Six years ago today I tweeted this:
Back then I felt that the Facebook app was a privacy intrusion that I could not tolerate. It was chewing through battery life on my phone even when I wasn’t using it. Data usage stats showed that it was up to something all the time. I didn’t trust it then, and I don’t trust it now.
I won’t have the app, and I refuse to install Messenger. It explicitly wants to mine my contacts. I don’t think so.
I largely walked away from Facebook, but I couldn’t bring myself to delete my account for two stated reasons:
- I was the a page admin for multiple groups.
- I wanted to keep in touch with distant family.
Well,
I’m no longer a vital page admin. I’ve handed off the RFD page to one of the full-time firefighters, and the department has a PR firm to help manage all things media now.
I don’t keep in touch with distant family, because I’m rarely on FB. If anything important happens, my Mom tells me about it before I see it online.
Recent news events, and the past 5 years, have emphasized that social media in general and Facebook in particular are unhealthy influences on our society. Even FB knows this; today they announced their corporate name change to Meta.
Happy Medic put it best: Facebook has jumped the shark.
It’s time to pull the plug on my account. It’s been on life support for years, but I was avoiding the final decision. This is it. I’m out.
You can find me over on Twitter @mack505, or on Instagram as @feistycricket. (Yes, I know FB owns it. Can’t bring myself to give it up. Yet.)
Notes from Mosquito Hill 