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Farewell
5 January 2020
I had intended on posting some long winded piece around my decision to remove myself from Facebook, but on reflection I decided against it. For the time and effort I'd already put into the post (now deleted), there wouldn't be enough interest to justify spending the further time necessary to do it any justice. I'll post a condensed piece below the tracklist along with some videos which I've used, or found interesting during my own digging for information. Going forward, you'll find me on Twitter, music sites (Soundcloud / Mixcloud / Hearthis) or here. My Instagram will also be gone, although I didn't use it much in any case and I don't use Whatsapp (Signal is a good alternative).
I've put together a mix / selection of tracks which in one way or another, in my own mind, can be linked to the dangers, problems or leaving of social media. I've cut up and used some interviews or speeches from people involved in tech, journalism and even people who have been a part of the Facebook behemoth.
The tracklist below, as usual, links to the places where you can buy / listen to the artists legally. Please support the artists if you like any of the music contained within the selection.
Tracklist
02. Umber - It Just Fills The Hollow Spaces (w/ extracts from Sean Parker interview)
15. Cass. - Leaving
16. Oubys + Monolyth & Cobalt - Parallax Review (w/ extracts from Carole Cadwalladr Ted Talk)
25. Air - Realize
33. Beanfield - To Be Alienated (w/ extracts from Krishnan Guru-Murthy & Jaron Lanier Interview)
35. Up, Bustle & Out - Clandestine Operations (w/ extracts from Chamath Palihapitiya Interview)
I had planned on having my account closed by the end of 2019 but some broken ribs and a heavy bout of man flu prevented me from working on tidying up the loose ends on there, so it'll probably be end of January that I end up deleting things. If you have any interest in deleting Facebook yourself then you should be mindful of the fact that deactivation is not enough, Facebook still tracks everything you do online (and in some instances your physical movements) and shares that information with whoever wishes to buy it. Deleting Facebook properly means downloading the information they have on you, removing all the permissions you've given to apps over the years - it's quite an eye opener when you really dig down into it, and of course making sure you find alternative ways to follow things that interest you. In my case music obviously played a big part, but with the way Facebook now manipulates algorithms and what you see in your feed, I was seeing less of what I wanted to see and more of what they wanted me to see.
It's also a big bug bear of mine that Facebook has made our internet use much more lazy and has seriously harmed the creative industry. Think about how you used to use the internet before and in the early days of Facebook. I bet, that like me, it's become far different. Many sites that provided good content have vanished because Facebook has hoovered up viewers. Many sites that used to use simple advertising streams to fund their work have lost out because people rarely venture off Facebook or often only click through links on there - and that's where the revenue now goes.
Aside from all the reasons that most people probably already have some understanding of, like the micro-targeting of political adverts and mis-information, the fact that we can all see the ways people actually talk to each other online has changed so much over the past decade and how toxic it has become, I'm removing myself for the sake of my own mental health. I personally don't feel that Facebook is a healthy thing to have in my life. I, like many people, have a lot of challenges to overcome and constant feed of highlight reels, social lives, events, holidays, purchases, family moments, all interjected by adverts, videos, politics targeted in ways most of us don't truly understand isn't a healthy feed for me.
I know Twitter has some serious flaws to it too, but for me, it's less harmful than Facebook and I have more hope that Twitter will move in the right direction than I do for Facebook. They definitely need to sort out the bots, propaganda and hate pushers, just as Facebook does, but it is definitely encouraging that they don't accept paid for political adverts. I find Twitter a more reliable platform to follow music, sports, news and people that I want to hear from. It's less filtered than Facebook.
I've rambled on a bit more than I intended. Really, what I wanted to get across and haven't done very well is to say - You do you. I'm doing me. Just know that if the service is free then you are the commodity of value and that in reality we should all be more aware of technology, the implications of its use and probably be less inclined to use or trust the big tech giants. Below are some of the videos and a website you might find useful.
Further information to check -
The Social Dilemma - Netflix (This one is a more recent arrival and only arrived after I ditched Facebook)
The Great Hack documentary - Netflix
Facebook Criticisms - Wikipedia
