Whats the #$%#% point of Facebook and twitter
 

Seriously whats the point. I'm in the process of integrating Facebook and Twitter into the new site because I've been asked to do it.

After a frustrating couple of hours the integration is complete, but i really don't see the point of Facebooks 'like' WTF does it even do, and why anyone would ever tweet anything is beyond me.

Everywhere I go now sites are asking me to 'like' this re-tweet that, users ask for it so as i developer I'll include it, but i'd like to hear from the people that think it's a good idea. Do you want to be able to tweet out forum threads. Like tutorials etcetera?

Let me know your thoughts on business sites that integrate Facebook and Twitter. I know you can just ignore it if you choose to, but I'd like to know who among us actually re-tweats and likes stuff. Someone must! :confused:




Dave :)

I just have to add that sometimes the 'LIKE' button seems a bit out of place. There was a story on the BBC website with the headline that went something like this

'18 people dead in horrific bus accident'

Then underneath was the sentence '14k people liked this'

All i can say is i'm glad i was not on that bus. Must have been filled with a right bunch of #@$#$%

David :)

I dont usually pay attention to that type of stuff..I have a facebook but its more or less not used, I add some WIP stuff to it but I dont go out of my way to talk to people or do any of the "facebook" stuff

Couldn't be bothered with the rubbish. Is just another way to waste time if you ask me.

Productivity in our office has gone down about 50% as just about everybody has an iPhone is tweets away all day.

So 'no', I'm not interested in a twitter or facebook feature...

POLL PLEASE!!!! :beer:

I use FB to keep in contact with old school chums etc David and family mostly. I have everything set to private (ie friends only). I also use it to give people shit when they dribble shit....

As for business etc...well forget it...if you want to get the SM name out there sure but I dont think you need that.

Most people on there just say things like "Im having a pie for lunch" or " so and so is an a***hole" etc etc mate LOL.hence why I give them shit.

Twitter is the same. My 2c

cheers bullet

Hahaha... great thread. Yeah, it's all pointless. I quit facebook a few years ago, haven't missed it. I use twitter to make up random crap from the point of view of a mythical farmer. So yeah, nothing there either.

What's that South Park? "Mom, mom, Stan likes that I had pork chops for dinner!!" Hahaha.

I feel like this is the evolution of blogs, in that all the people that used to have blogs with nothing to say are now using twitter and facebook to still say nothing, leaving the remaining blogs with a point. (Maybe that's hypocritical, but hey).

Edit: But in all seriousness, maybe someone would tweet a new tutorial, or post links to their WIP threads... but they could do that anyways... so what's the difference?

The reality is that both Facebook and Twitter are a pointless waste of time, but unfortunately a hell of a lot of people are pointlessly wasting their time these days. Also an unfortunate reality is the fact that people use these pointless things to measure the popularity of a product, just like many people think that if you see a product advertised on TV it must be good. It's not true by any means, but there are people out there who will think "wow, this got xxx number of Likes or xxx number of tweets so it must be good".

Facebook - I use to keep in contact with friends back in my home town, along with some family members. Maybe I'll throw in an update of where I'm going and what I'm doing, and sometimes a friend will meet up with me there.

Twitter - I use to advertise new updates to my blog, and say as much as I can in 140 characters. Also keep in contact with a couple old friends from back home.


Most of the stuff on twitter is useless but some of it can be funny. I also use it to keep updated on blogs I follow. I mostly follow people that will make me laugh or that have the same political views I do. A lot of garbage on there though.

Isn't that what life's all about though in the end of the day, wasting your time on pointless stuff:)

And you can't really get away from the fact that these are very powerful channels for free communication between people and allows for interesting phenomena, like flash mobs, that would otherwise never occur. This of course also adds other less interesting things to our lives, like getting a daily update on what Frank who I met only once in a bar is eating for breakfast.

I'm in the process of adding like buttons all over the place, so you better like us a lot so we don't look unpopular;)

The major problem with the "like" button, is that there's no official "meh" button (or a "dislike" button I guess would be more logical). I think "liking" something, simply due to its unwarranted ubiquity, has lost virtually all meaning. I'm glad I don't have facebook, because if I did, I would be constantly frustrated that beside the "I like this" there was no "I really don't care" button. That's no reflection on this site, or your "like" buttons, Nilla, I love this site... I just wish people would use them much more sparingly and where they make sense.

stwert, I agree with you personally I've never registered for any of these social networking sites and I belong to those people who just don't get it. I find skype distracting enough and there you at least have real conversations with people, so I've never really felt a need to connect with people on facebook and twitter because I'm not interested in recieving info on what bar my friend might be going to or that she just came back from a holiday.

David just handed over the whole facebook thing to me, I get the less popular jobs around here:) so I'm just speaking to people I know who are hardcore users and they're telling me about some of the reasons for why they think it's great such as staying in touch with friends abroad and organizing student events etc. So I can see some positives for certain people, even if it's not my thing, but as an online based business you are a bit of an idiot if you choose to ignore 500 million members based on a personal preference. The new site design is extremely clean and it looks great, so it is with slight pain in my heart I blast facebook all over it we're still in doubt about to what extent we should integrate things like "like" buttons.

For blogs oh my god, I hate those things. I read a lot of cg blogs and there's some really good ones, but why every single person who has nothing of interest to say has to have their own personal blog about their life I don't get. It's a nightmare when you have to spend a lot of time searching on google and you keep coming across these nonsense things. I think they help turn the internet into a giant junkyard and defeat the whole purpose of free information flow.

I've used facebook off and on but I don't buy into the facebook/twitter revolution that seems to be running rampant. It's usefull for keeping in touch with people that I have a solid chance of not seeing in person for a long time especially since my job requires me uprooting every three to four years and moving to who-knows-where.

But the one thing I CAN NOT STAND about this is the useless comments people put on it every seven seconds. people don't need to know that you're out at a barbeque (especially if they weren't invited), or that you cried at the end of the Expendibles, what Justin Beiber ate for lunch, or that you have gained the wholly inappropriate ability to send a twitter/facebook update while sitting on the John (and then tell people this fact)

As for twitter I know myself well enough to know that there is nothing that pops up in my head in 140 characters or less that will not get me into hot water, somehow, at sometime. So its one of those things thats better for me to avoid like the plague.

Though I’m indifferent to either, they are hugely popular and only going to become more so. It certainly won't hurt to have integration.

Bahahaha Wolfgang...PMSL...I would sit on the John and tell people that on FB if I could...for one reason...BECAUSE I hate people that do that. I have done it a few times now...just for the hell of it....and people write back WTF?? was all that about...then I say..the same as the other 95% bulldust on here...just keeping up with everyone LOL.

Like it or hate it...they are big and here to stay.

cheers bullet

Facebook is useful for keeping in contact with folks or if i run out of phone credit. I hate this whole like thing though, makes opinions seem cheap and worthless. its like you can sum up your outlook on life with a 'like' and a Facebook group (most of which have no discussion).
Ive never gotten Twitter, i dont care if celebrities are taking a poop, I've got better things to read about...
Ultimately though if people want to waste their lives they'll eventually get hit by a bus whilst tweeting away so really we all win!