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1. PaulKe+(OP)[view] [source] 2026-02-22 13:26:58
"Over time, my timeline contained fewer and fewer posts from friends and more and more content from random strangers. "

It still baffles me that Facebook fills up my feed with random garbage I have no interest in. I barely use it now because their generated content gets in the way of the reason why I opened facebook to begin with. These algorithmic feeds clearly work for someone but its not what I am looking for, I want to see what I follow and nothing else unless I explictly go looking for it.

replies(5): >>keyray+Q >>hippo2+T2 >>BorisM+r7 >>cyanyd+ia >>steveB+2c
2. keyray+Q[view] [source] 2026-02-22 13:33:57
>>PaulKe+(OP)
While number of active users still grows, one have to ask a question, who is left on facebook aside from dopamine junkies and bots.

The only reason why I didn’t delete facebook is messenger, where I chat with old folks.

replies(3): >>loloqu+h1 >>ben_w+I3 >>ericma+h9
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3. loloqu+h1[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 13:39:09
>>keyray+Q
Plot twist: all old folks were also on Facebook only to chat with other old folks. Once this fact was spotted, they all just moved to Discord.
4. hippo2+T2[view] [source] 2026-02-22 13:54:22
>>PaulKe+(OP)
Your friends don’t produce much content yet people had a need for frequent entertainment. Also, people realized that posting things to social media meant that it was there forever. This led to a bifurcation: friends / family updates are mostly relegated to temporary formats like stories while “feed” content is professional produced.
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5. ben_w+I3[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 13:59:37
>>keyray+Q
> who is left on facebook aside from dopamine junkies and bots.

Political activists, like a former partner of mine.

… who I mute, because I am a British person living in Berlin, I don't need or want "Demexit Memes" and similar groups, which is 90% of what they post …

… which in turn means that sometimes when I visit Facebook, my feed is actually empty, because nobody else is posting anything …

… which is still an improvement on when the algorithm decides to fill it up with junk, as the algorithm shows me people I don't know doing things I don't care abut interspersed with adverts for stuff I can't use (for all they talk about the "value" of the ads, I get ads both for dick pills and boob surgery, and tax advisors for a country I don't live in who specialise in helping people renounce I nationality I never had in the first place, and sometimes ads I not only can't read but can't even pronounce because they're in cyrillic).

replies(1): >>narava+L5
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6. narava+L5[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:18:26
>>ben_w+I3
I take poorly directed targeting advertisements as a performance indicator for how well my data privacy efforts are working. When the ad targeting has you dead to rights is when you need to worry.
replies(1): >>ben_w+Q6
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7. ben_w+Q6[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:26:34
>>narava+L5
To an extent, sure, but I think also a sign their analytics were never as good as they claimed.

For example, so far as I know my name is strongly gendered male, so why the boob surgery ads?

replies(1): >>thauma+ba
8. BorisM+r7[view] [source] 2026-02-22 14:30:29
>>PaulKe+(OP)
hey you know there is a feed on mobile, built into the app that only shows you your friends feed? not a fb employee or defending them just relaying info.
replies(1): >>JKCalh+L8
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9. JKCalh+L8[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:41:02
>>BorisM+r7
Too late. (And I don't do mobile anyway.)

I don't wish to sound like I am shooting the messenger here, but Meta just has way, way too much baggage for me to ever consider returning.

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10. ericma+h9[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:45:44
>>keyray+Q
“Who is left on Facebook besides dopamine junkies and bots?”

“I only use it in this limited circumstance”

You are on Facebook. That’s who. It’s like saying you’re not a drinker because you have a glass of wine every once in a while. Sure you’re not an addict (probably) but you still drink.

replies(2): >>theodr+7a >>thauma+ta
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11. theodr+7a[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:54:13
>>ericma+h9
I'm happy they've been able to build a $1,660,000,000,000 company on the back of me logging in once every two months, scrolling 3 posts, getting disgusted with slop, and closing the tab. Gives me hope that my harebrained ventures may also succeed!
replies(1): >>ericma+6c
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12. thauma+ba[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:54:41
>>ben_w+Q6
> my name is strongly gendered male, so why the boob surgery ads?

Probably so you can suggest it to your partner.

13. cyanyd+ia[view] [source] 2026-02-22 14:55:50
>>PaulKe+(OP)
People seek novelty. Real social networks do not change as fast as that.
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14. thauma+ta[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 14:56:32
>>ericma+h9
> It’s like saying you’re not a drinker because you have a glass of wine every once in a while.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/animals-and-us/20110...

> Take a 2002 Times/CNN poll on the eating habits of 10,000 Americans. Six percent of the individuals surveyed said they considered themselves vegetarian. But when asked by the pollsters what they had eaten in the last 24 hours, 60% of the self-described "vegetarians" admitted that that had consumed red meat, poultry, or fish the previous day.

15. steveB+2c[view] [source] 2026-02-22 15:06:14
>>PaulKe+(OP)
Instagram followed a similar trajectory for me. For a while, as a photography hobbyist, it was a far more "active" social community for photography enthusiasts than whatever came before (Flickr, Smugmug, photo.net, various niche forums). I made photography friends thru it that I met in person even when traveling overseas. This lasted maybe 2 years.

Then all the "normies" got on it and my feed started to just be casual snaps by people I knew in real life... which rapidly lead to its final form.

It is now fully an influencer economy of people making a full-time job out of posting thirst traps / status envy / travelp*rn / whatever you wanna call it. It is a complete inundation of spend spend spend.

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16. ericma+6c[view] [source] [discussion] 2026-02-22 15:06:43
>>theodr+7a
I don't buy it. You use it more than that - otherwise you'd just delete your account.
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