Illustration by Jim Carrey posted on his twitter page:
https://twitter.com/JimCarrey/status/976128958352642048
Oh, Facebook - you disappoint me. First your pathetic initial response to the spread of fake news on your platform and then this recent data breach. Despite these two major issues, I was already on the fence. I no longer support this platform, so it's time to say goodbye - likely forever.
Unless you've been living under a rock, Facebook has been
all over the news lately. My biggest concern is the spread of false
information, a.k.a. 'fake news'. This is propagated by actual people, which is
not Facebook's fault directly, but since it has such a large effect - such as
swaying a presidential election, Facebook needs to be held responsible.
I appreciate and agree with Mark Zuckerberg's candid response regarding the data breach: "We have a responsibility to protect your data,
and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you." No, you don't.
Apart from this, I didn't like what I was seeing on Facebook and what I was personally getting out of using it. I had high hopes, like Myspace before it. Remember MySpace? 'A place for friends'. I liked the idea of a medium where I could share thoughts and ideas with my close friends and family. This worked to some extent, but many of my attempts likely got drowned out by all the social media 'noise' as well as advertisements disguised as 'suggested posts'.
I'm predicting Facebook will have a similar fate to Myspace. There's event a hashtag 'delete Facebook' movement currently happening. Even earlier however, I started to see that the younger generation just doesn't use Facebook as much as my generation. It would seem platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat are just more 'hip' than Facebook these days - just as Facebook was towards the end of Myspace.
Unfortunately there aren't many good alternatives. I was hoping Google+ would catch on, but it never did. Perhaps it will come back into the spotlight now that Facebook is going downhill - I just hope they do a face-lift soon. Unfortunately the Facebook parent company owns Instagram and Whatsapp! Then we are left with Twitter and Snapchat. Sadly Twitter was among the top platforms, along with Facebook that bolstered the spread of 'fake news'.
I'm thinking of going old school. If I want to communicate with a handful of close friends and family, then I will just email them. That way there will be no distracting ads or a 'wall' full of nonsense to get in the way with my communication with them.
Here are some more related links:
How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions
Distribution of fake news article
Guide to backup data and delete your account
Facebook: how to backup your data (pictures, message history, etc)
The Verge: On quitting Facebook
Business Insider: Facebook takes down accounts from Russian troll farm
CNN: Australia investigating Facebook data scandal
