May 10
31
Quit Facebook Day – Riiiight.
So today is “Quit Facebook Day” – but something tells me it will amount to less than a hill of beans at Zuckerberg’s office.
Facebook has become ubiquitous alongside texting for most of today’s teens and sadly, preteens. Their rampant sharing of inane high school and pre-high school content will follow them into their late -teens and -ties and they will have developed a life shared online.
I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing – but it is the way of today and tomorrow. Zuck has said that he believes that the future is open – shared – public. I question whether he regrets any of his prior openness given light of recent events of shared messages and less than thankful comments about his users.
Throughout my ‘extrication’ process I’ve been asking questions, and reflecting on the merits and failures of facebook. Not as a tool or business, but in terms of my use of the system. Facebook has not in my opinion done anything ‘wrong’. They have pushed boundaries, and created a new standard for openness, but as far as my account is concerned, haven’t done anything not detailed in the terms of service. I have no ‘legal’ quibble with them, merely a decision-making process to follow. Do I want to associate with facebook? I’ve said all along that if you don’t like the menu or the chef you don’t eat at the restaurant. But what about stopping there for drinks to meet up with some friends?
What has come around the Horn for me is that there is tremendous value in Facebook – or at least the network that comes with it. Do we throw out the baby with the bathwater?
I think as a person concerned with technology and involved in the social media ‘scene’ or as a marketer facebook isn’t negotiable. It’s become a channel unto itself, like the internet itself was 15 years ago. Since I announced that I would be leaving facebook I’ve received emails, texts and phone calls that amounted to mourning on the part of others. Not mourning mourning – like losing a pet mourning – but a sense of loss, like I had been lost to time – at least until I called to see what we were doing on the weekend.
Is this how important this connection has become to the populace? That connection to facebook has become a connection to others. The tool has disappeared behind the advertising and Zynga games. Truly – it’s become a platform for real relationships.
Facebook has become the duct tape, binding folks together. It has a light side, and a dark side remember.
So – perhaps the right solution is to use the platform, the right way. Use facebook to my advantage. Use it to connect people, but to control where those connections go. Want to chat – email me. Want to see what I’m up to? Read my blog. Want real time connection? Twitter me. Want to share games, poker chips and sheep? Uhhh no.
A platform implies that you control what is built on top. As long as there is a way to retain control of that construction – then facebook provides a service that can’t be denied.
I guess I get to find out how to delete content from facebook now, since I know that my account is still there – waiting for me.
