Resolved Questions about social network integration.

Alright, I usually write long stuff so I'll try to be straight and to the point.

I don't use social networks. At all. This is the reason I didn't install iOS 5 on my iPhone. No features really stood out to me, aside from social network integration, which I wanted to stay far away from.

So Mountain Lion integrates with a few social networks, including my least favorite, Facebook.



My question, what are the aspects of this?

Is it intertwined into the actual OS? I've seen it in individual applications like Safari. I sure hope it isn't part of the actual OS though.

Does it take up any resources (CPU/RAM) that you can tell are part of SN integration?

Can it be disabled? Even though it's not a huge bother if there's a Twitter/Facebook option inside a menu somewhere, if buttons with Twitter or Facebook logos start popping up, I'll be mad. Is there any way to disable SN integration system-wide and make all traces go away? No menus or options relating to SN integration, nothing to share, etc?

And how bad is it? Is it tucked away in menus for the most part? Is it a toolbar button in Safari? (I know I can drag this out, I'm hoping it's no more than a toolbar button)

I'm mainly hoping it doesn't take extra resources though, and that it can be disabled so I don't see annoying things about FB/Twitter all over my computer like they already plague the web.

Any information is helpful. Thanks!

jnl1211 said:

Nobody knows. The latest dev preview of Mountain Lion doesn't have FB integration yet. Only twitter. It's not bad really either. I'll take some random screenshots...

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You're right, it's not that bad. I'd probably remove that button from Safari since I need nothing in it's menu, and removing it would help me feel I'm not using social network integration in my main browser (I like Safari). I have two questions now since you're actually running on Mountain Lion.

Thanks a lot for the screenshots by the way!

For one, does that Twitter button stay in Notification Center if I choose not to link my account or whatever?

Two, what settings are related to social network accounts? Does the OS bug you to add/link them, or is it non intrusive and not there unless you specifically link your accounts?

Thanks!

Major.Robto said:

Even though I am not on 10.8 i presume apple wont bug you to use the service. it sounds only like snyc and quick updates and stupid like things like notifications if you have the accounts hooked up.

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Cougarcat said:

It's just like iOS. If you don't sign in, you won't see it anywhere.

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Don't know what you're talking about with sync or quick updates, unless you mean updates of the OS?

Anyways, thanks for the info. I haven't actually upgraded to iOS 5 for the reason of avoiding social network stuff, but it's good to know that if I choose not to use social networks in my OS, then it won't bug me to.

Now I feel safe about upgrading to Mountain Lion when it comes out. I'll only do so if it offers improvements in the way of performance though.

Thanks guys! Changing this to resolved!

jnl1211 said:

Sorry I cant answer to not using it as I use twitter and such regularly. Although, dont be afraid to upgrade to the latest and greatest. Just cause something's there doesn't mean you have to use it!

Sadly as far as performance I cant help on that either. Soon as i got the quad core i5 home I put ML on it, same with the macbook! I dont even remember Lion really

Click to expand...

Well like I said, I'd only upgrade to Mountain Lion if it offered performance boosts. If it doesn't, the chances that I'll upgrade are slim to none.

Performance is more important to me than anything for the most part, but I want to know that I won't have to be further surrounded by things I hate, i.e. social networks. They already plague the Internet, and the fact they're being integrated into OSes now is really absurd.

For people who don't like them, it's good that they won't be there. For people who do like them, is it really all that bad to use a separate client? I mean having it integrated into he OS doesn't offer benefits to people who like them really, only offers downfalls, possibly in performance or annoyance for people who don't like social networks.

The latest isn't always the greatest, especially where software is going these days.