I came in to take a break from mowing [the grass] and stumbled across a Medium article about why Facebook is dead ‘but doesn’t know it’. As I loathe Facebook with a passion, I was instantly intrigued.
The gist of the article is that generational change is killing Facebook. The youngest users don’t want to share a platform with the older members of their family – ewwww – while the politically inclined will head off to new apps that won’t fact check them, or try to make them feel bad about themselves.
As for the rest of us, we’ll be demanding things from social media that Facebook can’t or won’t offer, such as:
‘For social media users, expect (or demand) to see the introduction of a User’s Bill of Rights, including beefed-up privacy standards, far-less addictive algorithms, innovative protection from foreign trolling, and perhaps even ad revenue sharing… go Medium! It’s our presence and content creation that gives these platforms all their power and profit, and it’s time they start treating us more like customers and contributors and less like the product being sold.’
https://medium.com/better-marketing/facebook-is-dead-it-just-doesnt-know-it-yet-614e723e9f72
The nett effect of all this change will be that Facebook will become the domain of seniors. And I can’t wait! Having seen the demise of Geo Cities, and then Myspace, I knew the same would happen to Facebook, but I didn’t think it would take so very long, or that the platform would do so much damage along the way.
The one thing that bothers me is that I know something else will come along in time. I can only hope that by then, we will have learned to protect ourselves from the rapacious clutches of developers who see us as ‘the product’.
Facebook is dead, long live Facebook?
Meeks
p.s. you don’t have to sign in to Medium to read the article.
April 4th, 2021 at 10:15 pm
Hahahaa,,,, Everyone have their own privacy 😀
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April 4th, 2021 at 10:14 pm
You are right, I strongly agree with you.
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April 5th, 2021 at 7:32 am
Thanks. 🙂
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December 7th, 2020 at 11:49 am
I hate facebook. I’ve been off it for almost two years, and I have no regrets. That said, I don’t think Facebook will die, per se. It’s too big to just keep over gracefully. Furthermore, while Facebook may target an older audience, instagram is more targeted to a younger audience. It probably doesn’t matter a ton to the corporation which one you use.
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December 7th, 2020 at 11:59 am
Hi DB. Welcome to the blog. 🙂
I agree that Zuckerberg’s corporation won’t die any time soon, but I’m not aware of anything /new/ that it has developed since Facebook. I believe Instagram and Messenger were acquired rather than innovated in-house. So long as the corporation can continue to pinpoint and acquire the next new thing, they’ll trundle along. But…corporate-think isn’t innovative, and all it will take is a couple of duds and their cache on social media will plummet. At least I hope so. 😀
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December 7th, 2020 at 1:41 pm
I think Zuck stole the original Facebook idea from a couple of his buddies at Harvard. My take is that he’s never been an innovator, just a guy who knows how to take credit for a good idea when he sees it.
But I sure hope you’re right.
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December 7th, 2020 at 8:10 pm
lol – that sounds about right. Oddly enough, that other behemoth – Windows – was acquired too. I guess the world rewards the marketers rather than the innovators.
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December 8th, 2020 at 1:57 am
That seems to be about the size of it.
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December 6th, 2020 at 2:45 am
I am happy also to see it disappear. I’ve been slowly removing my pages and alternate identities. I’m down to one identity and three pages. It is still a useful way to spread writerly news but once I have an alternative, I’m out!
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December 6th, 2020 at 12:09 pm
lol – there is Goodreads, but I admit I don’t enjoy that either. Fingers crossed something good comes along soon.
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December 7th, 2020 at 12:45 pm
I use Goodreads but mostly to remind myself of what books I read!
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December 7th, 2020 at 8:13 pm
lmao! I have to confess, I use Amazon for that as most of the books I buy are from Amazon. I just find the Goodreads interface so unintuitive, it annoys me. I know that millions of people use it quite happily, but it really does irk me.
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December 1st, 2020 at 2:05 am
Facebook for seniors. Lol. That wouldn’t bother me at all. I’m still a member because of some community stuff that I’m involved in, but I need to revamp it for my personal/family use – since right now, I don’t use it at all!
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:19 pm
-giggles- Yup, there’s a part of me that finds a certain poetic justice in Zuckerberg’s original purpose being subverted like that!
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December 2nd, 2020 at 1:23 am
It’s interesting to me how social media platforms have morphed over time (and will continue to change). I’m so glad that WP continues to be a happy place.
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December 2nd, 2020 at 11:35 am
Amen to that. The ‘happiness engineers’ have made some spectacular blunders, but WP is still the place that feels like home.
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November 30th, 2020 at 11:20 pm
Facebook is as good as the groups you belong to – which in turn are as good as the contribution you make. There is one group – maybe two – that I’m moved to contribute to, and the others seem to have withered in my ‘Groups’ column. Other than that, I know if I post to one of my family on Messenger it will be read – they don’t seem to notice mobile texts any more. (To be fair, neither do I. It’s sometimes out of battery and I haven’t picked it up to notice. Family calls are mostly on my laptop – the pictures are better.)
The pendulum swings…
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:39 pm
I guess we all use the type of communication that best fits our comfort zone. I love emails because…I love writing. And while I love catching up with family and friends, I prefer to do that in real life rather than online. Which is weird as most of my social interactions happen only online these days.
Bottom line, for me at least, is that I never enjoyed Facebook in the first place, so when the Cambridge Analytica scandal erupted, it wasn’t really a hardship to let Facebook [and Google] go. I suspect I’m probably just naturally anti social. 🙂
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December 1st, 2020 at 8:44 pm
Sadly, real life isn’t aan option right now 😦
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December 1st, 2020 at 10:18 pm
No. We’ll be in self-isolation for a long time yet, but it is nice to know that vaccines are on the way.
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December 2nd, 2020 at 7:00 am
:}
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November 30th, 2020 at 5:32 pm
Ha! I call it Twofacebook. I wonder what platform will replace it; for, like you and your commenters have said, it’s a great way to keep up with family news.
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:50 pm
It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? I live here on my blog, and I’m deliberately honest with what I say, but I also do not talk very much about personal or family issues. Part of that is because I’ve always been fairly reserved, but a big part is because the medium is dangerous. Typing to a screen on my computer feels very intimate, yet the truth is that it’s the equivalent of climbing up on the roof and shouting through a megaphone.
Something will replace Facebook, but until we, the users, legally own our identities and the information we divulge, I won’t be divulging anything that I wouldn’t want a football stadium full of people to know. 😦
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December 1st, 2020 at 4:35 pm
I feel this way, too, besides confusion at how much people are willing to post online while not being willing to hold a conversation. We’ve really screwed things up.
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December 1st, 2020 at 8:40 pm
Yes! It’s…odd.
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November 30th, 2020 at 5:05 pm
When I signed up for Facebook quite a few years ago and friended my young nieces and nephews I did wonder how long they were likely to stay on the platform. If Aunty Anne is on it……
I rarely look at it these days. I get so annoyed by how cluttered it is. Like Dale I much prefer Instagram, and my blog is my comfy home, with lots of interesting people dropping by!
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:56 pm
lol – I’m afraid my reason for joining Facebook had nothing to do with family. I’d read that Indie writers had to be on social media and the three main ones were Facebook, Twitter and WordPress. Facebook never did it for me. Twitter I couldn’t see the point of for YEARS! But WordPress…ah now, blogging was something I intuitively understood. I loved it almost from the start and I’ve never stopped loving it. Like you, my blog is my ‘comfy home’ too. Here I don’t have to be Aunty Andrea. 🙂
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November 30th, 2020 at 3:17 pm
I’m quite happy to be considered uncool. Horses for courses imo… Facebook has its uses in these far flung days… I liked and echo many of the sentiments above. I’m on Instagram to share interests with likeminded friends who may or may not be such irl. And the blog is my own little constructed virtual world. Facebook is for family and friends who I know irl only, and at least in my experience in regional & rural communities it is a very useful community building – info sharing tool. Most of its downsides derive from how its users use it rather than the application itself. Used for good it does not harm and often helps with alleviate social and physical isolation. I’m quite aware of the mechanics of its backend… but most of us share our info digitally in many other ways also. I find big data quite fascinating… sometimes a bit spooky… Compartmentalisation across social media works for me!
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December 1st, 2020 at 2:10 pm
Every single person who’s commented on this post has been someone who provides information of one sort or another. We’re ‘content providers’. I see Facebook as the domain of the personal, and the personal often seems to include information about products and places – where we went, what we bought, that sort of thing. But that is precisely the kind of information that turns the wheels of the ad networks and the commercial entities that pay them. By contrast, I doubt any ad network is going to be interested in my posts about bushfire preparedness, or some home cooked recipe. Right or wrong, that makes me feel safer. 🙂
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November 30th, 2020 at 2:45 pm
Hi Meeks, I like FB as a place to [try] to keep up with friends and family abroad [and also local but whom I don’t see]. I often find interesting articles and other links that people share on FB and I enjoy the odd chat show on this medium. I don’t think any social media offer privacy so I don’t post personal information anywhere on any social media. I’ll use FB until it no longer serves a purpose for me. You are right about the younger generation not using it and it does have a timeline. Everything does. I’m glad young people aren’t on FB though, flooding the system with the their gaming information.
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December 1st, 2020 at 2:20 pm
-giggles- you must hate my gaming posts then. 😉
Seriously, you’re absolutely right about the lack of privacy. Every large commercial enterprise on the internet is data mining info. we /have/ to hand over if we want to use their platform, and that includes games we actually pay for. It’s become a ‘by right’ thing. I don’t mind handing over personal details when I choose to do so. My problem is with the aggregation that happens behind the scenes. It’s that aggregation that’s the true danger. If online platforms were not allowed to sell/give/share our information to make money for themselves, our information would remain compartmentalised, and therefore much safer.
We need an Internet Bill of Rights.
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December 1st, 2020 at 3:22 pm
Yes, Meeks, that is spot on. We do need an Internet Bill of Rights. Young and older people easily fall into traps set by scammers and deceitful people of every description. It horrifies me when I see the pictures people share on Instagram and FB of their kids.
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December 1st, 2020 at 8:42 pm
-wince- yes, that horrifies me too. Don’t they realise these are not private conversations? I try to be circumspect when I talk about my home and family because I know how easy it is to work out who, what and where. Talk about stranger danger. 😦
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November 30th, 2020 at 12:16 pm
Great information…Thank you Meeka just going by my family all my grandkids avoid Fb like the plague and have just kept messenger so that article is correct the younger generation don’t buy it too intrusive…Stay safe and well x
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November 30th, 2020 at 2:11 pm
Yes, that’s the feedback I’m getting from my gamer friends too. Facebook stopped being ‘cool’ a long time ago. 🙂
Stay well too. -hugs-
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November 30th, 2020 at 12:03 pm
I HAVE MCS/ MULTI CHEMICAL SENSITIVITIES–(WHICH HAS ALSO EFFECTED MY EYE SIGHT IS WHY I USE ALL CAPS- I’M NOT YELLING) — & I HAVE MET & MADE FRIENDS THROUGH FB FORUMS- THAT SHARE SO MUCH INFO- THERE IS NO WAY OTHER WISE FOR US TO HAVE SHARED ALL WE HAVE OVER THE YEARS OF FB!! I ALSO AM ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS THOUGH FB THAT DON’T ANY LONGER USE E-MAIL– ETC- ETC -ETC — I DON’T USE MY BLOG AS MUCH AS I USE TO—I DON’T WRITE OR SHARE ON MY BLOG LIKE I USE TO– AND I GUESS I’M JUST ONE OF THOSE OLD PEOPLE OR SENIORS WHO DO SAY LONG LIVE FB!!! JUST MY 2 CENTS WORTH!!
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November 30th, 2020 at 2:19 pm
THANK YOU FOR COMMENTING. I’M USING ALL CAPS SO YOU CAN READ MY REPLY A LITTLE EASIER.
IN THE BEGINNING, FACEBOOK WAS A PLACE FOR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO INTERACT, TO KEEP UP. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY THOUGH, ZUCKERBERG’S NEED TO MAKE MONEY FROM HIS BRAINCHILD LED TO A GROSS ABUSE OF THE SYSTEM.
PRIVACY AND INTERNET SECURITY IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME, AND THAT IS WHY I REFUSE TO HAVE ANYTHING MORE TO DO WITH FACEBOOK.
THAT IS A PERSONAL DECISION THOUGH, AND AS THE ARTICLE SAID, FACEBOOK WON’T JUST DISAPPEAR, BUT IN A BUSINESS SENSE, IT WILL BE LEFT BEHIND BY ITS TARGET AUDIENCE.
I TRULY HOPE THAT SOMETHING BETTER COMES ALONG THAT WILL ALLOW ALL OF US TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITHOUT FEAR OF ABUSE.
TAKE CARE AND STAY WELL. -HUGS-
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November 30th, 2020 at 10:51 am
I rarely look at Facebook. I still prefer email. I was turned off early on by big family squabbles aired on FB. What medium do you prefer in place of FB?
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November 30th, 2020 at 2:22 pm
I still use email, but these days the place where I interact with people is right here. WordPress is a social media platform as well. Other than WordPress and email, I also keep in touch with the pulse of the world [and my friends] via Twitter. It’s marginally less rapacious than Facebook and satisfied my need to shake my fist at injustice. 🙂
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:59 am
oh yah! injustice doesn’t like us either…;-) Yahoo used to provide a platform for posting snarky and/or serious commentary…but no more, to much snark I guess.
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:21 pm
‘Every dog has his day’? lol One nice thing about being old-er, is that I remember so many of the fads that came before. I also remember when Yahoo was the search engine of choice. Then it was supplanted by Google. Some time in the near future, Google will by supplanted as well. Just the way things go.
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December 3rd, 2020 at 1:47 am
yep, I know my way around a fad or two myself…
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December 3rd, 2020 at 8:10 am
None of us are immune. 😀
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December 4th, 2020 at 11:25 am
That is so! Especially here in whack-o land.
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December 4th, 2020 at 11:36 am
lol – I just have to abbreviate that to WOL. :d :d
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December 4th, 2020 at 11:52 am
So now we have tons of snow here in WOL. lol
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December 5th, 2020 at 8:02 am
lol – stay warm in WOL!
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December 6th, 2020 at 3:18 am
All melty here in WOL. The snow was beautiful on Tuesday…yukky by Saturday.
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December 6th, 2020 at 12:06 pm
lol – but at least you got some in WOL. We never get snow. Then again, I do remember falling on my butt numerous times when I visited relies in Hungary [in January]. Could not stay on my feet. Apparently I had the wrong soles on my boots. Maybe you can keep your snow. 😀
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December 9th, 2020 at 7:45 am
Yep, ya need boots with treads! No guarantee, but they help. The snow is pretty much melted, mainly slop now. We will probably have much more snow, hope this is the big one for the year.
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December 9th, 2020 at 9:14 am
Yes, treads. 🙂 My aunt and uncle had to buy me a pair of Hungarian made boots. They worked like a charm in the snow, but I’ve never forgotten how horrible it felt to have helpless feet!
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December 10th, 2020 at 3:02 am
Snow boot treads are different than mud-boots. When we had the farm I had knee-high rubber boots for wading around in mud.
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December 10th, 2020 at 10:52 am
We call them gumboots here. 🙂
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December 15th, 2020 at 5:57 am
rubber boots? I think its not really rubber, but some kind of vinyl stuff.
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December 15th, 2020 at 10:26 am
lol – yes, but they started out being rubber when they were first invented. 😀
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December 9th, 2020 at 7:49 am
WOL is really compounding itself. I’ve been nervous all along, but now I’m getting scared. All these half-wits with their guns and red hats. Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it.
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December 9th, 2020 at 9:12 am
-hugs- I hope not, I really, truly hope not. 😦
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December 10th, 2020 at 3:04 am
WOL is complicated now, with the dieforthecrazyleader whackos talking stupid stuff.
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December 10th, 2020 at 10:52 am
Just…keep your head down. This craziness will pass. It has to. 😦
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December 15th, 2020 at 5:58 am
Ya think? I wish I had Bob’s old fire helmet.
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December 15th, 2020 at 10:26 am
Hey…don’t joke. I worry. 😦
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December 18th, 2020 at 1:48 am
I donated his helmet to the fire museum years ago.
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December 18th, 2020 at 9:15 am
-grin- in that case just be careful!
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December 19th, 2020 at 4:37 am
He also left huge fire boots, which are reinforced with steel.
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December 19th, 2020 at 8:27 am
OMG…I could use those! lol I’m guessing they’d be incredibly heavy to wear though.
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December 15th, 2020 at 6:00 am
Yes, it will pass, eventually. It’s worse now than it has ever been. The Rs are out of control, its insane. Some one is going to get hurt, hope not the good guys.
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December 15th, 2020 at 10:25 am
Amen to that. I know it’s not all tRump’s fault, and that a lot of the fractures have always been there, but he must still take the prize for the worst, most evil president ever. 😦
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December 18th, 2020 at 1:50 am
I admit trump isn’t personally responsible for the horror that exists today, but I absolutely blame his influence.
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December 18th, 2020 at 9:15 am
Yes, very much so. He’s given permission for people to be their lesser selves. 😦
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December 19th, 2020 at 4:37 am
He is like the model idiot.
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December 19th, 2020 at 8:26 am
-grin- I like that!
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November 30th, 2020 at 10:26 am
For me, Facebook has specific purposes and reaches certain social circles with ease and efficiency. I don’t link my charitable giving to Facebook. I don’t use it on my phone (only at my desk). And I don’t take it very seriously. On the upside, I do get some traffic to my Candy’s Monsters blog that comes directly from FB, so… not bailing on it just yet.
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November 30th, 2020 at 2:27 pm
I’m glad you use Facebook with caution. Unfortunately, FB can track you even when you’re not ‘in it’. All those ‘like’ buttons we all use everywhere? Yup, phoning home to FB.
As a friend of mind once said, the only way to be truly private and secure is to go live in a cave and make fire with sticks. 🙂
We all have to compromise with social media. I do it by using WordPress and Twitter. I know that neither one is ‘secure’. I also know that both abuse the data that should belong only to me, but… who wants splinters from rubbing two sticks together? lol
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November 30th, 2020 at 4:59 pm
Dear Meeka and Candy,
I don’t use Facebook because of the many issues that others have pointed out.
Moreover, Facebook is just not conducive for publishing serious works, technical writings and multimedia posts that are as serious, creative, multifaceted and sophisticated as those that I have been experimenting and pushing the boundaries on my blog.
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December 1st, 2020 at 1:58 pm
I couldn’t agree more. Facebook attempts to be all things to all people, but specialist platforms – like WordPress and Soundcloud and say Instagram – are where the really interesting interactions take place. 🙂
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November 30th, 2020 at 10:15 am
what I find annoying now – is you are viewing a commercial or other similar entity on f/b – then your news feed just continues in that vein…
but I do use it because I have many family and art friends and general friends – who do not even know I have a blog AND frankly I’m pleased they don’t!
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November 30th, 2020 at 2:33 pm
lmao – I don’t think any of my real work family or friends visit my blog either! And you’re right, it’s probably better that way.
Deciding to delete both my Facebook and Google accounts didn’t hurt at all because I never really used Facebook anyway, and Duckduckgo is just as good a search engine as Google. My absence won’t change anything in the world, but it’s my [very] small protest about the monetization of /me/. I don’t like being ‘the product’, esp. when the stalking is so blatant, but…it’s my protest, not anyone elses. 🙂
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