#Microblog Monday 187: The Emotional LinkedIn
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There have been a lot of posts written in the past week or so about deleting your Facebook account; the pros and cons of doing so after the emergence of the Cambridge Analytica disaster.
My favourite was one in Quartz that referred to Facebook as “the emotional LinkedIn.” What LinkedIn is to career networking and the unemotional side of connections, Facebook is to keeping every era of our life close. Even if you cull your list, shedding people as you age, it is still a place to emotionally network. It is where I go to connect with all the IF bloggers who have left infertility blogging.
The other headers resonated, too: Online Memory Lane or Your Digital Identity. It is those things as well.
I check Facebook once or twice a day, scrolling for a few minutes each time. Maybe if I used it more or used it differently, I would have other feelings towards the site. But as is, the amount and way I personally use it leaves mostly warm-to-neutral feelings despite the frustration that every time I log in, I feel like I’m being used as much (or really, more, since my information isn’t being used by Facebook but instead passed along to others) as I’m using.
Where are you right now with Facebook?
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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.
| 1. | Lori Lavender Luz | 9. | torthuil | 17. | Stephanie (Travelcraft Journal) |
| 2. | Cristy | 10. | Chandra Lynn (Pics and Posts) | 18. | Failing at Haiku |
| 3. | Loribeth (The Road Less Travelled) | 11. | Mali (A Separate Life) | 19. | Pr@ gun |
| 4. | Journeywoman | 12. | Mali (No Kidding) | 20. | Amber |
| 5. | Jewish IVF | 13. | Virginia | 21. | Inexplicably Missing |
| 6. | Empty Arms, Broken Heart | 14. | Counting Pink Lines | ||
| 7. | Isabelle | 15. | Not My Lines Yet | ||
| 8. | Rileys Mama | 16. | Failing at Haiku |
20 comments
Feeling smug for never having signed up.
Probably wouldn’t feel smug unless you have no accounts on the Internet under your real name. You have a Gmail account, which means you have a GAID. You surf the web, which means you are tracked by pixels whether or not you have a Facebook account (https://www.themarysue.com/facebook-targeted-ads/). It’s really scary how much data is collected, especially once you see it demonstrated in action.
Envying Nicoleandmaggie.
I left over two years ago and I don’t miss it at all. Yes my social circle feels much smaller now that I’m not on it, but is it really? Was I really cultivating true connection on that site by liking photos and commenting on carefully curated words? I don’t think so, which is why I left. FB made me feel less connected overall. Now I can focus on the few relationships in my life that might really serve me.
I deleted my account in 2012. There are moments I wish I had that connectivity, but given all the recent news I’m grateful that I’m no longer on the site (one of many, many reasons).
Emotional Linked In works.
I’m on Twitter more. Though I seldom post on twitter because I can’t target messages.
I use Facebook regularly. I am an admin for two different groups for clubs of which I am a member. For the most part, I enjoy the site.
I have my privacy settings as “locked down” as the site permits, and I check them periodically to ensure that they have not been changed. Apart from that, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about my information on there. I can tell by what Facebook suggests to me that it actually doesn’t know me well at all.
I’m on fb regularly and use it as a main form of staying in touch with people I don’t see regularly. I don’t post anything private and understand that anything I do add there can become public info. When something is free, you’re the product.
Unrelated, I want to say how much I appreciate these posts and your blog in general as a predictable meeting spot. Over the course of our journey I’ve stumbled across some great bloggers. At first we were all going through the same thing but as time went on and people were successful in their treatment they inevitably stopped updating and checking in. It’s been great to find the coffee-shop equivalent online where not only are people still actively posting and connecting but being somewhere before/during/after fertility treatment gives a common ground to start from. I really appreciate it.
Wishing you a very happy Pesach.
I’m still there and don’t plan to leave anytime soon. It’s how I keep in touch with distant friends & relatives, and I belong to several groups on there too. Like Sharon above, I do make a point of check my account settings from time to time, because they keep changing stuff, which is pretty annoying. A few of my friends have checked their settings too & deleted some personal info & photos since this news broke, but so far, my friend count has remained steady… nobody has left entirely, at least not yet.
I use Facebook. I never do those online quizzes, and won’t start now. Not that I’m in any doubt that various corporations own my data. I guess I don’t care terribly much that they will try to advertise to me. As for trying to put me in a political box, good luck with that. On my list of social media concerns, I’d put censorship and mob behaviour higher than Cambridge Analytica, though I’m not minimizing it either. But the functionality and opportunity still outweigh risk for me. I like Regie Hamm’s commonsense take on it.
https://regiehammblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/22/i-see-you/
Meh. I can take it or leave it most days. I do use it to keep in touch with family and friends. And I belong to a few groups that I thoroughly enjoy.
I enjoy facebook but can find myself annoyed with some people and the theme of their posts….which is when I find myself deleting them. This is an online world that I create and if I don’t like going there, I will change it. Sometimes I go there too much which is why I gave it up for lent and have missed out on hearing news about friends (someone needing surgery, someone moving, etc.) – but I don’t miss the drama or the complaining. Everything in moderation.
I have a FB account and use it to keep up with friends and family, though I myself post very rarely (I comment a bit more frequently, but not wildly. I don’t post pictures, those I share directly with friends/family via email — mind you, it’s gmail…). I have never used FB to access (or log in to) an app or a game or any other site, and I use a Chrome extension (also available on other browsers, I believe) called “Fluff Busting Purity” that allows me to control a lot of what FB shows me and how — I have it set so that I do not see ads, or videos that friends share, or posts from friends that include the words “fitness” or “workout” (I have a friend who is on a bit of an annoying tear posting updates about her activities in this realm at present. Before the 2016 election I refused to see any posts that included the word “Trump.”) I do belong to several groups on FB that allow anyone accessing my data to know that I’m opposed to the current administration, so certainly I’m not keeping much clandestine in that regard.
Joined late last year solely because my support network had migrated there after a forum melt-down. I will stay on, just to cheer on people I care about and get support, but I don’t use it at all other than that.
I deleted my account almost 2 years ago but I know I’m tracked many other ways, the cost of using the internet. The emotional aspect of it was just too much for me. It started to feel intrusive, even though I was entirely responsible for inviting all of these people into my psyche.
I’m still on, although I am not using it as much lately. I’m like Torthuil, I don’t ever do those quizzes. They seemed pretty transparently like data mining thingies, and I doubt an algorithm can tell me what my spirit animal is (although I TOTALLY trust those Hogwarts House links you sent out, ha). I love having a place to put pictures and remember stuff in albums, and I can connect with people I live nowhere near. I guess I’m in it eyes wide open to my lack of privacy, no plans to leave anytime soon.
I don’t love Facebook, but I’m not in a hurry to delete it either. I have pages and belong to groups. Event invites tend to come through Facebook. It’s a good way to track down a friend you have out of date contact info for.
I’ll probably stick with it for now. But I’m rooting for whatever Next Thing will replace it.
I have asked friends if, when doing Fb quizzes, they unchecked the box that shared information about their friends. Most say “no.” I suspect they were unaware they could even do it. And I hope they now understand why I asked.
I’m on Facebook way too much. I’ve connected with so many from the infertility world there, and also connect with family and friends. There are aspects I don’t like, but the good far outweighs the bad for me.
FB… It’s kind of had it’s dsy… I’m not attached. It has pretty much degenerated into memes, gifs and funny animal videos rather than personalised content on my feed