I deleted (not just "deactivated," but fully deleted) Facebook and the other Facebook-owned stuff (Insta, WhatsApp) more than five years ago. In a few moments of weakness (legit covid-created insanity) I have accidentally broken the fast once or twice for just a few days, then instantly re-deleted. Overall, I feel amazing about my decision, but it's a personal one. I can easily take the "moral high ground," but it honestly makes me feel lousy when I catch myself preaching about it at this point.
An example: I was recently with five people that I don't really know and everyone was hardcore bitching about Facebook and I just sat there listening. I could have mic drop'd the convo SO HARD by just being like, "You're all complaining about Facebook and the reason it's here to stay is because none of you have the inner strength and integrity to just stop using it. I did. And life's better on the other side." But, instead, I just wanted the conversation to go away. And soon enough it did. And I said nothing.
Really, at this point, I'm too exhausted with it all. It's exhausting and takes a lot of emotional energy. Plus, the conversations get repetitive at a certain point. Everyone gets defensive about it. Everyone has bigger fish to fry. Telling someone not to use Facebook can feel like telling them to skip a dessert that they love. Or an alcoholic beverage. What's the point?
And yet, I read articles like this, and I feel, crystal clear, in my heart, that there is (still) one and only one answer: People need to wake up, delete Facebook, and move on. The thing will die when we walk away from it. And it will continue to proliferate (and cause destruction) as long as people keep using it.
FB will not get regulated away, or regulated into a better, new thing. I wasn't always so skeptical about that approach, but now it seems pretty obvious to me that government intervention will result in the opposite of the intended effect: it will make Facebook more powerful.
Yeah, that really is the question: how?
And I agree that regulation will likely just mean those who make the regulations will use the machine for their own agenda. Just like it already happens with governments censoring oppositions with takedown orders and then pay for their own ads...
Really, at this point, I'm too exhausted with it all. It's exhausting and takes a lot of emotional energy. Plus, the conversations get repetitive at a certain point. Everyone gets defensive about it. Everyone has bigger fish to fry. Telling someone not to use Facebook can feel like telling them to skip a dessert that they love. Or an alcoholic beverage. What's the point?
And in this spirit I kinda don’t want this read to become an AOTD
Worth reading if you're keeping tabs on the evil empire that is FB. Easily skippable (and mad respect!) if you're not.
But yeah- I'm going to limit myself to one or two articles about Facebook per month. I want to know what's going on, but I don't want to hate read. My life is better when anything and everything that involves Facebook is nowhere near my precious consciousness 🤣😛☺️
Facebook has nearly three billion users. It is common to compare the company’s “population” with the population of countries, and to marvel that it is bigger than the biggest of them—China’s and India’s—combined. Facebook’s policy decisions often have outsized geopolitical and social ramifications, even though no one has elected or appointed Zuckerberg and his staff to run the world. The Guardian article about Zhang’s experience, for instance, concludes that “some of Facebook’s policy staff act as a kind of legislative branch in Facebook’s approximation of a global government.”
I do not miss being a “citizen of this country of billions” since cutting cords last fall.
I can’t help also pondering on local levels of community the kind of deviance that Facebook fosters with groups that potentially feed off of spreading gossip/rumors between folks regarding members of community. Going into this read I expected this to be about that. The read is about the larger picture of deviance.
It’s all a dumpster fire.
Thank you ReadUp for being one edifying alternative amongst new healthier platforms.
This is just insane. We really need to stop giving this platform so much power
How?
I deleted (not just "deactivated," but fully deleted) Facebook and the other Facebook-owned stuff (Insta, WhatsApp) more than five years ago. In a few moments of weakness (legit covid-created insanity) I have accidentally broken the fast once or twice for just a few days, then instantly re-deleted. Overall, I feel amazing about my decision, but it's a personal one. I can easily take the "moral high ground," but it honestly makes me feel lousy when I catch myself preaching about it at this point.
An example: I was recently with five people that I don't really know and everyone was hardcore bitching about Facebook and I just sat there listening. I could have mic drop'd the convo SO HARD by just being like, "You're all complaining about Facebook and the reason it's here to stay is because none of you have the inner strength and integrity to just stop using it. I did. And life's better on the other side." But, instead, I just wanted the conversation to go away. And soon enough it did. And I said nothing.
Really, at this point, I'm too exhausted with it all. It's exhausting and takes a lot of emotional energy. Plus, the conversations get repetitive at a certain point. Everyone gets defensive about it. Everyone has bigger fish to fry. Telling someone not to use Facebook can feel like telling them to skip a dessert that they love. Or an alcoholic beverage. What's the point?
And yet, I read articles like this, and I feel, crystal clear, in my heart, that there is (still) one and only one answer: People need to wake up, delete Facebook, and move on. The thing will die when we walk away from it. And it will continue to proliferate (and cause destruction) as long as people keep using it.
FB will not get regulated away, or regulated into a better, new thing. I wasn't always so skeptical about that approach, but now it seems pretty obvious to me that government intervention will result in the opposite of the intended effect: it will make Facebook more powerful.
Yeah, that really is the question: how? And I agree that regulation will likely just mean those who make the regulations will use the machine for their own agenda. Just like it already happens with governments censoring oppositions with takedown orders and then pay for their own ads...
And in this spirit I kinda don’t want this read to become an AOTD
🤪
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Worth reading if you're keeping tabs on the evil empire that is FB. Easily skippable (and mad respect!) if you're not.
But yeah- I'm going to limit myself to one or two articles about Facebook per month. I want to know what's going on, but I don't want to hate read. My life is better when anything and everything that involves Facebook is nowhere near my precious consciousness 🤣😛☺️
🆙 Wise 🆙
I do not miss being a “citizen of this country of billions” since cutting cords last fall.
I can’t help also pondering on local levels of community the kind of deviance that Facebook fosters with groups that potentially feed off of spreading gossip/rumors between folks regarding members of community. Going into this read I expected this to be about that. The read is about the larger picture of deviance.
It’s all a dumpster fire.
Thank you ReadUp for being one edifying alternative amongst new healthier platforms.