Mr. Zuckerberg has a net worth of approximately $205 billion. If he spent $1 million every single day, he wouldn't run out of money for over 560 years. FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS. Nobody needs that much money. Nobody. It's an obscene amount of wealth. I've become increasingly disgusted with the Meta machine he has created, their recent decision to dismiss fact-checking, his chummy relationship with national figures I don't trust or respect, and the rolling back of company initiatives and policies to support diversity and equity. I loved Facebook for a long time. It was a place to catch up with friends, and join up with groups of like minded people. It was a connector. When I pulled up Facebook this afternoon, I had to scroll through advertisements, followed by suggestions for friends I might know (I don't), another advertisement, a bunch of mindless reels created by strangers, a random meme from a user I don't follow, and finally, an actual post from a real person that I know...that was 4 days old. This is not connection. It's a minefield of mostly useless information mixed with targeted advertising and a very small dose of content from people we actually know, and an even smaller dose of anything from friends we actually care about. It's an addictive scrolling habit that is not doing me any favors.
My favorite Facebook feature are the memory posts that pop up. Those cute photos of my kids from 10 years ago get an instant "Awwww...." and nostalgic grin almost every time. But the reality is, I own those photos. They are stored (somewhere....) in the cloud and I don't need to feed the ego and pocketbook of a billionaire to enjoy those photos.
And so I have decided to deactivate my Facebook account. I'm sure my one little account isn't going to impact the bottom line at Meta. But I firmly believe if you're not a part of the solution, you're part of the problem. I also believe that small people, acting together, can impact big change. When consumers act in unity, corporations and investors pay attention.
Everybody has their own, individual Facebook story. Maybe your small business relies on it. Maybe you are irritated with Craigslist and can't fathom giving up FB Marketplace. I get it. We are creatures of habit. We rely on certain tools move through life in a way that makes sense for us. I don't begrudge anyone a scrolling "fix" if that's what you need to decompress at the end of the day. You do you, boo.
I'll be working on some new habits....small changes that will, at the very least, help me sleep better at night. Or, might just change the world. Only time will tell. (-:
