4 Reasons Why I Stopped Logging into Facebook

1. Anonymity. Aside from the measures that have been taken in the last few years to smash the use of alt accounts, FB goes beyond asking that you use your true identity. I find the prospect of scanning my state ID creepy and unwarranted, and believe that it discourages users from posting about controversial topics. During my stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline many of us experienced strange things happening with our messenger apps. Although I feel proper security denotes saying sensitive things in a secure location in person, not all of my fellows felt this way. To make a point, one day several friends and I got on FB and messaged one another about an action at the drill pad. We agreed to meet up, and bring as many people as we could to protest across the river. Of course, this was a fabricated action. Over the next three hours my frozen fingers held binoculars to my face, and watched. Sure enough, they moved a bunch of security to the exact spot we spoke of. I don't think FB stops at confirming your identity, everything you do is logged. I feel there is an incredible amount of evidence that this stored information is given out, without any warrants or notice. A vault 7 leak showed us that the NSA and CIA purposefully left security gaps open so they could exploit them, and some companies were aware of it. I believe this to be the situation with FB, and find this to be a serious breach of human rights. There isn't an iota of Anonymity left for users on the social media site.

2. Which brings me to my next big issue: Censorship. If the fact that your Facebook account is pending evidence against you should you choose to be a filthy radical isn't enough, how about the effort to silence you? I post a selfie and get dozens of likes, I write a post about my cat and all of my activist friends see these posts. I write about anything remotely political and the same people who see all my other nonsense are suddenly MIA. But what if it's just that no one cares Amy? That's the thing, until 2016 I made it a point to keep my friends list small. I only added close friends, and managed to keep my list under a 100 people. I now have 450+ friends, I've met most of them- at actions. Maybe 30 people on my friends list are strangers to me, all added over a strong connection on something political. I don't use the platform to post selfies, I use it to spread and receive information. I'm not the only one who says the algorithm does not favor this use of FB. Additionally, the live feature is so cool and such a great way to say something that most of your friends will see- until a cop enters the frame. I can't tell you how many times I had a clear feed, until I tried to use it for police accountability. I've gone back and watched live feeds from myself, and many others. Every. Single. Time. I will watch the feed become a pixelated horror that rekindles memories of 90's internet when it is centered on militarized police. Often the feed will be interrupted, allowing a blurry image and garbled voices to appear periodically. Call me paranoid if you must, but I have a strong conviction that we are being censored. It's not a long shot, when censorship is protected by the rules of Facebook.

Image from google, many possible original sources.

1. Zucced. If you haven't heard this before, it is a shortened version of the founders last name- used to describe content that is unceremoniously removed from FB. The phrase became known after many meme pages were zucced. It can also be heard in the context of fucked/zucked, when you are banned from posting, commenting, or sending messages for a number of days. Typically a 30 day ban, FB favors certain content to be subjected to the ban hammer. Notoriously anything critical of the platform or founder has been known to get zucced if it gets too big. There is a clear political influence in what warrants a ban, and what will be removed. Oddly enough graphic and fabricated videos are left alone, while videos that are far less graphic and controversial are hidden. Many people experienced the signature zucc during the 2016 election, when they expressed opposition to the Dem candidate Hillary Clinton who the founder supported. This is technically a continuation of point #2, but I felt this particular form of censorship deserved it's own paragraph.

One of the many famous memes

1. It doesn't enrich my life. Sure, if I want a giggle it can be found on FB. Let's be real though, almost everything on FB originated from a much better site. Outside of contacting a few friends without cell phones, FB doesn't offer me anything. Oftentimes I log out annoyed with humanity or simply bored. I find very little point in spending my time liking/commenting on my feed, and even fewer reasons to post. Why offer my perception for someone else to profit off of, and exploit? Since becoming active on steemit a few weeks back, I have experienced a revolution in thought. Power belongs to the people, wealth shouldn't be controlled by a third party- and I don't just mean monetary wealth. If I want to see a better future, I need to invest my time and energy into one. For me, I've chosen to walk away from spending my time on FB. We spend our time, it is a currency in itself. I believe that steemit is one of many budding platforms that will soon prove this widely. Here's to our growing community, and the internet's ability to take ground back!