To Facebook or Not

I have quit Facebook three times in the past year because I don’t like how it does business. I always felt like quitting was the right thing to do. Then, someone sends me a message that I want or feel I need to read. Sheepishly, I open the message and see myself as weak, wishy-washy, and spineless.

Why do I want to quit?

When social media first became popular, people centered their lives around it. It seems that every move in one’s daily life needed to be shared on Facebook. I once saw a lady in a shoe store Facebooking someone about every shoe she picked up. I became mesmerized watching two people waste so much time doing nothing.

Then, I noticed some folks becoming obsessed with it. I suspect some folks have developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder based on social media. At our gym, I have witnessed many people do one rep on a machine and then immediately go to social media.

As it grew, I felt Facebook and other sites collected too much information on every person who uses their services. I have no idea what they know about me, but that idea makes me uneasy. They could misuse that information, and I am powerless to do anything about it.

Information is power. Fascism, dictatorships, oligarchies, and theocracies use it malevolently. Supposedly, democracies don’t.

I do not like the fact that Facebook allows hate speech, malicious rumors, and outright lies to flourish and destroy other people without dealing with the consequences. Many suicides and homicides can be traced back to something that happened on social media.

The owners of social media provide a pulpit for bullies and wannabes. They make money allowing this, and money is what they are all about. Mark Zuckerberg most likely does not see you and me as human beings but as simple dollar signs. He doesn’t seem to care if you take your life or if someone shoots me because of something said or did on his platform. He pretends he does, but according to some whistleblowers, he gives great lip service but not much, if any, follow-through.

Do I believe social media has a positive place in our society? Yes, as long as these sites understand that they have the obligation to be responsible. I have not yet seen much of that.

Is the positive more powerful than the negative? To me, it isn’t. But with government guidelines and active monitoring, social media could become a foundational stone of a strong democracy. Right now, especially in light of January 6, 2021, at our capitol, it could have been an extremely important tool to bring down our fragile, delicate nation.

Presently, our church uses Facebook extensively for positive purposes, but I, as a devotee of agape, want it and other responsible faith-based religions to leave Facebook and similar sites until they clean up their act. I wonder if they will. Without an outside source of monitoring, I think the foxes will continue to guard the henhouse.

Could you stop using Facebook?

Peace Love Joy Hope

 

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

15 thoughts on “To Facebook or Not”

  1. Ah..the Facebook question! I find that many people have stopped using Facebook on a regular basis. But, I depend on Facebook to keep up with our great Baja Scholarship Foundation students. And, sometimes in a way that allows me to give some important guidance or comments. Do I think it is addictive for many? For sure! Do I agree that we users are working for a few making a bundle off of us. For sure! But, I, for one, am still “in.”

    Reply
    • Thanks soon to be seen in person Judie. We’re in Tahoe skiing for a few weeks. The conditions are fantastic. It is even snowing now to make it that much better. I like the concept of Facebook But Mark Z needs to make sure to protect our democracy, not kill it. But you know the Golden Rule: He who has the gold rules. See Mr. Putin for further proof.
      PeaceLoveJoyHope
      Bil

      Reply
    • Thanks, Judie for your input.
      It will be less than 50 days and we’ll see you in person.
      Happy Easter
      PeaceLoveJoyHope
      Bil

      Reply
  2. I learn from Facebook groups such as Irvine Watchdog which monitors Irvine’s Decision Making Process (we have a website as well where we originally post our articles and then post on our Facebook Groups , but most comments from residents are posted on our Facebook Group sites). Democrats of Greater Irvine has a Facebook Group that I learn from and comment on. My Church as Facebook Groups that I learn from. I am selective with regards to the Facebook Groups that I join.

    I, however, do not engage in conversations with people via Facebook. I prefer a more personal means of communication.

    Reply
    • Thanks Susan. I agree: Facebook is a great tool, Does Mark Z need help in making sure that it protects democracy, not kills it?
      peaceLoveJoyHope
      Bil

      Reply
  3. As soon as my nephews returned to Hawaii from colleges on the Mainland, I quit Facebook. That was over 10 years ago and I don’t miss it one bit.
    One friend uses Facebook for all her news and is always a bit misinformed. I too am appalled at what harm social media can do.

    Reply
    • Hi Penny, I am jealous of your discipline. Please write Mark Z and ask him to be as disciplined in what he allows.
      PeaceLoveJoyHope
      Bil

      Reply
  4. On my 80th Birthday I received my personal computer and made two promises to my daughter. Not to get on Facebook and not to use my credit card for on line purchases. That must seem very limiting to some, but I have stuck by my word. There is so much to learn and enjoy on line that I have set myself to delete every morning anything that I do not know where it comes from. America is a country built upon the need to Buy, Buy, Buy! I just don’t need more stuff and false information.

    Reply
    • Many thanks, Valerie for reading my blogs and responding. I wish Mark Z were as responsible as your daughter but it is a shame she has to protect you from what would be a great tool for communicating if he was responsible to our democracy and not his wallet.
      PeaceLoveJoyHope Bil

      Reply
    • Thanks, Deacon Valerie. You are a strong woman. I peek at Facebook but never reply or buy.
      With Facebook, I need to not throw the baby out with the dirty water, so I’m still pushing for “guidance” for Mark Z and other social media. They are great communication tools (up to a certain point) if used correctly.
      Happy Easter
      Bil

      Reply
  5. I am a FB User. I am not taking it intravenously, but its shape-shifting honey exposures continue to draw the various wall flies of my personality. Part of me grew up with the story–the rumors of a program designed to Rate Women, achieving carcinogenetic growth by “self-input”, finally expanding beyond borders. With a vision held by a few “students” who never graduated from Harvard and spent a decade making no Profit, becoming a fissionary crucible creating billionaires. I see the platform as an almost entirely experimental mirror, into which I am staring, and human kind is darkly staring back out of a luminous screen.

    Reply
  6. I use FB to keep in touch with family members around the US. There are days when I do not access it. It is there when I want to use it. P.S. I think young Zuckerburg developed FB beyond his years of understanding what it can be used for.

    Reply
    • Thanks, Thenice. The concept of Facebook is a great tool but the CEO needs “help” to keep it usable for a democracy. His idea of capitalism kills democracies.
      PeaceLoveJoyHope Bil

      Reply

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