Another Reason to Get Off Facebook

I do not accept challenges. This isn’t about me. You guys clearly like Sheena for VP. Good for you. It’s an election. May the best candidate win. 

cramer said:

Lovesagoodsale said:
Why are pilots not disclosed individually, for one.  There is no one place to get all the news except for Sheena’s Facebook page, a platform with the problems noted here. The Village Green, which has a paywall, will report on what Sheena posts. I could go on but you get the idea. 


We shouldn’t have to pull teeth or participate on a platform that mines our info and sells it to the highest bidder to keep informed. We pay taxes. 

 Ctrzaska lives in Maplewood and I'm pretty sure that he thinks that Sheena has been the most transparent public official in the history of South Orange or Maplewood. 
You refuse to sit down with Sheena so that she can answer your questions. 
We get it - you don't like Sheena. 

 I'd say that's a pretty fair statement.

By the way, transparency in government means saying things in public and being held accountable for them, not urging people to address things in private. If Facebook is the only way to have a convo and that’s Sheena’s favorite platform, I believe it’s not good for the residents in the long run. Talking politics on Facebook is a way to be surveilled. If you haven’t noticed what’s going on with social media in the current political climate, that’s ok. I’m here to share my very real experience with my neighbors. 

I guess it’s hard for people to understand what it might be like to do something that isn’t completely self-serving or actually benefits the community. That’s why I brought it up in the first place. Because I lived through the downside of political surveillance on Facebook and it was harsh. Congrats on not yet having personal experience with the dystopian nightmare that is data-mining and political surveillance. If you act the way you act toward me with others who don’t agree on social media, what do you think it says about this allegedly diverse town?  You can live here no matter your identity-based group but if you dare to disagree or ask too many questions, we’ll talk about you behind your back in public?

I think a town where people really felt like they could express themselves without being called names by anonymous posters would be a good start. A town where the elected leader knew better than to smear a constituent who had no way to address her comments?  It doesn’t say anything good, I can assure you. At this point, I won’t be donating any website or anything else to a town that clearly has no need for any new input. 

I suggest you find a way to tap the minds of the students in high school. Their lives depend on new ideas and they know it. Surely this town can still prosper in new ways. Tap the minds of the folks who will have to make a way forward through the industrial revolution we are now experiencing. Make the younger folks part of the planning process and you won’t be disappointed. 

The way it seems to be working now is we are afraid of paying higher and higher taxes (which we are doing) so we are looking at the people who have worked here keeping our quality of life up (our paid public servants) as a nagging expense that can me somehow merged, lost to attrition or undone altogether to save us money. 

I believe it was around the time Sheena mentioned she had been working with the owner of the lot on Church and South Orange to develop that 100-bed hotel. I believe she mentioned it would serve a need that Seton Hall had. I know Sheena is a grad of Seton Hall and while I have nothing against Seton Hall, they don’t pay taxes so I’m not really convinced we need to allocate much real estate to them. (Also, the proposed luxury dorm is for their use, no?) Around the same time she mentioned how we could save $300,000 by cutting police overtime. I looked into that a bit. We have lost a number of cops to attrition once they retire although I think there are some new recruits. It just seemed so off to me because if we did have a 100-bed chain hotel downtown the chances of drugs and prostitution making their way there is a possibility which would necessitate more police manhours. 

I watched Sheena speak ill of the lawsuit an owner brought allegedly to preserve his grandfathered-in parking rights and that didn’t sit well with me after I learned not all regulations and zoning requirements are upheld for all developers. I like a level playing field and believe a deal’s a deal so I did believe it was underhanded for Sheena to besmirch a current property owner his rights on a public forum. 

So yes, I have both general reasons for not wanting to vote for Sheena and once she spoke about me on Next Door App knowing I was no longer there, it became personal. I’m not on Facebook any longer and I’ll bet you $5 that Sheena won’t be opining here but this is how I feel and I brought up Facebook for the greater good of my neighbors who may not yet be aware of how truly Orwellian our society has become at this strange transitional moment between the present and AI revolution. Good luck to us all!

(Edited to change second “dystopian” to “Orwellian” just for variety!)

Lovesagoodsale said:

We shouldn’t have to pull teeth or participate on a platform that mines our info and sells it to the highest bidder to keep informed. We pay taxes. 

 You keep talking about mining your info / data. You continually tell us to get off FB.  I don't really understand this.  Let's say for the moment that I agree with you about the inherent evil of FB, and that the current BOT methodology forces you to be on FB to stay informed. 

Still with me?  

Here's an idea.  Use FB for what it is.  Go in as an informed consumer.  Some of us are on FB without providing any useful information.  I have an account that I use primarily to see what out of state family and friends are up to.  They don't have my phone number, DOB, hometown, etc.  Why is this so complicated?  Don't you have better things to do then to come here and scold us?

Red_Barchetta said:
 You keep talking about mining your info / data. You continually tell us to get off FB.  I don't really understand this.  Let's say for the moment that I agree with you about the inherent evil of FB, and that the current BOT methodology forces you to be on FB to stay informed. 


Still with me?  


Here's an idea.  Use FB for what it is.  Go in as an informed consumer.  Some of us are on FB without providing any useful information.  I have an account that I use primarily to see what out of state family and friends are up to.  They don't have my phone number, DOB, hometown, etc.  Why is this so complicated?  Don't you have better things to do then to come here and scold us?

 How does Facebook not have your phone number? Isn't it part of acct setup verification?

Also, some APPS grab what you think is your private info. Funny, how many people sign up for services that takes tons of info. Giving info to social media corporations that they would not give up to neighbors or friends.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/oct/06/facebook-privacy-phone-numbers-upload