The k2p blog

Four weeks ago my irritation at Facebook’s intrusive ads and suggestions and WhatsApp’s insistence on new terms and conditions made my mind up for me.

1. I stopped using Facebook.
2. I stopped using Twitter (which I didn’t much use anyway).
3. I deleted Instagram and Tik Tok (which I had installed but never used).
4. I have not used Messenger in 6 months.
5. I am weaning myself away from WhatsApp and shifting to Signal (95% done).
6. I am ignoring LinkedIn and Pinterest.

It has only been a month and is still an experiment. But I have no immediate plans to return and it is my hope that I will not.

My use of text messages has increased somewhat.

I have not deleted FB and WhatsApp and LinkedIn yet and can still see that I have many hundreds of unread notifications. But I choose to decline to open the notifications.

I see that Facebook is working to “integrate” WhatsApp and Messenger. I see that the users of these platforms are merely suppliers of data and the customers are the advertisers. I see that the platforms are increasingly trying to first predict the behaviour of the users but are also actively trying to manipulate users into “preferred” behaviour. I choose to abstain.

So I don’t know what I am missing. But, more importantly, I don’t miss what I must have missed. I am pretty sure that more than 99% of what I have missed was not directed specifically at me.

If it is important enough they can call me or send me a text or send me an email.

This entry was posted on April 18, 2021 at 10:21 pm and is filed under Social media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.