Pondering #FBExodus - To Facebook or Not to Facebook, That Is the Question.

Since the election, in early November 2020, I have been pondering completely leaving Facebook. Many of my friends, acquaintances of my past and present, possibly noticed that I had not posted much of anything on Facebook for nearly 5 years up until November. And they most likely also noticed that these posts were increasingly political and often anti-bigtech. 

In one way, I love technology. Something amazes me that a camera can capture an image, and then allow it to be represented over and over again.  It amazes that as I push these buttons that nearly instantly the letters appear upon the screen for me to see and ponder, not just in my head but also on the page.  

I was a fairly early adopter of the cell-phone.  In early 2000's, my wife an I moved to Kansas City. In stead of getting a landline, we opted for cell-phones. Allowing a strange sense of safety, knowing that Kansas City at the time had fairly good coverage, and if my wife were to be in some kind of trouble (flat tire, car stopped working, whatever, she would be able to reach me, and I could come and assist).  

However, over the years what has become a nice communication device in my pocket has become a tool for pundits and scammers alike. I get instant fake news, and notifications galore. Though, who would have suspected that this kind of technology would become so needy?

Despite this, in my former life, I was proponent for this type of technology, including technology behind the early Facebook. Facebook was once a great idea, a way to connect the geographically disconnected. A place to share thoughts, pictures, and life with others though far apart. I remember encouraging people who didn't use the technology to start.  Eventually, it was a way for organizations to connect with followers, to share news, announce events, gain support.  However, all of this was before it's incorporation.  

When it incorporated, it became an amazing way to make money (ads), push agendas, steal people's information. With this fall, the doors were opened for eventual misuse of power. the power went to the corporations head which found it could censor, fact check and sway the mass population who engaged on a steady regular basis.  It's no longer what it once was. It's been taken over by 'artificial intelligence' which long for un-intelligence and short from programmed anti-human counter-intelligence.  

The point is, I am at a crossroads. Do I end my relationship with this now evil entity-Facebook? Or do I use it as a tool to propel an anti-Facebook and anti-dehumanizing message?  

I certainly will no longer use it to share my life on the internet.  Facebook does not need to know that I took a hike and enjoyed nature, went to a restaurant, and made an RC Crawler course in my backyard. However, they do need to know that what they are doing is wrong and destructive; and it will not go unnoticed, nor unpunished.  Their fall is imminent.  Humans can rise above the contraption of their own making. 

Still choosing to connect via Facebook, but only in ways that hopefully cause people to question their own dependency on this false friend.  If people would like to connect with me personally, my email address has been unchanged for years, though I am considering changing that in the near future too.