The dream is never really over, no matter what you may have heard. There is always more growth in the gardens, in case it matters.
Anyway, I visited FB with my eyes open, mind awake, and time to explore for the first a very long time and I wrote this to the social media audience of FB friends...
You can’t please everyone, so...
I joined FB when it was relatively unknown, even before this profile was created. This profile replaced my original profile because, in the beginning, FB and most online forums encouraged people to protect their identity by creating a moniker, a handle, a... whatever. That was before they figured out just how much our real identities were worth in cold hard cash. This profile has been around since 2007 and I’ve come and gone over the years. The last time I had some real hope for this social media experiment was back in 2015 and a couple of “Notes” from then expressed some of that hope. I’m here today to share a bit about why I don’t visit FB much anymore and when I do, it is a relatively brief visit. So here we go.
Why I don't visit Facebook much, let me count some of the ways. Semi-randomly.
1. Page Info has a 2 in a red box next to it. I click on the 2 in the red box, and all I see is "Complete your about section so people can find your page easier." Apparently adding my address, phone number, and other personal information is what FB wants.
So people can find me easier? Believe that?
If people are not reaching out on my profile or on any of the fifty pages I’ve created over the years, why would I want them to call me - or show up at my home?
Creepy, FB, quite creepy... or just more marketing for the data you sell.
2. Notifications has a 6 in a red box and I click on that. The first "notification" is that I haven't shared anything to my page in a while - as if I didn't know that?
The second notification is that someone asked to join Friends of Bugs Webbot, a Group I created long ago. There is no "accept" or "approve" button, so I clicked on that notification and the Friends of Bugs Webbot member requests page opened. It tells me Friends of Bugs Webbot has zero requests. Just fishing for more clicks, FB? Or phishing for more data...
So far I've wasted five minutes.
A few more clicks on "friend requests" that were not there and then a few comments left by friends and another ten minutes pass. Why all the distractions and extra clicks letting a few comments from friends get lost in the mix? Perhaps because extra clicks bring in more ad dollars, so what if it undermines actual communication. Socialization is expensive, right?
Fifteen minutes and I move on.
3. Inbox has an 8 in a red box. I click on it and there are no messages show up. There are two more 8s in red boxes in icons on the left, so I click on them.
The first shows me posts I posted and the comments people left. Why again?
The second tells me to "Get Started" with Instagram. If I wanted Instagram, I'd sign up for Instagram.
Wasted another five minutes.
4. The Messages icon at the top of the page has a 8 in a red box. I click on it and a drop down shows me way more than 8 messages not read. The first message tells me to say hi to a new friend I don't know. The second is an event from someone I know. It is dated October 9th and tells me he had a Halloween party last week, on October 12th.
That shows me how dependent people are on FB for their communications. FB loves that because they make a fortune selling our activities to corporations. I'd rather not get into that world. I would have liked to have seen the local friend and others at the party, but that's what I give up because I don't want FB in my phone or life on a daily, or moment to moment basis.
The third message is from a high school girlfriend (I love being in touch with friends from the early years of this life. That is something the early years of FB helped with, though some have been in my phone books since we met). Added coincidence (irony, distraction, or whatever) is that I am listening to a Youtube playlist I've never listened to before, the fourth playlist today, and Be My Baby has played five times in a row so far, with two versions of You Don't Own Me tossed in. I like listening to different covers of favorite songs and this playlist is called Memories. These are absolutely two of my favorite songs from my youth.
Anyway, sort of score one for FB, with a big assist from Youtube.
After wasting at least 25 minutes, I spent 5 minutes responding to an old friend. I still wish I could have the 25 minutes back.
The rest of the messages are out of date. More "Say hello to..." or other past events. More than a few suspicious messages that are either SPAM or worse. That risk alone is why FB is not on my phone. Between the invasive data collection FB does and the poor SPAM/Virus blocking, I'll stick to text and voice calls for my personal communications.
Or blogs, you can often find me in one of my many babbling blogs, I mean, if you seek distraction or want to know me from various angles, perspectives, and imaginary creations. :)
5. Notifications on the upper task bar has a 99 in a red box. Like I have time for that. Wen I look through notifications now and then, I find a close friend sent me an invitation or message. I usually have a text or call from that friend (which is what makes them a close friend, or even a real-life friend). Sometimes these messages amidst the many other notifications FB sends. Most are simply asking me to click on FB pages more so the corporation can make more money collect more data, and make more money. Beyond that, the service they provide is a distraction from life much more than effective communication and their "notifications" in all the many repetitive forms they take as mostly a waste of time.
Ok, so we all seek distraction sometimes, I mean, you are still reading this, right? But all day every day in every communication tool we use? You know my answer.
6. Life. Maybe I should clarify - offline life. Today is the first day I've woken truly refreshed with time to just sit here wandering the internet in more than a month. Need I mention that there is so much more value and intelligence and creativity and wonder on the internet beyond FB? You might as well bring AOL back if you want someone else to control your internet experience. Open your eyes, look around (beyond FB). You may learn something.
Anyway, between a job I love that takes a whole lot of time, and sports (softball, mostly) that I play at least a few times a week, and other exercise, and a love of cooking and food and writing and music and games and video distractions that take time from sleep (cuz that's often the only time left), there is no time for FB even if I wanted to ignore all the risks and put up with all the SPAM. Did I mention people? I mean offline people. They exist, really. I neglect my friends way too much as it is to be choosing FB over spending time with them.
7. The Internet. Yes, as I suggested above, there is an internet beyond FB. In fact, the vast majority of the internet is not FB. If that comes as a surprise, please step away from your electronic device and find a pair of eyes you can look into. Then say hello.
Flippantly, I'd rather read Groucho Marx quotes on Youtube. And just did.
8. And now, the end is near... This computer is another reason I spend limited time on FB. It is an old cheap computer, $129, that does not have the memory that FB demands. After a half hour, the computer screams it is out of memory and it's time to shut it down, clean it, and start again. That time has come, so bye bye FB, until next time.
9. PS... Why am I rarely on FB?
If I am to stare at a screen, I'd rather read a good book and FB is not a good book.
10. In case you have not had enough, Youtube just put a long commercial on and I just spent at least five minutes looking for the remote. I added this because it happened, and you may have been seeking yet another distraction. I am here to please. When am here.
So most seriously, I want to live a life that can be seen, touched, felt, and hugged. At least. FB can't provide that. Given the limited time I have in this life, I'll spend most of it looking into people's eyes, or looking for people's eyes, rather than staring at a screen.
I still love and miss you and welcome you in my world.
One last distraction. The photo was selected because some will smile and some will frown and some won’t be reading by the time this last explanatory note is added.
You may have to open the photo to understand.
P.P.S. The knees are exactly the same size, if you think otherwise, it’s an optical illusion.
May all your illusions be bright... happy too.
This is the photo I headed the page:
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