Go back in time

Show more

Unfriend



Oh, I am not on Facebook. I find it to be incredibly smarmy and self serving. But years ago I was on it. I think it was around my second semester in college. I think that everybody was talking about this new thing that was an an alternative to MySpace and that it was only for people in college and that it was kind of cool. Oh, those were innocent times. When Tila Tequila and glitter backgrounds were the thing.

A Facebook was a originally booklet that freshmen would get with the names and office numbers of faculty and staff. And it had photos, hence the name. It was basically a directory. And that’s where Zuckerberg and company got the name from. It was quite innocuous, to tell you the truth. They created a site where they could rank cute co-eds, basically.

Back then you had to have an email address that ended on .edu to be able to register and take part of it. The idea was to be in touch with your classmates and alumni and kind of network after you graduated. I heard it had been created by some kids in a dorm room. Very Quixotic and all. So I signed on it and was there for a few years. It was not a big deal. You got invited to parties and found pages you liked. You got tagged on silly photos and commented on someone's Halloween costume.

Then the high school kids came in. The site was getting big and they decided to open it for more people. To me, it was te beginning of the end. The excuse was that it was still people in educational settings and all that jazz. It went down from that moment on. I left it and then discovered that they had the rights to my pics and that I really needed to download all my info and basically nuke my history on the site so there was no sign of me in it. It took me two months to detach myself from the site permanently.

Nowadays Facebook is a cesspool of racism, baby pics, xenophobia, wedding invites, white supremacists, gender reveal parties and Russian trolls. Facebook has been linked to Cambridge Analytica and has had to go to Congress to explain why it will run political ads without fact-checking, basically accepting it'll spread misinformation for clips. Facebook is not only letting lies being spread in the site, it's actually promoting them.



Facebook brands itself as a bastion of free speech but I don't buy the hype. Facebook allows ads spreading misinformation but it bans ads promoting HIV prevention for being too 'political'. How's that for Orwellian? Facebook is not 'free', btw. You are the price you pay for being in it. All the information you give Facebook is used, well, against yourself. Have you stopped to think about the info you have given to it?


When you publish the cute vacation pics, when you open facebook and have other pages open at the same time, when you change your profile pic to celebrate Pride or Day of Silence or anything, Facebook is watching. Have you wondered why you get an ad for St.Lucia out of nowhere? It's because you were following that link of your friend's picture during his last vacation. Wonder why you're getting ads about Buttigieg? Well, because you were on his page looking for cute buttons while on Facebook.

Big data is currency right now. Only Google (yes, we are on a google site, I know) knows more about people. But I tell google what I want it to know about myself. I'm not tagged, or revealing my whereabouts at all times of day or publishing my mother's maiden name right off the bat. Yes, there's ways to limit the information Facebook uses and precautions you can take to make your experience more private, but Facebook still owns your data. Oh, you're only on in Instagram? Facebook owns that, too. It also owns WhatsApp, one of the most widely used messaging application in the world.

The next step? Global currency. Yep, facebook wants its own money. How's that for greed? Facebook not only wants to own all of your information, but also basically own YOU. You are not the user. You are the product. Oh, you still like Facebook? It's up to you. I know some people fear they'll lose contact with family and friends. But sometimes that's a good thing. So, here : in case you want to leave.

I left and I have never regretted it for one minute. I understand that need to be connected some people have, but I won't do it through Facebook. I'll just pick up the phone and call my sister. It's that simple.

XOXO

Comments

  1. O have never been on Facebook. I hear some people have found long lost friends. There are some friends I wondered about, but then if it were meant for us to still be in contact then it would be. Or we never would have lost contact. I like blogging and am on Instagram for more pictures, like when i travel. But I'm not on very often, nor do I give anywhere near the attention as my blog. The Lad does most of my gram for me as it is. Thank God that boy as a nice ads.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice assets that is!!!!!

      Delete
    2. For a second there I thought he was monetizing your I-gram 😜

      Delete
    3. And that IG account is? so I can follow

      Delete
    4. That’s always my point! Facebook kept suggesting old high school acquaintances and I was like,mi didn’t like that fucker then and I’m sure I don’t like him now.

      XoXo

      Delete
  2. I have never been, and I will never be, on fuckbook. I wish someone would punch that nazi zuck repeatedly in the face til he bleeds! and AOC sure had him stumbling all over himself. zuck is in bed with the dump and his dumplings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zuckerberg has lost sight of the world, blinded by the money. He was willing to backstab the people who created Facebook with him, so yeah. Heartless, greedy bastard.

      XoXo

      Delete
  3. Facebook is blogging for lazy people. I left FB years ago and miss it not an iota. Since, I've heard nothing but grief about it from folk who have gotten into flame wars with friends about nothing. Birthday? Don't post on my wall, CALL ME! Food pictures? Take me out to dinner, bitch! People complain at how we're all becoming rude, losing attention span, or being assholes. Guess who's making you that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha blogging for lazy people! Yes! Facebook, the social network is making people more anti social than ever.

      XoXo

      Delete
  4. Yeah, I’m not one to tell the world what (or who) I’m doing, what I’m eating or where I’m going. I’ve never been a member of that site or MySpace. I have a Twitter only to see what others are saying. And yes I know they are about just as bad.

    But like you said, nothing in life is free. Even my google email follows me, or tries. So we have to choose our devils and be fine with that. We live in a cloud world now, even my employers use workplace which is a business version of Fbook. And all of our systems, which used to be run on our own servers, are moving to the cloud.

    So we try to limit our digit footprint and guard our privacy as much as possible. It’s like a second job.

    XOXO 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is a second job! I limit google as much as I can. But like you say, all our info is now somewhere in the cloud. The price to pay, I guess.

      XoXo

      Delete
  5. Intimacy without the touch? Tres no! It's about being there, my dears. Seeing the person, holding them, listening to them, smelling them, doing naughty things to them. Anyone who's spent time in my boudoir knows I have no patience for virtual reality. I like my people and play with physicality. I like things I can touch! All this technology...instead of bringing us together brings out our faults instead. If you like me, show me with a kiss. If you love me, ravage me with your love. What's a thumbs up for? When my manservant Clive does something thoughtful for me, the only thumb he gets is up [content deleted by Clive].

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Conde. Truer words...
      and Clive is quite the manservant, no?

      XoXo

      Delete
  6. I'm on it.
    I use it mainly to keep in contact with Left Coast family and friends.
    I, however, am not addicted to it and spilling my whole life on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And sometimes it’s a necessary evil. The amount of people who only communicate through Facebook is incredible!

      XoXo

      Delete
  7. I was on FB for 2 months ten years ago. I jumped through all the hoops to delete my page. I hope it worked. Still don't trust those fuckers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same!
      It took me awhile to get my stuff back and wipe myself from it but I think I managed to do it. Best decision ever.

      XoXo

      Delete
  8. I've been on Facebook for about two years. The reason is, the car club I belonged to stopped their webpage and went only to Facebook as did my HOA witch switched from email notifications . I stay in the 'groups' section just to keep up with local stuff and the club scene. I don't friend or accept friends from people I do not know personally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very wise.
      If everybody would do something like this, I would be less concerned about the misinformation and trolling.

      XoXo

      Delete
  9. I was on Facebook about twelve years ago, at first it was fun reconnecting with friends and family. I hated how invasive it was and how it was impossible to keep things just between close friends so I left. I still get emails to this day asking me to come back and suggestions of things I'm missing out on. For fun I tried to open up my old account , they wanted me to scan in a driver's license or birth certificate so that they know it's really me.... WTF??? Next they will probably ask for a DNA sample with recent photos to go with it!!! No thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What the everlasting fuck? I knew they were invasive, but this takes the prize.
      Fuck them. They are trafficking with data and user’s information. That’s their currency.

      XoXo

      Delete

Post a Comment

Go ahead, give it to me.

Translate

Followers

Popular Posts

En otra lengua

Restricted to Adults

Restricted to Adults
Under 18? Beat it. Now.