I have been concerned about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. So like many people I downloaded the information Facebook has about me…and it’s pretty spooky.
Facebook has a record of everything I have ever posted, everything I’ve ever clicked on, everything that I’ve liked…pretty much anything you’ve ever done on Facebook. I get that.
But what I don’t like is that I don’t have rights to my information. Once I click, watch, listen, save, post on Facebook, it is no longer my information, but that information belongs to Facebook. And this is what Facebook uses to charge advertisers and such.
I get that Facebook has to do this to make money.
What I don’t like is I don’t trust Facebook to protect my information…hello? Cambridge Analytica?
So, since I have some time to chill out at home, I’ve gone through and deleted pretty much all information about me on Facebook as I can…it took over 2 hours…I know you don’t have that kind of time…it’s a lot of time unless you’re resting after a heart procedure like me.
I got to the point where it was so frustrating deleting things that I actually cosidered deleting FB altogether.
But here’s the reason why I didn’t.
Facebook is a fantastic tool. It is a wonderful way of staying in touch with people. If I were to delete Facebook, I really would miss our interactions. Because Facebook for me is really about relationships.
That’s the reason why I am no longer going to “Like” any of your posts!!! And I invite you to do the same. Here are two reasons why I will no longer “Like” any of your posts.
- I don’t appreciate having my information used by anyone else for their purposes – Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, advertisers, etc
- It’s lazy. “Like”ing something requires almost no thought. And my friends are more important than that. I use Facebook to interact with you because I value you. Therefore, I will make time to comment on items rather than clicking “Like”.
So will you join me in using Facebook as a tool to help us stay connected?
Praxis: Faith in Action 