You Found Me!!

Hey friends, welcome to my little corner of the internet!

You may have found me here because I am pulling back from social media and Meta products. I am doing this for a number of reasons, chief among them is privacy.

I legit feel like I just discovered The Matrix.

Social media platforms exist for one reason - to make money. They do this buy selling ads, of course, but primarily by collecting our data - our personal information, preferences, searches, habits, everything - and selling it. We technically consent to this when we sign up and agree to the terms of service and privacy agreements but they are long and written in technical language that is difficult for laymen to understand. We are presented with an access of information, knowing that we will scroll down and just agree to whatever it says. By using and uploading these products we are giving ownership of our intellectual data to a large, faceless entity that is not guaranteed to use it for our benefit.

Now I know some people say, "So what?" but the ethical implications and tracking make me uneasy. I'm having a Ron Swanson moment.

Most folks right now are struggling - mentally, financially, emotionally. Social media is supposed to connect us as community and make the world a little smaller. Their data collection and selling is MY data about ME. If anything, I should be profiting off of it, not some large corporation. Not an already rich capitalist that is hoarding money. Imagine if YOU were able to collect and pocket those profits, selling your "information packet" or not, based on your personal preferences. While Meta claims to not sell our personal data, I simply don't believe them.

In addition to selling our data, they admit to using our data to train AI. I do not consent to that. I do not consent to using my intellectual property to train artificial intelligence. I do not want my face or my words used out of context or for a product or service I do not support. AI is an area that is growing and learning quickly. We do not know the long term implications or what exactly it could be used for and I simply am not comfortable and opt out whenever possible. I want to interact with humans, sharing human thoughts and feeling with other humans.

There's also the issue of Meta's policy changes with the new administration and the re-elected president. Their decision to roll back DEI policies, eliminate fact checking, change their policies on hate speech, and put MAGAts in high positions of their leadership signal that this is no longer a platform that is safe for me to share my life and information. Continuing to engage there implies complicity in their policies. I am choosing to opt out. As Eliza Hamilton said, "I'm erasing myself from the narrative". I am in the process of downloading my data. They do not make it easy or clear as it appears to be and I have almost 20 years of photos - of friends and family that have passed, of family milestones, of births and celebrations - that I do not want to lose. Unfortunately, there is no option to download photos, so I have to go through everything that they sent to ensure it's all there before removing from the site.

I hope to continue to connect with the valuable connections that I've made there. I hope to still see updates from the friends I've made from across the globe.

If you've made it here, thank you and welcome. I'm so happy you're here.