For quite a long time I have been contemplating leaving Facebook and Facebook-owned properties. I have had several misfires at an attempt over the years. This time is different.
Over the last few years, Facebook has, in so many areas, become a dumpster fire of the worst of human interactions and a petri dish for the spread of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and outright lies. I see a post by a friend and begin to read the comments and the very ugliest of behaviors emerge, even amongst friends and family members. Of course, this exists on many platforms, Twitter included, but somehow it feels more personal on Facebook. And it feels much harder to control.
While I have always tried to be a voice of reason, hoping to steer conversations toward kindness and thoughtfulness, I’m no longer willing to contribute to Facebook or Facebook-owned properties. I will not be giving Facebook-owned properties any more of my content. Their corporate decisions relative to privacy and truth are simply not aligned with how I would like to see the world operate.
For several reasons, like the monitoring of a few business Facebook groups, I am unable to delete my Facebook account and still fulfill my responsibilities to the companies that provide me income. Facebook has simply become a hub for far too many things. But I have already changed my account settings and all previous posts there are no longer public. Only my family will be able to see past posts and certain details. Only people I’ve tagged in photos will be able to see others.
I am fully aware that this may seem like a strange, drastic, or even overly dramatic move in the midst of a global pandemic. I’m not seeking validation that I’ve made the right move. It’s the right one for me. And I am confident it is because I have a great deal of faith in the strength of the relationships I’ve built. If you know me, you know me. I don’t shy away from a connection with anyone, certainly not the people I love and trust. And I count many in that category.
I will continue to post content on other platforms, like this blog, which I have neglected for far too long. If you would like to see the photos I’m taking, please feel free to subscribe to my blog posts at http://jeffturner.photography, or see the ones I like most at http://youpic.com/jeffturner or at http://jeffturner.smugmug.com.
If you would like to see the links to articles I find interesting or valuable you can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jeffturner or connect with me on LinkedIn.
And I hope to begin writing again here, and with a great deal more purpose. I have not written for quite some time and I need to ignite my voice once again. There have been far too many false starts on this front. I wish I could guarantee this won’t be another. I can’t.
I have made tremendous friendships via the social web over the last 13 years, but I am unable to support Facebook’s platforms any longer. This is a personal decision and not meant to try to influence anyone else to do the same. I will not be responding to comments on my final post there. I need to disconnect.
If you’ve gotten this far in this post here on my own site, thank you. The open web needs your support. And to my friends, you know where to find me. I look forward to having more and better conversations with all of you.
[…] past, most hovering between five and six hours, some weeks considerably more than six hours, before I left Facebook. Two weeks prior to this 4h 33m report I had removed the Twitter app from my phone. I took that […]