There is something that has been in my mind for the past day or two, maybe even longer. It is the whole Facebook shenanigans that have been going around, not only the most recent stuff, but in general. It is not like I didn’t know Facebook is the kind of company it is, and or the shady things they do. In fact not to long ago I closed my Facebook account for pretty much the same reasons. Then one day, I decided to open a new account (my current one), simply because I met new people when traveling for my new job at the time and wanted a way to keep in touch plus I was missing some of my long-time friends and whatnot. Also it’s a good way to stay in touch with friends and family back home (Puerto Rico) that otherwise I wouldn’t have any other way to be in contact with. In other words, I have always thought of Facebook as a necessary evil. Then again, the more and more things come out, the more grossed out I feel about having my account open and using the their platform.
So I have been thinking about closing it — again — but I also think, what does that change? What good would it do if I close it? Is not like it’s going to hurt them, is not like my data will “disappear” from their servers forever. Also, what will happen to all my friends and acquaintances? That is something I think about every time. Although, I have managed in the past not having direct access to my Facebook friends and acquaintances before.
Then there’s Instagram, probably my favorite social platform, besides Twitter and more recently (and probably my very favorite) Micro.blog. And as most of you know, I am some sort of aspiring photogr (I wouldn’t dare to refer myself as a photographer so photogr it is) and use this platform to share my pictures, get some exposure and maybe some discoverability (hope that’s the right term). Unfortunately Instagram it’s yet another form of Facebook. I don’t mind this from Instagram as much because in a lot of ways it seems different from Facebook but it is still Facebook’s. Maybe I should revisit other options I have tried in the past like Exposure or VSCO or, then again, use micro.blog for my photography as well.
Anyhow, lately I have moved more to the open-web, I have been “blogging” more often, here in micro.blog. Which to me is like the happy medium of a legit-honest-small social and blogging platform that I truly enjoy. I crosspost to twitter and of course to Facebook, one idea I have been toying with is to maybe keep Facebook open and just not interact with it as much. Just keep posting from my microblog in case someone cares about what’s going on with I and my “crazy life” or my second option would be maybe just kiss Facebook good-bye, for good?
Joyce Garcia made some good points that resonated with my own thoughts recently on her blog, somewhat related and of course it got me re-thinking this whole ordeal. I am yet undecided on how I’m going to proceed with this. Maybe I’m going with my first option, delete the Facebook app from my devices, maybe even put a restriction so I can’t even access it from the browser. Maybe just keep Facebook messenger in a folder in case someone needs to get a hold of me. Still not sure about Instagram though. I do like the platform and what I get from it but it also feels a little hypocritical keeping it and using it.(Also my wife and family have been spanning me recently by tagging me in give-aways that really I don’t care about!)
Anyway,
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
