On a personal level, I see Facebook as a useful tool that makes my life appreciably better for many different unrelated reasons, but this question asks about the EA community, so I’ll stick to that side of things.
As long as Facebook exists, there will be a lot of people who use it as a primary platform for making plans and hanging out with people, and those people will be less likely to stick with EA if the community mostly disappears from Facebook. (Also, if the “mainstream” groups went down, groups like Dank EA Memes might stay up; I don’t have any beef with that group, but it’s not the first thing I want a search for “effective altruism” to return on Facebook.)
I’ve seen squabbles break out on Facebook groups, but those were rarely any worse than the most awkward in-person interactions I’ve seen in the community; they’re also public, and involve people using their real names, which helps to keep things somewhat civil. I’m more uncertain about the EV of small, private EA message groups within Facebook, but I haven’t seen evidence that they are actively harmful.
I agree with Zvi that the newsfeed is poorly designed and that some of the company’s business practices aren’t especially ethical, but I haven’t seen any evidence that using the platform has caused any kind of collective harm to the movement, or even to many individuals in the movement.
Currently reading Cal Newport’s ‘Digital Minimalism’. Even as an older millenial who has been implementing some of his practical tips for some time, I find that he explains the detrimental effects of social media (mostly focussed on harms at individual/social group level rather than societal) in an accessible yet detailed way.
In terms of practical advice, I personally am not in favour of “willpower alone” approaches (though arguably I “use” those with respect to social media I’ve never been drawn to, e.g. Instagram), as at this point I believe that social media is intended to be addictive, and there’s no reason to forcibly expose yourself to an addictive substance. Options available include:
Time blockers: Blocks websites/apps during a specific time. The one called Freedom, while costing around $30 a year on a subscription basis, works very well on PC and it’s not obvious to me how you’d circumvent it when the anti-deactivation features are enabled. (you probably still need to have the willpower not to Google how to circumvent it). Appblock is a workable one for Android, though very easy to circumvent if you’re semi-determined.
Time limiters: Limit time on specific sites. Benefit is that you can still access the site (many of these also include time blocker options) but not for long. Leechblock and StayFocusd are well-known ones. Easy enough to circumvent, but can often be enough.
Feature blockers: Good for when you “need” to use a social media platform, but basically want it without the addictive features. Examples include Facebook News Feed Eradicator. A great phone-based option is to delete/block the Facebook app on your phone, but have Messenger and/or Local (Facebook events app). Anything to get you away from features like autoplay-next-video, suggestions/recommended content, and algorithmically-generated “feeds”. Despite being trivially easy to circumvent, I have never, in over a year of using FB News Feed Obliterator, felt the slightest desire to circumvent it to view my news feed—a fact that is startling when you consider how much time I previously spent doing something I apparently had no specific desire to do...
I entirely agree that “willpower alone” approaches aren’t likely to work for many, or even most, people. I block my newsfeed and don’t have the Facebook app on my phone. I also block dozens of other websites that I find more distracting/sticky than valuable.
I do similar things to control the amount of sourdough bread I eat; if I purchase good sourdough, I find that willpower isn’t enough to stop me from eating too much of it, so I only buy it on special occasions. Like bread, Facebook is a “sometimes tool” that I’m glad to have in my life.
Short answer: No. Why would we do that?
On a personal level, I see Facebook as a useful tool that makes my life appreciably better for many different unrelated reasons, but this question asks about the EA community, so I’ll stick to that side of things.
As long as Facebook exists, there will be a lot of people who use it as a primary platform for making plans and hanging out with people, and those people will be less likely to stick with EA if the community mostly disappears from Facebook. (Also, if the “mainstream” groups went down, groups like Dank EA Memes might stay up; I don’t have any beef with that group, but it’s not the first thing I want a search for “effective altruism” to return on Facebook.)
I’ve seen squabbles break out on Facebook groups, but those were rarely any worse than the most awkward in-person interactions I’ve seen in the community; they’re also public, and involve people using their real names, which helps to keep things somewhat civil. I’m more uncertain about the EV of small, private EA message groups within Facebook, but I haven’t seen evidence that they are actively harmful.
I agree with Zvi that the newsfeed is poorly designed and that some of the company’s business practices aren’t especially ethical, but I haven’t seen any evidence that using the platform has caused any kind of collective harm to the movement, or even to many individuals in the movement.
Currently reading Cal Newport’s ‘Digital Minimalism’. Even as an older millenial who has been implementing some of his practical tips for some time, I find that he explains the detrimental effects of social media (mostly focussed on harms at individual/social group level rather than societal) in an accessible yet detailed way.
In terms of practical advice, I personally am not in favour of “willpower alone” approaches (though arguably I “use” those with respect to social media I’ve never been drawn to, e.g. Instagram), as at this point I believe that social media is intended to be addictive, and there’s no reason to forcibly expose yourself to an addictive substance. Options available include:
Time blockers: Blocks websites/apps during a specific time. The one called Freedom, while costing around $30 a year on a subscription basis, works very well on PC and it’s not obvious to me how you’d circumvent it when the anti-deactivation features are enabled. (you probably still need to have the willpower not to Google how to circumvent it). Appblock is a workable one for Android, though very easy to circumvent if you’re semi-determined.
Time limiters: Limit time on specific sites. Benefit is that you can still access the site (many of these also include time blocker options) but not for long. Leechblock and StayFocusd are well-known ones. Easy enough to circumvent, but can often be enough.
Feature blockers: Good for when you “need” to use a social media platform, but basically want it without the addictive features. Examples include Facebook News Feed Eradicator. A great phone-based option is to delete/block the Facebook app on your phone, but have Messenger and/or Local (Facebook events app). Anything to get you away from features like autoplay-next-video, suggestions/recommended content, and algorithmically-generated “feeds”. Despite being trivially easy to circumvent, I have never, in over a year of using FB News Feed Obliterator, felt the slightest desire to circumvent it to view my news feed—a fact that is startling when you consider how much time I previously spent doing something I apparently had no specific desire to do...
I entirely agree that “willpower alone” approaches aren’t likely to work for many, or even most, people. I block my newsfeed and don’t have the Facebook app on my phone. I also block dozens of other websites that I find more distracting/sticky than valuable.
I do similar things to control the amount of sourdough bread I eat; if I purchase good sourdough, I find that willpower isn’t enough to stop me from eating too much of it, so I only buy it on special occasions. Like bread, Facebook is a “sometimes tool” that I’m glad to have in my life.
I would advise them to open their blog on Instagram