Facebook, I unfriend you

So, today I deactivated my Facebook account. Why?

Well, I had already closed my Twitter account about when Elon Musk took over and X’ed it. Besides wanting to make a statement about the way the platform was being (mis)run, I also was hoping to reduce the amount of time I spent on social media.

Then, I opened a Substack account, and expanded my contacts on Instagram, and if anything, began slipping into even more hours frittered away on Facebook. Maybe I was just hoping to find some redeeming qualities with social media, especially since I was initially so hopeful for its potential. It seemed a great way to reconnect with people, discover new networks and have access to lots of useful information.

Instead, social media has become a forum for with weaponized disinformation, which is bad enough in itself. Even worse are the people who believe it and continue to spread it; who rather than expand, choose to contract their worlds.

Consequently, I’ve ended my participation in this failing social media experiment. No more Facebook, no more Substack, no more Instagram, and despite hearing positive reviews of the BlueSky social platform, there’s a voice in my head suggesting that I’d only end up using it for the same diversions and distractions, so no. No more social media, period.

A true alternative? Well, besides focusing on devoting more time to house projects, yard work, landscaping, photography, writing and other avenues that entail social networking less on the internet, and more in the real world, I’ll keep up this blog, and let this be my own personal social media platform.

Moving on — I have litter boxes to change, houseplants to water and palm trees continually dropping dead fronds and seed pods all over the yard. I do appreciate you dropping by, so please feel free to check in any time.

Muchos Mahalos!