Author: Susan Brackney
One of the best ways I can think of to resist would-be authoritarians—and to protect yourself in the process—is to break up with Facebook once and for all. After all, we're the reason that that particular social media platform has its value. Without us, they got nothin'.
Breaking up with Facebook doesn't mean just stepping away for a while or never logging into your account. It means permanently deleting your account. Nuke it! We're talking digital mushroom clouds across the nation.
Before I go too much further here, let me say this: you won't have to lose track of your friends and family just because you dumped Zuck. You have options, and they're far superior to Facebook in a few ways—we'll to get to that in a minute.
Right now, about half of all Americans are Facebook users. Now, if even half of those American Facebook users ditched the platform, it would certainly jam up the fascist works. (And, hey, imagine what we could do if our Canadian brothers and sisters joined us in this effort!) You see, Facebook earns about $50 to $60 per North American user each year.
If the platform lost half of its U.S.-based users, its annual revenue would be slashed by about $6 billion. Advertisers would begin to look elsewhere or at least try to pay a lot less since they'd be getting a lot less for their money.
Weakening some billionaires is one thing. Protecting ourselves from future harm is another. This administration appears to have a penchant for ignoring due process and the rule of law. Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the State Department, and similar groups routinely monitor social media and are stepping up these activities. By deleting your Facebook account, you could very well be insulating yourself and your loved ones if (or when) the sh!t really hits the fan.
By deleting your Facebook account, you'll also get back some of your free time. The average user spends an hour a day on the platform—an hour! That's about 30 hours every month. Imagine all that you could do with an extra 30 hours a month. Instead of assigning shocked or angry or sad emoticons to the latest crop of Facebook posts about various human and civil rights abuses, you could be sending real-world letters and postcards to your elected officials. (Trust me, these really freak them out.)
Deleting your Facebook account will also reduce your exposure to misinformation, trolling, gaslighting, sensationalized content, and all of the other yucky stuff that has been purposefully crafted to confuse and divide us as a people. (Remember for fascism to take hold, we all need to feel afraid, out of sorts, and at each others' throats.)
Several research studies have linked reduced social media usage with improved mood, improved sleep, and reduced anxiety. I could keep going and going here.
Ready to tell Zuck to go f*ck a duck?
Here's your first step. Examine your Facebook friends list. Decide who you really want to stay in touch with. For these folks, make sure you have their phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses. (Ironically, that may entail using Facebook Messenger to get those details.)
Next, if you want to, you can download a copy of your facebook profile, posts, etc. to keep for your own records. (FAQ about that process is here: https://www.facebook.com/help/212802592074644?helpref=faq_content)
When you're ready for the nuclear option, follow the instructions here to delete your Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674?helpref=faq_content
(Incidentally, Facebook will try to talk you into just temporarily deactivating your account, but doing so won't do near the damage that deleting does. Also, in the case of deactivations, the platform along with all of those other prying eyes still have access to your valuable data.)
Time to institute what I affectionately call Replacebook—a decentralized system for keeping in touch with people you know, love, and trust.
If you used Facebook Messenger, you can set up one or more group chats in Signal. (https://signal.org/download/)
Although it may feel a little clunky to use at first, Discord (https://discord.com/download) is a fantastic alternative to Facebook. You can set up your own Discord server—think of this as a private space to which you invite your trusted circle of friends and family. You have a personal Discord server link that you only share with those you want to include. Within that server, you can set up different channels for specific subject areas, groups of people, upcoming events—you're really only limited by your imagination.
Discord also has voice and video capabilities. Oh, and you won't be targeted by some weird algorithm serving up a bunch of obnoxious ads and you shouldn't have to field strange comments from bots. (You might have some strange comments from Uncle Louis—but only if you decided to include Uncle Louis in your Discord server. See how that works?)
Last but not least, for people who live somewhat close to one another, why not get together in person once in a while? Have a potluck. Play cards. Do crafts. Sing. Do something unplugged and in person. That is a real connection—and it is a kind of connection that you likely won't find on Facebook.