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I Pulled the Plug on Facebook Today
I received a message that I had violated community standards on a post that I had written. I found it odd since I haven’t posted anything on Facebook since February. Odder still since the post wasn’t available for me to review. I observed the same standards that Ricochet requires of its’ members on Facebook. All my posts were available to friends, I never posted for public consumption.
I’ll be brutally honest, I consider people like Zuckerberg, and Google execs – techie-idiot savants. Community standards are quite subjective and constantly morphing for techies that are moral relativists.
I deactivated my account and will send emails to close friends, and family to inform them of my decision. Ricochet is now what I consider my only social media account.
Published in Culture
Well done, Doug! I left Facebook years ago and never regretted it. I never was on Twitter. Email and Ricochet are good enough for me!
You and CrossFit.
Janet despised Facebook, never had an account on it, and told me to stay off of it if I valued my privacy. On the other hand, she encouraged me to join Ricochet.
I’m probably overthinking this but do I understand that they dinged you for violating “community standards” without telling you how you did so?
That is correct.
I believe that is their MO.
Probably said “we have always been at war with Eastasia” when everyone knows that since last week we have always been at war with Eurasia.
I think the first time the term “community standards” entered the lexicon was 1957 and the Roth v US debate on pornography. Basically the court punted on that to give jurors the last word, and after all, who is better attuned to the standards of a local community than the people who live in it?
But that’s morphed into a perversion. Someone in San Francisco now gets to tell someone in Marietta, Georgia what his “standards” should be in his political and religious life, and what he may or may not say in a public forum.
Compound that with the nebulous definition of the word “platform.” For the Tech Lords it is their way of having their cake and eating it, too. They want the privilege to monetize your thoughts and your life without taking the responsibility of being legally liable for what you say. They want the immunity of common carrier status with the ability to censor you just the same.
My argument would be that 100% of all incoming traffic to your “platform” comes across federally regulated lines that are non-discriminatory in regard to their content.
Wow, a show trial without even a show.
EJ,
I think this is the political/legal pressure point to go after them with. If they want to avoid liability they must conform to “neutral platform standards”. This should have a formal definition created by and passed by Congress. From then on if they don’t inform someone of the specific violation of the specific rule they are in deep do do. If their claim is totally without merit a review board should be available to adjudicate disputes quickly. Legal redress should still be available if the result doesn’t satisfy.
Regards,
Jim
Bravo, Doug!
I’ll never leave Facebook because I was never on it nor ever will be. So take that Zucky.
I’m with @PHCheese. I did a post over at RushBabe49.com about how I will never use Facebook or Twitter. Take that squared, Zuck!
Not all of my friends are Ricochet friends. Facebook is good for family pictures and maintaining non-political contacts. I can save assertions for here.
See there, conspiracy theories (check!) hate speech (check!) No wonder you got banned. If you want to maintain a sufficiently positive social score, you need to praise the dear leader and regularly praise his dictates. Hail
CaesarZuck!Mark Zuckerberg is the Kindest, Bravest, Warmest, Most Wonderful Human Being I’ve Ever Known in My Life.
You didn’t use any potentially offensive words like “he” or “she” did you?
Wait….. People still do Facebook?
I have to say that although I hate facebook, I do need it for work, and I also enjoy staying in touch with friends from all eras of my life, from elementary school to the present.
I used it just last week to find a father that CPS said couldn’t be found. Took me two minutes on facebook and only ten minutes to get a reply.
I’ve considered pulling the plug on Facebook but haven’t pulled the trigger. But then, I’ve considered pulling the plug on Ricochet as well, yet haven’t pulled the trigger here either
It’s much easier to “unfollow” people who get under my skin on Facebook.
I don’t really understand the allure of Facebook in the first place. I’ve never subscribed to it but I don’t begrudge the people who like it. To each his own.
I heard of a poll taken recently where they asked Facebook users how much money they would take in order to give up Facebook for a year, or something like that. If I remember right, the average answer was about one-thousand dollars. Sounds like a good deal to me!
For me it’s still a very useful tool. My friends and family are strewn all over the world, and I’ve found it a very helpful way to stay in touch with them. Yes, it has its down sides, as any tool does. But I personally get a great deal of value from it.
Question, not just for Cliff, but for everybody. How is Facebook any better than just sending e-mails to people?
For me, it has the advantage that it’s more of a group setting. A place to update friends and family, and hear updates from them, in a more group setting, where emails more targeted. I have reconnected with people I’ve not seen in years, facilitated by Facebook. Could I have done that with email? Perhaps, but I find the grouping and “community center” feel of it to be better for me. I’ve been on it since 2006, and would not want to go back. But, that’s just me.
I constantly tell myself I should leave Twitter, which is both toxic and addictive. But Facebook is just fun. I don’t post politics there at all, so it’s just friends’ family and travel and Instant Pot chat.
Comrades, in classical Maoist-Marxist-Leninist self criticism it is up to the subject to evaluate his thoughts and actions and determine his deviationism from the proper dogma.
Sorry for being old-school and all that, but what about Myspace as an alternative to Facebook? It is still around, and should have functionality similar to Facebook. But it lacks the Zuck factor.
I’m still behind the curve on the memorization of the new gender pronouns. Most of my time is spent breaking the old work habit of using the pronoun “dumba**”, although it is gender neutral and is not race specific, nor ageist. Don’t tell anyone.
Congratulations! Ricochet’s the only social media I use also.
I hve one friend who’s been badgering me over the years to join Facebook. He tells me how great it is to get in touch with people ans keep up with friends and family. I pointed out I already do that with e-mail and texts. He calls me a Luddite, but I’m the one who drives a Camry hybrid with all the bells and whistles . . .
Facebook is a message board. It enables quick posting and quick browsing. It neatly organizes group conversations. It neatly organizes photos and pictures.
Facebook is a networking tool. One encounters friends of friends. One keeps in touch with distant relations not just by a very occasional email but by seeing photos and reflections from their present lives. The connections can be so simple and undemanding that one typically maintains connections with old coworkers and classmates that one never emailed.
Like any modern service, the service eventually degrades into subtle manipulations, annoyances, and intrusions as the company attempts to further monetize. Facebook is not as user-friendly as it used to be.
Myspace was a popular social site until, almost overnight, it was replaced. Facebook might similarly be supplanted by competition with little warning. They probably bought Oculus to enter the VR space in defense against emerging potentials.