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Don't want the new Facebook ads? In a brilliant demonstration of the arms race between ad companies and content filtering software, uBlock Origin already blocked them. This occurred hours after being introduced by Facebook.
The commit was here: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uAssets/commit/773512c844ab0e92e0dbb1fd9c00291d1ae0ba38
And from PC World:
Thursday morning, Adblock Plus announced that a new filter for banning Facebook's ads has been added to the main EasyList filter list used by the extension. Here's how to force Adblock Plus's filter list to update if you want in on the adblocking action.
Update: Facebook already rolled out new code to break Adblock Plus's workaround, according to Techcrunch. And then Adblock Plus rolled out a new filter to block the new workaround. And then Facebook released another patch to break the new Adblock Plus filter. Whack-a-mole indeed.
But you might not rush to do so. Adblock Plus's blog post warns that the new filter hasn't been heavily tested and may block additional content. An initial response sent out by Facebook suggests it may indeed be doing so.
"We're disappointed that ad blocking companies are punishing people on Facebook as these new attempts don't just block ads but also posts from friends and Pages," a spokesperson told AdAge. "This isn't a good experience for people and we plan to address the issue. Ad blockers are a blunt instrument, which is why we've instead focused on building tools like ad preferences to put control in people's hands."
[...] If you see an ad in your Facebook News Feed, click the drop-down arrow on the top left of the ad, and then choose "Manage your ad preferences." There, you'll be able to see which topics Facebook thinks you're into, and advertises against. Deleting them all should eliminate hyper-targeted ads—though not all ads, and Facebook will repopulate the list over time. Blocking ads via ad blockers isn't possible in Facebook's mobile apps, only in-browser.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by vux984 on Monday August 15 2016, @10:19PM
However, too many people I know use it near exclusively to the point its the only way to keep touch with them or contact them.
Why are you in so MANY asymmetric social relationships? Where you must acquiesce to their preferred exclusive communications channel, but they won't lift a finger to to consider using one of your preferences? That's just inconsiderate and entitled. Its not like you're demanding carrier pigeons... email and SMS are pretty universal.
People who require you to use facebook to be in touch with them have no sincere interest in being in touch with you -- if they cared, they'd make the effort. They'll let you do all the work, if you want to do it, but they won't lift a finger. That is an asymmetric relationship. And if you find yourself in a lot of them, you need to find better friends.
I understand it when people maintain an FB account to stay in contact with some relative somewhere, where that relative doesn't value the relationship and would make no effort to keep it going. Where for example, a parent, doesn't want to lose touch with that child or something, even if the child is a self centered uncaring ass... its still their kid. I get that. They have a facebook account... they have that person as their one friend, and they login a few times a month to stay in contact. They may technically be on facebook, but they've practically quit.
But if its just some random distant cousins, or people you knew in high school... if they aren't willing to put in a little effort... and expect you to do all the work, dump them. If your best friend would vanish off the earth and never call you if you quit facebook... that's not much of a friend.
As long as the vast majority of my social contacts are only reachable through FB, then I'm more or less stuck
Have you tried? Have you said, hey, I'm taking a break from facebook, but I'd like to stay in touch, what's the best way? Will it work for all of them? No. But then you might be surprised how many others are also facebook 'fatigued' and just staying for the same reason as you.
Which doesn't help me when SMS rarely works when I'm abroad
I guess I don't know where you are going... or coming from... or how much you travel... but really? For me, if I couldn't reach all my friends on some tropical vacation... good. I'm on vacation. Alas, SMS worked fine the last few. roaming SMS etc has gotten a lot better over the last 10 years in my experience. As the GSM/CDMA divide has been mostly left to the past, and most phones work pretty much everywhere now.
or when I try to contact someone in say Africa
Ok... if he's in a village in Africa connecting via the village wifi hotspot ... keep your FB for that guy, and just unfriend everyone else.
(Score: 2) by NCommander on Monday August 15 2016, @10:45PM
Why are you in so MANY asymmetric social relationships? Where you must acquiesce to their preferred exclusive communications channel, but they won't lift a finger to to consider using one of your preferences? That's just inconsiderate and entitled. Its not like you're demanding carrier pigeons... email and SMS are pretty universal.
People who require you to use facebook to be in touch with them have no sincere interest in being in touch with you -- if they cared, they'd make the effort. They'll let you do all the work, if you want to do it, but they won't lift a finger. That is an asymmetric relationship. And if you find yourself in a lot of them, you need to find better friends.
Um. No. I talked with people regularly by status posting or messenger. Sometimes people post they're having a bad day, I shoot them a message to talk to them, etc. If I want to talk to someone extended 1:1, then I usually call them if not FB messenger. But passive communication via wall posts and commenting goes a lot more in staying involved in their life or not. Most of my friends are spread over the world; I've lived out of a backpack for many years and some I haven't seen in real life for upwards of a decade.
Have you tried? Have you said, hey, I'm taking a break from facebook, but I'd like to stay in touch, what's the best way? Will it work for all of them? No. But then you might be surprised how many others are also facebook 'fatigued' and just staying for the same reason as you.
Yes. I find I only get contacted for emergency stuff and not day-to-day social because I'm not there in real life. Are you really going to SMS someone that they did X randomly?
I've spent the last decade near constantly travelling. I haven't lived in one place for more than a year or two tops. Roaming only works if you're willing to use a carrier simcard. Normally I need to have a local number which means I have an international number, not a +1 country code in which case it falls over. I use Google Voice which helps partially with this issue but a lot of people can't successfully SMS me from international numbers.
Still always moving
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Tuesday August 16 2016, @04:24AM
But passive communication via wall posts and commenting goes a lot more in staying involved in their life or not.
I'm willing to let people I have no reason to call or message drift away. I'm willing to not talk to someone for two years and then call them up out of the blue when I'm heading to their locale, or shoot them an email out of the blue. I don't need or want or value "passive communication via wall posts and commenting" as a proxy for actually being involved in someones life. I can be involved in the lives of people around me. And I do make the effort to call truly close family and friends oversees. That's enough. Some people have drifted away that I could surely have kept 'on life support' on facebook' but so what... I'm not lonely.
If you value that sort of relationship, and don't want to let people drift away; and want to keep in touch with people "via wall posts and passive commenting" then; I guess facebook is for you; you seem to want that in your life. I don't. But to each their own.