revealed that it's a man, at which point they will put it back up. facebook can recognise your face in most photographs. its business model is build around profiting from people's relationships through advertising. posts testimonials on your behalf when you like things. i mean, you know better than i do, you actually use it. by choice. i don't really get it. a couple months ago i was on the ferry reading about math and this really unhappy woman gets on. like, sometimes when people are down, you can't really tell. but it was written all over her face. she sat up by the bow. later on i see her get up. she puts her camera on a seat and sets it to timer. for the period of time she is taking photos of herself and for that time only, she looks like she's having the time of her life. then back to looking like boredom and misery. there's something about constantly re-representing yourself within a framework construed by mike sockberg corporation that i can't deal with. if y'all love using facebook then good for you, hooray. i'm glad. you probably have a healthy relationship with it. (except ed, lol.) i can't go near it though. i find it really spooky,
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Hundley on April 28, 2012, 08:59:14 am: just remind yourself that you have an alarmingly finite amount of moments on this planet and begin becoming deathly afraid of the inevitability of the final moments of your life, lying in your deathbed, reflecting on your prime, unable to remember doing anything but posting/reading fucking garbage on twitter
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Faust on April 28, 2012, 10:49:18 am: OR: be like Hundley and have NOFRIENDS

(hahaha zing)
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: DDay on April 28, 2012, 10:55:03 am: Quote from: Faust on April 28, 2012, 10:49:18 am
OR: be like Hundley and have NOFRIENDS

(hahaha zing)

That's a lie Faust he has friends they all just happen to be dead. (might be in bad taste whelp.)
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: dada on April 28, 2012, 01:18:27 pm: “Most of the people I admire, they usually smell funny and don't get out much. It's true. Most of them are either dead or not feeling well.”
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: jamie on April 28, 2012, 01:37:19 pm: I actually don't have any friends yet I still find excuses to go on facebook more than I have any reason to (the occasional update on some society/uni related thing that actually guides my behaviour in any way). Maybe I should get rid of it.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: ThugTears666 on April 28, 2012, 07:34:48 pm: You guys all realize forums are a form of social networking correct?
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Guana on April 28, 2012, 07:47:13 pm: Quote from: Hundley on April 28, 2012, 08:59:14 am
just remind yourself that you have an alarmingly finite amount of moments on this planet and begin becoming deathly afraid of the inevitability of the final moments of your life, lying in your deathbed, reflecting on your prime, unable to remember doing anything but posting/reading fucking garbage on twitter
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Warped655 on April 28, 2012, 07:53:33 pm: Quote from: Afura on April 28, 2012, 07:34:48 pm
You guys all realize forums are a form of social networking correct?

Yeah, but one usually has some external purpose for a forum other than just posting shit like "I ate a sandwich" or "I watched Star Wars".

Hopefully, at least. I'm guilty of posting 1 liner posts though. As are many people.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Faust on April 28, 2012, 08:11:38 pm: 100% of my posts are one liners do not worry.

(PS I had pizza hut for lunch)
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Randy Moist on April 28, 2012, 09:32:57 pm: Quote from: jamie on April 28, 2012, 01:37:19 pm
I actually don't have any friends yet I still find excuses to go on facebook more than I have any reason to (the occasional update on some society/uni related thing that actually guides my behaviour in any way). Maybe I should get rid of it.

nah instead add me http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=8642016
ASE is on there, too. You can follow ASE's life from afar.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: crone_lover720 on April 29, 2012, 02:40:36 am: is the expos hat and nick swisher like ironic or genuine? actually iirc you're a twins fan so at least the swish like is probably not

I generally dislike online chatting with people I know. it's cool to be able to catch up with people you like, but just going on about nothing through text over the internet is pretty boring. my facebook mostly just sits there and I get an email if someone sends me a message or something, otherwise I only occasionally check it when I'm bored. so I guess my advice is stop seeing it as a social outlet, because it's really not.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Doktormartini on April 29, 2012, 04:52:10 am: I'm addicted to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr but honestly it's where I get 99% of my news from so meh.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: rvp12Bet on May 04, 2012, 04:29:09 pm: Easy solution: delete your facebook account?

Hard way: Destroy all humans being. (just kidding ^^)
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Randy Moist on May 15, 2012, 01:29:27 pm: half a month late but neither are ironic, earl, I just love baseball. I own a few hats from other teams while Nick Swisher is a decent player with a rare bit of personality (by MLB standards). I don't really 'like' anything on facebook though (it's a really stupid system and probably designed to sell you shit) so it probably stands out for that reason.

I did sort of a drive by post before but I think stuff like facebook/twitter are great for staying in touch; they are just progressions from email, blogs and forums. Don't get caught up in other bullshit like games and I don't see how you can be wasting time, unless you consider the conversations with people a waste of time. That's a whole different issue, though. What else are you doing on there? If it's a distraction at work then that again is a separate issue and I have ideas for addressing that if you wanna hear them. How is it coming Ed?

And I missed Biggles post before soliciting your friendship Jamie, if your post was in response to his then I can see those concerns and certainly understand them. However, facebook doesn't need to be a serious thing, just like Twitter. I'd rather use it infrequently and have a way of following one of my favorite GW artists after this site's death than worry about if some boss is going to use it against me. Plus there are privacy setting but by in large I avoid putting anything on there of substance that couldn't be found elsewhere.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: crone_lover720 on May 15, 2012, 11:20:41 pm: cool, glad you came back at least to reply to this thread

baseball is great, everyone here at SW is an orioles fan
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Biggles on May 15, 2012, 11:49:02 pm: even I am an orioles fan and I am from new zealand and have never seen a baseball game in my life. I had an orioles shirt when I was 9-10 and wore it nearly every day therefore they are my default baseball team.
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: bonzi_buddy on May 16, 2012, 07:01:00 am: ahhahaha definitely. i've been in their baseball match, their player was retiring, didn't get the freebie player shirt... really, the strongest most powerful memory of america...
Title: How do you stop yourself social networking?
Post by: Malad on May 16, 2012, 03:19:32 pm: I deleted my Facebook for a year. Reactivated it once Summer came around and haven't really thought about it since. I didn't feel relieved that I had deleted it, and it didn't add to my quality of life or anything. I think we're all addicted, but as long as it doesn't actually interfere with your life (ie facebook creeping so hard you don't actually go outside) then you're okay. There's nothing wrong with wanting to stay up to date with your friends' lives.

Also regarding the creativity thing... I am friends and/or "like" lots of creative people's pages. You can really turn the website into whatever kind of hub you want it to be. Maybe make your news feed strictly comprise of Comp Sci, Art, Music pages and you can actually make it a productive website?