To those who know me, my dilemma with Facebook is no secret. By participating, I believe I'm supporting someone I truly believe to be a detriment to us all. It is glaringly obvious that his raison d'être is money and very little else. I get it. We live in a capitalist society and we're in business to generate revenue. But when that desire to generate revenue undermines our democracy, we've got a problem larger than anything Houston can handle.
I never had the love affair with FB that I've witnessed with others. Granted, I enjoyed seeing articles that I may not have otherwise seen and when the terrorist attack took place in Paris at the time of Paris Photo, I greatly appreciated being able to know that my friends were unharmed. Oh, and the birthday reminders are helpful. But I always viewed it as a time suck and was always amazed at peoples' willingness to share intimate, personal information with total strangers. And odd as it may seem, I really don't care what anyone has for lunch.
What is possibly most disturbing though is the notion that you must be on Facebook. Or what? Will lightening strike? I cannot account for a single piece of business that was initiated by virtue of being on Facebook and as for "friends", having hundreds of them is just unnatural. I prefer archaic means of cultivating relationships anyway - via human contact. Feeling like a hostage is not a good feeling, especially when it's unfounded.
For better or worse, social media is here to stay. Let's make sure it evolves into platforms with leadership that will strive for and maintain some sense of a moral compass. Facebook isn't it. I have every confidence that not only is there life after Facebook, there is a better one at that.
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