Is Facebook good for someone with Aspergers?

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I discovered a thriving Autistic culture on facebook so it's not all bad! my favorite pages are Karla's ASD Page and TheAutcast

I like it...

I deleted mine over a year ago and haven't looked back.

Facebook doesn't make me feel anything in particular. It's just a website where I can watch people's updates and occasionally throw a necessary tidbit into the mix.

I will be deleting mine in the few coming weeks, never used it for "social" communication as it can be pretty anti-social, overly mutual, and grammatically erroneous. I have only used my account for the sole purpose of saving or recommending scientific research articles (ASD, Psychology, Medicine, Neuroscience); whereas, I can do so directly from my Google + account. Social networking (Facebook/Twitter) is one of the most pitiful innovations ever formulated, and Mark Zuckerberg is one of the worst role models for gifted nerds and geeks alike (his oppressive, corporate tyranny says it all). I would strongly advise anyone on the spectrum not to unveil your diagnosis on any of these sites as it would make you susceptible to chronic cyberbullying.
_________________
Diagnosed with "Classical" Asperger's syndrome in 1998 (Clinical psychologist).
Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R): 231/240
Aspie score: 186 out of 200
Neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 12 out of 200
AQ: 48/50 EQ: 9/80

I loathe Facevalue.

For me, Facebook is like a drug - you can't get away from it. It does have some annoyances (such as spam posts in my feed telling me what games my friends are playing and "sponsored posts" from certain companies or people), not to mention the regular changing of the layout. On the other hand, it is good for sharing stuff with family, co-workers, classmates, friends, etc.

I like it a lot, because it doesn't require direct and immediate responses or immediate understanding. I've been on FB for several years, and never had any bothersome issues. I've only ever had to un-friend one person, and that was a business decision.

Charles

I mostly like facebook, though I was never crazy about the chats. I will chat with my neighbor next door because she has an autistic child that is pretty severe. We talk a lot about her Autism as well as mine. So we have things in common. There is only one other person that I chat with and like me and my friends little girl she has Autism as well and at least one interest we can share. But the chats are almost none existent with others.

The things I don't like about facebook is when someone friends me and then completely ignores my messages where I ask questions because I also have the same interests, i.e., Amateur Radio for instance. When I'm constantly ignored I will block those people. Other people I have blocked are those that post disgusting images and religious stuff trying to get me to click "like" trying to send me on a guilt trip, on my page. I have enough issues without "I'm going to hell if I don't believe in Jesus" stuff.

Now that I got rid of the bad elements, I'm quite happy with my facebook page. Sometimes we have to do what's best for us.

I also keep my facebook friends down to a minimum where I can still manage them. I sure don't want to set a record for the most friends, because if I had that many friends I would delete my account and then start all over. I only have 34 friends now after having 41 and I may be blocking a few more before it's over with where they are present, but totally ignore me.

Don't have a facebook account however every individual is different its good for some but not for everyone.

i am off and on with it. i like to use it to keep track of people i grew up with. it also feels more "safe" than actually dealing with people face to face. i still get into trouble with people on there, and i have to back out for a while to clear my head.

i do enjoy forums quite a lot, though; i am a member of several different ones. i also really enjoy Vimeo because of the community aspect. it's not such a social hangout as it is a place to display what you create, and it isn't so thoroughly saturated with trolls like Youtube is.

and:

I was a member of Facebook for a whole year until I interacted. All I had was a cat avatar and a name.

During that period of time, what I describe as the "Facebook Algorithm Social Police, attempted to weed me out as "not" a "real" human.

After I started interacting, I had several people accuse me of "not being real", because I had no friends, shares, likes, interests, messages or personal information listed on my page.

Once I started filling my page with "stuff", and eventually created two face book pages, that I admin., the Facebook Algorithm Social Police, starting treating me like "a real person".

I was particularly amused at first, when I started posting a lot of "stuff" very fast and repetitive on my own page, as the Facebook Algorithm Social Police, once again, checked to see if a "real human" would do something that fast and repetitive. I eventually learned to play by the Facebook Algorithm rules.

Playing by the human rules of reciprocal social communication, was more difficult.

What I find interesting is the design of the interface systemizes reciprocal social communication so well, in the friends, shares, likes, interests and messages that it is, in effect, a Reciprocal Social Communication Skills Boot Camp, or what one might describe as ABA therapy "light" for adults on the spectrum.

My biggest problem is I want to discuss things logically rather than share in the social emotional contagion that is so prevalent on Facebook. The wrong planet is a much better environment and interface for that type of interaction.

The new "replies" format in the page comments on Facebook allow a person to better "clarify and verify" what they mean in conversation without derailing the main topic of information. That is almost a requirement for people on and off the spectrum to have effective communication with each other.

Helpful link here on "Clarifying and Verifying" from the Autism Discussion Page on Facebook, by the way:

https://www.facebook.com/autismdiscussi ... 2992674206

The ability to comment and disagree on so many topics, is the best part of Facebook to me. It may not be the best part for those people who greater enjoy the Social Emotional Contagion aspect of Facebook. :)

Anyway, the Facebook algorithm inspired me to make a blog post titled "Algorithms Should Love Autistics". It is linked below and meant to be humorous. :)

http://katiemiaaghogday.blogspot.com/20 ... stics.html

Facebook really weirds me out and has taken social interaction into a rather boring virtual platform of survellience and data mining while nothing really happens for it and really for neural typical people it is an extension of the school yard playground, it is an extension of a popularity contest and it is an extension of the ego. It's also a place to spread annoying internet meme's, memes that make no sense, crude opinions, and sometimes actual hate-crime, fear mongering, racism, and a lot of neuro-typical stuff which i just find hard to deal with in the first place.

So facebook got deleted.

I have bad memories with Facebook, i dated someone, then dumped them when it wasn't working out, she took my personal information and our MSN convo's, made an impersonating account of me, and started harrasing my friends, and other people from around the country. And since my details were all on it we had people phoning me, it was awful. We had to get the police involved, it played a big part in my anxiety, i still go on Facebook, but barely post statuses, i keep very low profile.