Do you find social networking websites distasteful? Rant

[slug]

They just seem to remind me of the sight of dogs smelling each other's bottoms in the street.

 

It seems to be self agrandising, yet trivialising of human interaction at the same time.

 

I find email and shared interest sites don't generate this response and the aspects of networking sites that relate to shared interest etc seem slightly less vulgar.

 

Not to mention the potential for stalking and fraud. It makes me glad I'm not female, I had some friends round, he logged onto facebook, showed us pictures of his birthday, to which her response was that she felt uncertain whether she wanted pictures of herself online, and I saw the lack of any real control she had over the issue. I also worked with a girl who was stalked online and in reality.

 

Its all just too easy to track down info and pictures of people you knew/had relations with lusted over etc. The fact is that affable pretty girls post pictures of themselves online, and lonely men are often good with computers. I'd say most people have some level of morbid fascination and I won't deny it.

 

Does anyone know how I can use Firefox to block these sites so guests can't subject me to them?

[msg4real]

ya go into your hosts file and put

 

*.<site you wana block> 127.0.0.1

 

ie.

 

*.myspace.com 127.0.0.1

 

[Amnot Borg]

for hosts file help, this page automates it...almost.

 

The Hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory (cache) at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists.

 

You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the connection(s) that supplies these little gems.

 

Example - the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing. This also prevents the server from tracking your movements. Why? ... because in certain cases "Ad Servers" like Doubleclick (and many others) will try to open a separate connection on the webpage you are viewing.

[slug]

Thankyou, I'll look in to it sometime when angry.

[Tenebrae]

I'm inclined to agree to an extent.

 

While there are obviously practical uses for these sites - like networking! - they do tend to turn into either exercises in ego or popularity... but then, what doesn't?

 

Let people waste their time on their vapid message posting, the mob needs its bread and games.