social media

I enjoy FB mainly for special interest private groups and local town and village groups. It's good to share local news, lost cats, selling locally etc.

I also have some old family pictures, so my son abroad can see them. Everyone should check their privacy settings, mine are friends only. I also ignore a lot of friend requests, I just have a small group of people I know and trust.

I can't be bothered with FB any more. I only joined when dd1 was pregnant, since she said she'd be posting pics of the baby, but nearly 4 years on she and SiL hardly use it any more. They use Instagram, but I've steered clear of that so far,
Also, after my iPad last updated itself, FB makes me log in every time and I just CBA.

I've heard several times that young people are using FB less and less - it's considered an old-people's thing!

I do visit a couple of other forums, both special-interest so nothing like GN.

Maybe I'm paranoid, but there have been no further posts on the Mumsnet thread since I linked it this morning.

I like fb and use it a lot for family friends and local sites, news, weather, buying selling local events etc etc
I have never got to grips with Twitter
Do Snapchat with one granddaughter
Nothing else

Facebook is fine as long as you use it sensibly. There are groups that share info which are very informative and it is a great way to find events in your local area. As far as family and friends go, you have to be grown up about it and not fret about things people post that you didn't know about or that seem a bit upsetting. You have to be able to step back and think 'how much does it really matter?' and the answer usually is 'very little'.

About social media (particularly Facebook) and being on databases without being consulted. You can remove a lot of this.
Whenever I log onto Facebook the page that appears has "Apps and websites logged into using Facebook" and tabs with "Active", "Expired" and "Removed. Under "Active" it says "Data access: active. These are apps and websites that you've used Facebook to log in to and have recently used. They can request info that you've chosen to share with them.
Use this list to:
View and update the information they can request
Remove the apps and websites you no longer want"

If there are any sites in this list (I have cleared all mine) take this chance to remove any you don't want to know anything about you.

In November of last year , there was a big move by Facebook and many other sites to comply with new legislation. You probably got emails from them all, telling you that they held info on you and how to update or remove it. I hope you took the chance then, too.

I thought the Mumsnet thread was sensible because the OP realised that she was beginning to be anxious and almost addicted. She afraid to miss the responses to her posts, there might be opposition, and that she wouldn't get 'likes' etc.
Maybe this problem is more related to young people.
I don't see elderly women walking in town checking their emails etc. as we often do with younger women pushing buggies etc.

I use facebook to keep up with my immediate family and special friends also I am a member of 2 local area forums to keep abreast of what is happening in our surrounding area,I am a member of 3 dog & cat rescue forums where help is given to abandoned animals.

I only use Gransnet and a family WhatsApp group.

As for making a general comment re social media the ease of data collection is a major issue with ' harvesting ' users information, we are all on data bases that we gave no permission to .

As for the ' dark ' side of social media we all know the capabilities of that to be dangerous.

As for the danger of ' over politicising ' and ' fake news/misinformation ' social media is a massive problem as it is nothing short of propaganda from who know where and by whom. We see that even on Gransnet when links are put forward to some dubious sites .

Having said all that if you use it wisely and accept you need to keep an open mind it is a great way of keeping in touch, educating yourself and keeping on top of current news , which the UK news rooms sadly lag behind.

FountainPen how exactly? I'm too old and cynical to read random fake news that might turn up at the side of my Facebook page? Unlike (some) young people I always consider sources and read a range of inputs before I form opinions.
Cambridge Analytica will have fun trying to work out my political views from my following of eg otters and the 'sausage army'. Good luck to them!

I've never lost sight of the fact that FB was set up by a bunch of college boys to compare photos of young women to vote them "hot or not". Now it's young women taking selfies and getting anxiety and depression if their friends aren't providing them with constant affirmation of how good they look. Fifteen years later, we haven't come very far, have we? If anything, we've gone backwards, women now affirming boorish male behaviour.

Jane10. You can can be as anonymous as you like and companies such as Cambridge Analytica will still collect and share your data and use it to manipulate you.

I enjoy Facebook and its very useful for groups e.g. Walking Netball Hosts and I'm in a Book Club. Other than that I can keep up with family and friends who live a distance away and see their photos but I use it as a fun social thing and I dont put my life history on. I try to keep it light and enjoy re posting fun things that other people send me. I disengaged from Twitter as its SO boring. I only follow the National Gallery and my grandson on Instagram as he posts lots of photos of my great granddaughter. I pop in and out of Gransnet these days as it is so different from when it started when it was a lot more fun and less argumentative. I think these are grand tools but as in all things dont let the tools be your master.

I don't use FB but have a little look on Twitter occasionally just to be nosey but don't 'tweet'. I do use WhatsApp.

I'm on Facebook and Twitter. It's up to the individual to set their security settings. You don't have to let everyone see what you post and it's easy to block or mute or unfollowed people.
'Social media' is not out to get you! You can choose exactly what you post and to whom. You can be as anonymous as you like! Don't let yourself be put off by scare stories.

I use Facebook but never write on it , I belong to some local groups so I can read what is happening in this town

Follow some MP’s on twitter but again never write on it,

This forum, a fly fishing forum (you think women can be snippy - you should see it when the blokes get going!) and a family Whatsapp group are my only incursions into social media. I had a Facebook account for a few months and then closed it.

I do Facebook and Mumsnet as well as this site. Facebook mainly for family, but the local pages are good, and I also keep in touch with my home town on it as well.
My youngest sister will not do any social media and won't even give out her mobile number to family, as it's "for her and her DH only in case of emergency". She does do email though.

My DIL posts everything on Faceache; every activity, event attended, friends seen, day to day life and photographs of GC. I have no problem with this, apart from the fact that the GC have had no say in the fact that the world and his dog have been able to see photos of them from birth. And they're there for ever.

I'm not signed into anything " personal ", nor do I have a mobile phone-----it's always been my own choice.

This and one other forum. No Facebook, twitter, what's app, etc.

I use them but mostly reading what the family are up to. All things in moderation and if you are mindful of what you put on there it can be very good but a lot of people put their whole life online and I’m afraid suffer the consequences sometimes.
I haven’t read your link yet.