In plain terms, on Facebook you can never be any smarter than the stupidest of your friends (to the second degree).
Do you think that is invariably true? I learn a lot from a lot of my Facebook friends. One of those friends calls my wall the "PBS of Facebook" (a reference to the public television network in the United States) because we mostly discuss links (some of which I see first here on HN) and have thoughtful discussions of research and policy issues. Sure, once in a while one of us passes around a photoshopped picture with a silly caption, but most of the time we keep things intellectually engaging and civil, much like HN at its best. (Just a few of my Facebook friends are also members of the HN community.) I think the atmosphere of a group of Facebook friends can be shaped by example, just like any other local culture.
>>Do you think that is invariably true? Do you think that is invariably true?
I guess he is not referring to an entire time-line of incidents and taking an average out of that. But the isolated lows and highs. Minimums and maximums. Read it as a friend posting an image with a sensational and stupid caption posing it as a video which leads to a link to a spam site, now imagine that friend doing it again again(marking it spam/hiding doesn't work - Facebook gives you the option just to screw with you). Now, imagine a friend posting sth not stupid, like an informative link or a question or s statement or his thoughts that sparks a very healthy discussion - this is extremely rare on Facebook, unlike HN and Quora(better still). You've got your high and low.
It's an entirely different aspect if you have a highly curated list of Facebook friends. Spam haters, privacy aficionados(can't think why they would be on Fb), thinkers, minimalists etc etc. Or simply your (all, without even curating the friend list) friends are just what I have mentioned above. You are lucky because mine aren't and I don't know anyone whose are.
Do you think that is invariably true? I learn a lot from a lot of my Facebook friends. One of those friends calls my wall the "PBS of Facebook" (a reference to the public television network in the United States) because we mostly discuss links (some of which I see first here on HN) and have thoughtful discussions of research and policy issues. Sure, once in a while one of us passes around a photoshopped picture with a silly caption, but most of the time we keep things intellectually engaging and civil, much like HN at its best. (Just a few of my Facebook friends are also members of the HN community.) I think the atmosphere of a group of Facebook friends can be shaped by example, just like any other local culture.