[SeaGypsy]

With FB continuing to grow in audience & influence, I decided it is about time we had a specific thread to address any & all issues directly related to it.

Whilst often mocked by the supposedly well read & intelligencia, it is is foolish to ignore such an influential global element.

IF Russian blog factories did help Trump (by hindering Hillary), they did it via Facebook, more than any or all other media combined.

I have used Facebook to stalk murderers, network with global journalists towards real outcomes, with varying degrees of success.

Groups on Facebook have assisted me personally, given me access to vast archives, helped me deal with my daughter's existential angst, in no small way.

But.

Recently, Facebook has changed.

You can't anonymously open a new group, or maintain a pre existent group anonymously.

Pseudonyms are taken down as soon as reported. So if you are harassing the powerful, you have to do it as you.

Mentions of government, or specific persons in government, are immediately flagged at the national level, where government collaborators within Facebook take down offending posts.

Asshole murderer scumbag government included.

My 10c on the topic for now.

[AdamB]

Fakebook is fakebook. I avoid it like the plague on intelligent thought that it is.

[SeaGypsy]

I see all that. But let me relate this way:

When I was a child, my parents as lapsed Catholics, brought us up with zero religious influence. They allowed us to 'make our own minds up' & took a basically humanist ethical stance.

By my teens, as an avid reader, i was well aware that certain books had enormous influence. Among these, in an Anglo country, the most obviously influential was the book known as the Bible. By age 20, i had read about 5 versions cover to cover, as well as equally voluminous treatises on it's history & development of religions around it.

At the same time, i was reading- Carlos Castaneda, Tom Wolfe, Germaine Greer, Wittgenstein, Neitzche, Jung, Freud, translations of Tibetan & Egyptian 'books of the dead', & Koran, etc etc.

I wasn't searching for something to believe, i was searching for the roots of power.

Just because something is total bollocks, doesn't mean it is worthless to understand. When billions of people believe a pile of bollocks, the pile becomes effectively true. It is not validity which gives power to words, it is belief.

On this basis, i entered the world of Facebook. I used it to find & harass evil people, to try to influence politics, & to a minor extent, to keep in touch with my diaspora of friends.

Recent 'standard updates' are the modern equivalent of the Mother Churches allowing local national government to tinker with, edit, the Bible, monitor & control what Priests & Pastors say in their churches.

Dismiss it all if you like. My choice is to observe influential elements of society, make use of them if i can perceive an ability to do so.

[Subjectivist]

There is even a facebook peak oil group, however the place is almost all doom all the time. I think Revi is amember there.

[DesuMaiden]

I don't use my real name on Facebook. I think using your real name for anything online is pretty stupid (unless you have no other choice). Especially if you are posting your real name along with a publicly-accessible profile like Facebook. Even though Facebook demands you to post your real name on it, many people choose not to post their real name on it. Then again, not using your real name is doesn't do jack squat in terms of preventing the government from finding out your real identity on Facebook or anywhere online for that matter. The most important reason why you shouldn't ever use your real name online is because what you say online can be used against you in the real world by your peers, co-workers, friends, family and etc. But then again, you shouldn't say anything online that you wouldn't say in the real world either (i.e. do something online that could land you in jail), because if TPTB want to find you, they will, no matter what measures you use to conceal your identity. I know because I've done my research. Using a pseudonymn and not posting unsafe personal info online does the basic necessity of protecting your privacy from unsavory Netizens.

[SeaGypsy]

What used to happen, US freedom of speech laws were the general rule for FB. Their 'real name' policy was virtually never enforced. Now, governments anywhere can get critical posts taken down, according to either law or whim. One must assume FB will enable these same governments to prosecute 'offensive' posts. I used fake profiles for years without ever having one taken down, including very critical positions on various governments. Recently, as soon as you begin getting involved in such actions, an ID demand will show up, prove who you are or we will cancel your profile.

What exactly triggered this quite radical change? I suspect/ guess, the deep state being extremely peeved about their candidate losing the last US Presidential election, suspecting viral post sharing about Horrible Hillary, largely originating from 'fake profiles', being to blame. Solution- kill off fake profiles, permit government agencies to edit FB. The absurdity of it is that the bad news on Hillary was virtually all true. So what if it was Russian full timers who made sure these facts went viral? Those evil Russians, how dare they disseminate the truth?