"I'm sorry. I just can't do this anymore. I'd like to be able to say it's not you, it's me, but the reality is...it is you. I'm tired of the drama, the thinly veiled insults, the game requests. Why do people I don't even know want to friend me just because we happen to know someone in common? And, this is really shallow, I know, but your name - it's just weird. Things used to be great between us but what used to work in this relationship just isn't working anymore. I think it's time to say goodbye, Facebook"
I've been thinking about this a little bit, can you tell? It isn't hard feelings over being insulted by family - let's just say it was a contributing factor. I don't know that I will actually do it, but it's fun to think about. I probably will just do a really serious bit of house-cleaning instead.
I managed to swing an invite to the new social media site Ello and although I know absolutely no one there yet, I like it. The appearance and functionality appeals to the designer in me. And I even get the name :) It is simple and modern and no ads - a big plus! You can follow people as friends or as "noise" (general chatter). It's a system I like because they don't know how you have them classified at all, allowing you to filter through what you see without hurting feelings. You can click on Noise and visually skim through it all, landing on whatever looks interesting for a closer look. I have a bunch of invites I can send out, but the problem I see is that unless people are really fed up with Facebook, they probably won't leave it. Most people will stick with what's familiar even if it sucks.
I personally don't really care for Twitter. I don't like using abbreviated speech/text patterns and I find it awkward. Also, it seems like it is mainly for celebrities and wanna-be celebrities. I think some people have a Twitter account so that they can post on celebs feeds and act like they are friends. And every company has a Twitter account, but has anyone beside me noticed that they don't respond to you if you have a real problem? I have tried to get info from Verizon, Belkin, and a few others about various situations, etc. and never get a response. A scenario pops into my head of a social media powered helpline in which a person, feeling invisible and voiceless, makes a post asking for someone to acknowledge their existence and gets ignored. (Yes, I have an appreciation for dark humor and irony)
Don't get me wrong - I'm not against social media at all. I just wish we had more control over it, better filters, etc. If your grandmother posts tons of pics of abused animals and your stomach can't take it anymore, what do you do? You can't 'un-friend' Grandma. You want to block the images, not Grandma, right? But right now the options are clumsy and wind up blocking more than the intended target. If there are more sophisticated filters available on Facebook that can weed out those offensive posts while leaving everything else intact, I sure don't know where they are. The filters they currently have in place are complicated and awkward and don't always work as expected.
Okay, so I can't really quit FB because I have some friends and family there that wouldn't know how to function any other place. Well played, Facebook - well played. You've won this round, but I will do some tidying up and continue to contemplate my options.
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