Yeah I know it's shit and the cool kids are on some other platform nowadays but it's useful for a few groups I have an interest in (Volvo and doggo stuff) as well as overseas friends but FFS it's just unusable now.
Today I'm flooded with fake Lowa/Scarpa/Loakes 80% discount adverts that are clearly fake scam sites when you click them and have a rummage around their 'about me / contact us' pages and also dieselgate you're owed fifty grand if you own a 20year old diesel type bollocks.
Its that bad I'm forced to do some actual work instead!
Can't be as bad as twitter is right now
Certainly I'm doing more scrolling and less clicking these days on Facebook and Twitter.
Today I’m flooded with fake Lowa/Scarpa/Loakes 80% discount adverts that are clearly fake scam sites when you click them
And that's your problem right there.
There is a browser plug-in called FBpurity (only works on desktop unfortunately!) that cleans up 99% of your FB feed and gets rid of almost all the crap/adverts/“suggested” bollox. Turns it into a really usable platform & I really miss it when on mobile where you often get 3-4 junk posts between every real post!
Facebook and Twitter are both awful right now, just awful.
Yeah I know - I fell for the Scarpa one but just wanted to see how fake they were.
I blocked and reported everything else.
There is a browser plug-in called FBpurity (only works on desktop unfortunately!) that cleans up 99% of your FB feed and gets rid of almost all the crap/adverts/“suggested” bollox. Turns it into a really usable platform & I really miss it when on mobile where you often get 3-4 junk posts between every real post!
Came here to say this. Doesn't work on mobile but I uninstalled that anyway.
MY FB feed is just stuff I've volunteered to see and nothing else.
https://www.fbpurity.com/
There is a browser plug-in called FBpurity (only works on desktop unfortunately!) that cleans up 99% of your FB feed and gets rid of almost all the crap/adverts/“suggested” bollox. Turns it into a really usable platform & I really miss it when on mobile where you often get 3-4 junk posts between every real post!
that's worth knowing. I run Youtube via a browser rather than the app for similar reasons
Binned it off years ago due to the level of adverts.
I find it OK, but do use adblockers and various filters on it in the browser....
I run Youtube via a browser rather than the app for similar reasons
Yep, I'm amazed they allow adblocking, but very thankful that they do, otherwise I couldn't use it.....
It seems the same to me.
Volume of posts on FB has dropped significantly for me - I keep seeing the same stuff 2-3 days later. I only post on IG and it gets reposted on FB.
I browse Twitter, follow a few people but rarely interact. My feed is constantly full of alt+right political stuff even though I block quite a few.
It seems the same to me.
Yep. Not seen any significant changes. I'm basically seeing occasional ads for Shimano, Temu and Halfords amongst my normal stuff. FWIW I prefer seeing the same ads repeatedly as they just slip into the background after a while.
Social Fixer is another FB spam blocker that might be worth a look - for PC users...
You may not be aware but the ads have an X in the top left, you can close them and it will show you less stuff like that in future. The same goes for posts from pages it thinks you might like. This is how you force it to bend to your will.
You may not be aware but the ads have an X in the top left, you can close them and it will show you less stuff like that in future. The same goes for posts from pages it thinks you might like. This is how you force it to bend to your will.
Yep, on mobile, where I stil see Ads, they are 99% acceptable (to me) ie closely related to other pages I follow.
In the last election, I did get the odd ad for the Tory Party, which is madness as Cambridge has never had a Tory MP and probably never will, also my news feed is very left of center!
EDIT: Having just posted that, it turns out we have had Tory MPs, but not since the 70s. Seems unimaginable now...
FBpurity (only works on desktop unfortunately!)
Should work on Kiwi Browser on Android which is Chromium with the extensions bit put back but still a mobile browser!
It's all complete bs, I regret every minute spent on it, but it is addictive (as are the other platforms). I tried to bin it off, but the cycle club INSIST on using that only to organise rides etc. despite saying they were going to use Strava.
Maybe I should bin them both off, club and FB! Quiet life
What really bugs me is that it is completely out chronologically, so on cycling groups etc i am seeing loads of posts from people asking how they are getting to start of event, once the event has long finished on the sunday, when the posts are useless
I spent a few weeks clicking the 3 dots and "Don't show me this useless shit anymore" and now I don't get many ads at all.
Still get scantily clad women appearing to try to tempt me to click on some boring video, but they're easy to skip over, (this is on-screen not in reality). I suspect they'd disappear too if I clicked the "Don't show me.." enough.
no worries, can't take much credit though as I also found out about it via someone on here!
I was an avid fb user for a decade or so.
a large group of friends used it to organise rideouts/pissups/whatever, it was great.
but in the last couple of years it has changed, more adverts than actual content, seeing posts days after they were done, never ever seeing posts from some people (they were posting stuff), so in February i logged out and deleted it off my phone and ipad.
and tbh, I don’t miss it. Which surprised me.
The loake outlet link was obviously a scam site at 80% off, the genuine outlet site is 50% off. The scammer pays to be there so won't be binned so rapidly.
For all the scams there's some good stuff on fb, just bin off the people posting rubbish, 90% disappears.
I always report/hide stuff but this morning I did more of that than looking at actual content.
"If something is free - you are the product" and all that
I've noticed since i ended my free trial of YouTube premium that its virtually unwatchable now. NO doubt its an algorithm to make it so bad I give in and pay to get premium back. The suggested videos are dross and nothing related to anything I watch; and in a 15 min video there were 5 ad-breaks. FTLOG
Thank God for STW 🙂
And two weeks on the bounce a UCI DH ad has spoilt the result for me! I wouldn't mind but I hardly use it these days.
I've got rid of the Facebook app now, all of the above but also as Facebook serves up stuff that it knows you can't help wade into (topics and news that will have drivers and cyclists bickering at each other) or those video shorts that suck you into mindless dross whilst you burn the dinner. Still got it on browser just got the odd occasion I want to check up on a group.
I've sort of followed my wife to Instagram, but on signing up as a male cyclist, it immediately starts serving up clips of cycling ladies with 'broken' jersey zips or very thin tops on a cold day 🤣
I deleted the FB app from my phone as I just don’t trust it not to hoover up everything it can about me. I still use it on my laptop only for FB marketplace and a few groups but seems like most of my friends and family have stopped posting so I don’t feel like I’m missing out.
Stopped going on Twitter much since Elon too. I’ve started reading books again instead.
I’ve sort of followed my wife to Instagram, but on signing up as a male cyclist, it immediately starts serving up clips of cycling ladies with ‘broken’ jersey zips or very thin tops on a cold day
I get loads of videos of pretty young women doing genuinely talented feats of sporting prowess or musical skill etc, thereby lending a very thin veneer of respectability to my clicks.
Try clicking the 3 bars in the top right corner and then go to feeds. Only adverts in about 1 in 5 posts rather than the constant stream of suggested/sponsored posts.
I agree, FB is getting worse with the shitposts, once I had about 50 shitposts between any actual content I follow.
I’ve started reading books again instead.
Come on, you have to draw the line somewhere.
Use Duck Duck Go and enable the app tracking protection in it. Stops that linking your browsing/ searches to Facebook ads, so they'll taper off without any data to recommend similar stuff to you. Also works in blocking lots of other apps that do similar tracking.
Purity for Facebook and Brave browser for YouTube. Don't do it any other way now.
Facebook must be in its death throes about now, even in the last 6 months the local shitrag and community groups have died back to barely no comments. Either the algorithm has killed them or people have just buggered off, either way I spend less time on it so win.
I blocked and reported everything else
There’s literally no point in reporting - it’s all just food for the algorithms.
On the subject of YT and adblockers...
Wow, that FB purity extension is truly awesome. Thanks @zilog6128 !
Also thanks, even if you got it from someone else! Just being able to turn off the reels is great.
I've just downloaded the Kiwi browser and the FBPurity extension, how do I get the two working together?
