My take on Facebook

I’ve had issues with Facebook for many years but recently I’ve been having multiple issues with how Facebook is ingrained on our society. I am but one person so a change against the Juggernaut would be senseless. So why am I writing this? Because this is just another notch in the belt for Facebook. Another negative review of just how powerful Facebook is and how our privacy and freedom of speech are becoming obsolete. A sort of.. How can I say this.. way to pull the world together and mold everyone into a cookie cutter society. Possibly a step to a one world order perhaps, maybe not but it would be fair to say that it is a stepping stone to something more sinister in the future.

I know a few people that have never had a Facebook account and it always intrigued me how they can resist the temptation. It takes a certain someone to never have had a Facebook account. Some people may say that they are Anti-social, but from my personal experience I find it quite the opposite. Facebook is a slow moving plague that normalizes our behaviors without us even realizing it. It forces a world view on us by policing what we do and say on their network. It is our choice whether we are on Facebook or not and it seems if we choose not to be on Facebook anymore, we are always commented on… “You’ll be back”, like a heroin addict telling another heroin addict that’s wanting to stop. Facebook is an addiction that we don’t even realize and again, so ingrained in our society that it is considered Anti-Social behavior if you don’t have an account.

Oh, but there’s Google+, no one uses Google+ and no one ever will. You’ll say you’ll be off Facebook but eventually you will be back, jabbing that needle in your arm just to get your social fix. The problem here is that you are choosing to let Facebook police you and your freedoms. You are choosing to jab that needle in your arm because you feel you have a need. There are people that say, “Well, I don’t get on Facebook, I just use Messenger to keep in touch with my friends.”. You are still contributing to the problem. There are many Instant messaging apps that do the same job. The problem is getting all your friends to use just one or two and getting your friends to load an app is like pulling teeth “That’s ANOTHER app I have to load and watch”. If they’re your friends, they’ll follow. If they’re not your friends, they won’t. I’m being harsh with this only because I’m not going to comfortably lie to you, and I don’t know about you but I don’t like being lied to.

Facebook is a Juggernaut… It can’t be stopped nor will it ever be stopped. However, we have a choice whether we wish to participate or not. If you want 5000 friends that don’t give two shits about you, then stay on Facebook and be popular. To me, seeing the interactions on Facebook is Anti-social behavior normalized to look “Social”. This is disparaging to say the least.

We see friends posting pictures of their food, their eyebrows, their equipment, things they built or made looking for encouragement to gain popularity within their small ranks in hopes of gaining more friends and the endless cycle goes on and on. Like a heroin addict has to have more and more in order to function however Facebook is not a physical drug. It is a fictional drug that gets it’s power from the lack of social activity in our daily lives because we are either at work all day or doing something else that occupies our time (kids and other daily life stuff). Facebook is a way to be there without REALLY being there. It’s a way to live vicariously through others lives in order to feel good about oneself. This way of thinking has to stop.

When did we stop picking up the phone to call a friend just to see how they were doing and to share a little hot gossip? What can you do to stop the Juggernaut? One person can’t do it alone but if you want to add quality to your life, it would be best to consider the friends you do have, the real ones, and make it a point to call them on the phone or pick an Instant Messenger you all can agree on and just use that as your means of communication. Stop being Anti-Social about your social life, take charge of it and utilize the tools out there to improve your life and your social life. Sure, Facebook is a way to get information quickly and easily, but there are other methods of getting the news you need. RSS Feeds is just another way you can get this information and stay social at the same time. Why involve a network to force you to be Anti-Social.

My suggestions are to use the App, Telegram ( www.telegramdesktop.com ) and download the app Feedly and join the feeds you are interested in. Tell your friends to use Telegram so that way you can stay in contact with them and tighten up your own social network. Take charge of your life and who you let into your circle and improve your quality of on line social life. There are ways to do that, but you have to do it yourself. You have to take the needle out of your arm and say to yourself that you are going to make a positive change in your life and get rid of Facebook and stop giving them money. If one person does it and helps 10 people get off it and so on and so forth, it will be a matter of time before Facebook goes the way of MySpace.