I Am LEAVING Facebook

Ish.

I am not currently planning to delete my account, and I'm still on Facebook Messenger.

So really what I'm saying is: I'm going /dormant/ on the >timeline< side of Facebook indefinitely.

Do not expect more posts or comments from me. Do not expect me to respond to mentions.

The reasons for me to do this are easy to guess. But so that you don't have to guess, I will state them explicitly:

1. Facebook not only encourages conflict (as does most social media), it encourages it *specifically* between friends and relatives. This is a terrible thing.

2a. Facebook is run by M. Zuckerberg. Once, long ago I thought he was probably just a bit rude. Then I thought he was an opportunist. Now I think he might style himself as a Roman emperor.  ( https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/12/what-attracts-mark-zuckerberg-roman-hardman-augustus ) ( https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-haircut-explained-augustus-caesar-2019-10 )

2b. But even if that's not the case, Facebook's platform has repeatedly been cited for allowing and furthering the spread of misinformation. So much so that on the rare occasion that they /do/ move to block some piece of misinfo, they are decried for it by people who have lost the ability to tell the difference between a valid point of view and a conspiracy theory.
2c. Facebook, through Zuckerberg. Does. Not. Care about the harm they do.

The only time they act is when they perceive that the negative public backlash will be significant and long lasting. Then, and only then, do they act.

So in other words, the only check-and-balance on Facebook is the opinion of the zeitgeist of the American people-- and that's actually not a very good form of oversight for a company with global reach.

Americans Do Not Care about wars and bloodshed overseas, and so neither does Facebook.

I can't stop that, but I'd like to be at least slightly less responsible for contributing to it.

If I knew of any one chat app that is not so invasive, and that all my friends were already on, I would delete Facebook completely.


( https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/facebook-employee-leaks-show-they-feel-betrayed )
Podcast -> ( https://podbay.fm/p/behind-the-bastards/e/1600768800 )
Podcast -> ( https://podbay.fm/p/behind-the-bastards/e/1600941600 )
( https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/technology/myanmar-facebook.html )

[ Note - I may or may not edit this later for looks or minor content changes.  But I want to put this up before midnight local time. ]