0/ Thread: Facebook is actually OK if you use it correctly.
1/ Stay away from the newsfeed. It’s a torrent of vaguely ill-tasting froth. I used to watch it to find out when a friend moved cities or got pregnant or their dog died, but the cost of the mainstream Facebook bullshit is too high.
2/ People who are otherwise reasonable and nice tend to fill Facebook with self-promotion or yet another link to some cable news bobblehead echoing their politics. Not sure why FB makes good people act that way.
3/ But, it’s great for affinity groups. I’m a member of two: One for scholars of T.E. Lawrence, one for a No Man’s Sky player federation. Both work fine, are efficient, companionable, and amusing. The multimedia and conversation mechanics are low-friction enough.
4/ Messenger is far from my favorite chat service, but as an ancillary to the affinity groups when you want a quick side conversation with someone, it’s fine. Also I have one or two FB-only friends and while I no longer see their main feed posts, I’ll chat with them that way.
5/ Obvs don’t do anything there you don’t want shared with advertisers or Nazis or public safety officials or, well, the world in general.
6/6 Tl;dr: Use FB as a social club hub where the social clubs are about things that don’t matter that much. Everybody’s life should have room for one or two of those.
