I have made some changes on Facebook. I am not going to post on my public profile anymore. Facebook is many things to many people-we all use it for different reasons. I never went on Facebook years ago to socialize per se, I went on to promote my work as an artist/writer, my blog and to share my animal work. Years later, I have reached a simple truth- the energy and creative output I was putting into entertaining people [at least I saw it that way] with short snippets/wisdoms/ponderings and art/photos was becoming a drain to my creativity, and the rewards were decreasing.
I always read my three online papers before I go to Facebook in the morning. I never got so absorbed by it that I lived my life on it for hours and hours. But, I found myself checking it too much, simply out of almost a manic curiosity. Kind of like checking CNN too many times a day in the world of chaos in the current administration. And the two were feeding off each other. I also was seeing more and more anger, as many have noted on Facebook, but I was also just seeing a lot of ramping up of discourse. People don't read an article, they react to the headline and then a food fight starts. I also experienced one to many misunderstandings with real life friends, do to the Facebook system. If you don't 'like' someone's post, or notice them daily on Facebook, some people can take offense to this, or get hurt [I have experienced both sides of this to be honest]. I also had someone I really valued as a friend unfriend me, but says she didn't, even though it appears her mate unfriended me too. I have no reason not to believe her, but they thought I unfriended them, which I didn't. It has left a strange cast over our once fun friendship. In real life, this would not have happened.
I just am tired of it all. It's not a real world there.
Rather than delete the profile account, I am opting to not post there. This allows me to leave up the Apifera Farm business page-where I will still post animal snippets/updates and photos. I feel it is still necessary to have a presence on Facebook with the business page, until an alternative is out there.
I feel like I've been dancing as fast as I can on Facebook, entertaining, humoring and giving really solid content on a daily basis. Who reaped the reward for that? Facebook did. Sure, I saw some good from it-some sales, help with the animals at times, and it was kind of fun at times for me too. Social media is mainly free, and there is a price for that, for those of us generating the content. I am not down on anyone who is loving Facebook-I have had some fun times there, but...I am more of an intimate dinner gathering person, versus a large cocktail party person. Big parties are a drain, everyone is shouting over the music.
I've been able to be back in touch with people from college and high school that probably never would have happened without Facebook. I love seeing people's babies and pets. I love the stupid laughing baby videos-but those are also probably data mining us all. But I began to wonder what those relationships were. If I now don't post regularly on my profile, my name will escape the algorithm hierarchy, meaning nobody will see my name. How many of the people that freely commented over the years, will stay in touch by email, or come to the blog? I doubt too many.
But then there are the quiet ones, the lurkers, people you never knew were following along and suddenly they come forward and introduce themselves. I hope to meet some of them.
All in all, I am all over the place and am easy to find online. I'm on Instagram everyday to post photos since I love my photography. But I get on it , and off, in minutes [and yes, I know FB owns Instagram]. Facebook-we all know-is a time magnet that spirals like a spinning top and leaves us creatives with less time to...be quiet with oneself and write, think, ponder, percolate...and create.
I value my time. I value my stories, wit, humor and art. I'm not going anywhere. I'm just not going to keep tap dancing on Facebook. I think the one thing I hear, repeatedly, that upsets me the most is:
"I don't like to leave Facebook to read blog links, it's too hard, I like everything to be on Facebook."
To me, that is a really limiting way to live. I understand the convenience. But, you can't click a link? Takes a nano second. You can't have FB open in one browser, and click on a link to read in another? OK, then those are people that just don't value my work enough to come here. So long. There are many places I visit on a daily basis, I choose to visit them and read them.
Another thing I heard when I posted I would not have a presence on the profile page anymore was also curious:
"I love your posts, I will so very much missing hearing about Earnest, and the animal photos."
I guess they don't love them enough to click an outside link.
In the light of the data breach on Facebook, I know many are questioning if they should stay, or go. I am not leaving the profile posting behind strictly because of the data breach. I never played any of the quizzes or games, knowing they were simply tools for advertisers to get my info. Data mining occurs all the time, and it has even before the internet [you go the hardware store and buy batteries and a week later a battery ad lands in your mailbox]. I'm not leaving because of that. But the lack of leadership in the last data breach, the dishonesty and carelessness of management, and the fact that data breach was feeding info to an administration I loathe, well, it was the tipping point I think.
But mainly, I am putting a plug in the energy drain that FB has become.
