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Facebook VS. Yahoo
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I’ve been privy to several online debates regarding FB vs. Yahoo Groups. There was discussion recently on switching one of the Yahoo Groups I belong to over to FB. I’ve reprinted one members response, with permission, because I thought there were many great points regarding social media. You can find it here if you’re so inclined….
http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/2014/12/facebook-vs-yahoo.html
I’d love to hear feedback. I’m curious if you have a preference. Are you in the mobile/social crowd or the email/group crowd?
That was interesting to read. I have never been on fb or Twitter or other social media. Well, I do have Pinterest to organize bookmarksand that is a form of social media. I have this forum and while I’m a member of yahoo groups, I’m not really active on any of them. I like quick responses via text for simple things, but prefer the thoughtful nature of email/ letters myself.
Yes, her post was very helpful to me. I’ve never been in FB or anything else similar and had made a commitment that I wouldn’t. But I could never have articulated it so people would not see me as just being an old fogey (which I am.) 🙂 Her response really helped clarify in my own heart and mind that I’m sticking to my decision. I’m glad she gave you permission to share it.
I’ve used both extensively and each has been useful in their own ways. However, I much prefer a self-hosted forum. I guess that helps explain why we have one here. 🙂
That’s a very well-written, well-thought-out article.
My husband and I have chosen to not do FB…..nor do we even text on our cell phones! We actually have the “data turned off” or however you say it.
Our reasoning for staying away from facebook and from texting is that we want to be the USER of the tool, rather than becoming the SERVANT of the tool. So, for us, our cell phones are tools for our business (family farm). And we call the shots. People have to call and if we choose not to take the call, people can leave a message. We treat our computer the same way. We want to have the freedom to ignore or to answer any and all emails. We want the ability to step away from the technology and concentrate on what is important in our lives at any particular moment.
We do have our struggles — it’s so easy to waste time on the internet (whether Facebooking or just poking around looking at curriculum!).
I agree with the author of that article about thinking about the words you say. My husband is a natural “thinker” – he almost always thinks before he speaks. I am not. All to often, I speak without thinking. That correlates to our choice of online media – he chooses email because it gives him time to think. I choose email because it forces me to think….and discussion forums like this force me to think and re-read what I’ve written, before I press “submit.”
Oh, in case you’re wanting demographics, we’re in the 35-45 crowd; own one car; own two dogs; have four children. 🙂 (I can’t find the smiley face button!)
I’m going to chime in from the opposite point of view… I use Facebook, but HOW I use it has changed significantly from a couple years ago. I post far fewer personal comments, because I’ve come to realize other peoples’ time is as precious as my own, and I need to respect that and not waste their time with tons of random nonsense about my life. I have also “un-followed” all but my closest friends; I can look up acquaintances or distant relatives if I want to see how they’re doing, but for the most part, I don’t need a million random comments eating up my day.
I do, however, host a FB homeschool group. It works really well for its primary focus, which is scheduling meetups and alerting people to local HS-oriented activities. There is another local group that does that type of thing with Yahoo, and honestly, it’s a terrible pain. I am flooded with constant email responses about topics I have no interest in–I can’t just ignore a post that doesn’t interest me (and thereby “opt out” of viewing all the responses to it); there is no easy way to view and respond to events (there’s a calendar, but last I checked, no way to comment WITHIN events); and it’s hard to have an effective back-and-forth with multiple people at once.
I am the type who thinks through responses to people and occasionally enjoys email for that. But usually, I’m best face-to-face for deep conversation. I hate phone calls–I find those far more intrusive than social media. Texting for me is a way to share a funny moment in my day with a friend, send my husband an impromptu “I love you”, or coordinate last-minute details for an outing; I’ve never thought texting was intended for sharing deep thoughts.
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that all these platforms (social media, groups, email, texting, and yes phone calls) can be effective and helpful with a little intention given to how each is used…
Quoting:
I could be wrong, but it seems to me that all these platforms (social media, groups, email, texting, and yes phone calls) can be effective and helpful with a little intention given to how each is used…
I think you’re right. That’s the beauty of the beast – different platforms suit different people at different times for different needs.
The “ugly” of the beast is training ourselves to tame it and USE it, and not allow ourselves to be used.
Along with that, we need to be cognizant of how to best reach people in our circles. For instance, my husband’s high school class reunion was set up only on Facebook — which eliminated about 5 couples! Thankfully, someone was thinking and made phone contact and then some email contacts were made, so nearly everyone was there (no one was absent because of not hearing about it).
So, courtesy is involved. I need to think about other’s preferences, and where able, communicate with them in the most effective manner I can. Unfortunately, along with the spider web starting at ME (as referred to in the article we all read), comes the selfish actions (“Why can’t they get on FB?” “Why should I change my communication preferences to suit them??”, etc.)
As far as ease of use, I’m liking this forum the best. The Google group that I belong to seems a bit hard to me to get the hang of. The Yahoo group that I’m a part of I only participate by email – I can’t figure out how to log into Yahoo and do it from Yahoo. I guess I went too long without logging in or something and now Yahoo forgot me and they changed their look and I’m too old to figure it out! *L*
I can see where FB could have its uses, it’s just that none of those productive uses appeal to me. And the non-productive self promotion aspect certainly holds no appeal. I don’t care what so and so ate for dinner or what people I haven’t seen or spoken to in twenty years are doing. I have my life in the here and now and the people I interact with are the ones I speak to in person, on the phone, via email, on my HS website, or occasionally by text. Some of those friends use Facebook & some do not. It is interesting to me that a good number of friends and aquaintances are turning away from FB for whatever reason.
I lead a CM homeschool group and we have our own Private website and self-hosted forum like this one. It has an integrated calendar for events, too. It works beautifully for what we need.
The old adage of different strokes for different folks applies here, too.
I certainly believe everyone should decide for themselves, and everyone should use what online tools they want, mindfully and carefully and be aware.
That said, (and as much as I sometimes complain about it) Facebook has allowed me to find out that a friend at church broke her blender and was upset. I took her a spare one an hour later. It has allowed me to keep tabs on my parents, far away, and my sister and brother. One morning I woke up to photos someone took and posted of my dear son, who is in Europe and who I have not seen for over a year. It has allowed me to get a peek into my second son’s days at college, things he probably would not have ever phoned me about. I post something Christ-centered every day leading up to Christmas. I can share my beliefs with my online friends in a nonthreatening way. I can find out which of my friends/relatives have a blessed announcement (one posted the loveliest video announcement the other day!) so I can share their joy. I can watch my nieces in Alabama grow, long-distance. I have no relatives nearby. I have no homeschooling friends nearby. I do have church friends, but many of my dearest friends live far, far away. And most importantly, my children are beginning to go far away too. Some days I feel almost completely isolated except for my immediate family and my online friends.
I am careful. Sometimes I am annoyed at the company. I try hard to resist time-wasting. But to me, every single problem with Facebook pales in comparison to those photos of my son in Moldova. I would, in fact, even put up with more social media (maybe even Twitter!!!) if I could get more of those.
I’ll chime in because I think I’m in a different generation than most of you that have commented. I got Facebook the first year it was out, I was a freshman in college and only college students could have it at the time. It was much simpler and less intrusive then. I took a 2 year hiatus about a year ago.
My absence was fueled by being annoyed with all my friends trying to sell me stuff and a couple of marriages in our church ending because of relationsships that started on Facebook. I restarted mine about a year ago but first went through and deleted over 1/2 my friends. 90% of my friends are actual friends, people I talk to in person.
I really dont care for the Facebook homeschool group for my county. The women don’t do a CM approach and I don’t like the drama. I’ve been thinking of deleting it again. We will see.
I much prefer Instagram. And I text, a lot. My family has a group text my friends and I text all day long. It is quick and easy and fun to send pictures of the kids to my family with out them being on the internet forever.
Okay, I’ll show my age and my ignorance! What is instagram??? I’ve heard of it, seen it on the internet, but I don’t know what it is…..I thought it had something to do with pictures.
🙂
Karen,
instagram is another social website. You have people you follow and they follow you. But it is just pictures with comments on them. You can set it completely private where you have to approve people who follow you. It isn’t a time suck like Facebook. And my favorite part is that I can get photo books printed from all my Instagram photos. It also uses hashtags (#) so I have ones I’ve come up with that nobody else uses so I can print pictures strictly with that hashtag
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