A (slow) farewell to Facebook

Many years ago, I took the Myers Briggs test - which is a bit like the Voight-Kampff test in 'Blade Runner' but with less shooting - and one of the things it does really well, I think, is it makes it impossible to guess what the correct answer to any question might be,  mainly because there is no correct answer, just the right response for you. 

One of the questions is something along the lines of "do you modify your behaviour according to whom you're talking to?" And the answer for me is "most definitely". I can see, of course, that some people might see it as a virtue to be completely, consistently yourself regardless of audience and, as it happens, one of those people is Mark Zuckerberg.

One of his hopes for Facebook is that it will "enable" us to be the same with everyone because everyone (assuming they are on Facebook) will see all aspects of us. I can see how that sounds right and progressive and perhaps even kind of noble but to me it sounds awful, like we will end up 'flattening' ourselves. That, in itself, makes me feel like it's a club I don't want to be in.

And then, today, I read this article by Judith Duportail, "I asked Tinder for my data. It sent me 800 pages of my deepest, darkest secrets". Now, as you'll have surmised, I'm not a Tinder user but I would suggest - with some confidence - that you could swap 'Facebook' for 'Tinder' in that article and it would be reasonable accurate. 

By using my own name on Facebook (as most people do), and Blipfoto, Instagram, Twitter, Flikr etc, I always have an eye on what I'm 'publishing'. Plus, because of my roles at school, standing for local government etc, my details are already in the public domain (I'd be the easiest of doxes). But, even so, despite that automatic self-editing, I bet Facebook knows more about me than I'd like, especially as I've seen how it's cross-referenced me on Instagram, and WhatsApp. 

And finally, I don't like how Facebook takes up my time. I'm not blaming Mark Zuckerberg for this, although he probably wouldn't be disappointed to hear that, but it's a mild addiction that I don't really want. It's somewhere to go the moment I feel even slightly bored.

So, you might be asking, why don't I just leave and the answer is that I'm planning to. What's holding me back is the handful of people with whom I will lose touch. Some of these are friends I initially met on Twitter who have since pretty much abandoned that platform (although, with a judicious use of lists, I am returning), others are old friends and extended family. It's not a frivolous decision. 

As a post script to this, there is an unwelcome distraction that comes from social media, not just Facebook, and I find that my phone can be too much of a temptation when I'm out with people who deserve my full attention, Hence the purchase of the Nokia (pictured), which, with calls forwarded from my iPhone, is the phone I plan to take out with me in future. 

****
-11.6 kgs
0 words