Facebooxit: I’m Dialing Down My Facebook Usage

January 28, 2025 · by · in Family & Friends

[I posted this today on my Facebook page.]

[Once again, Prof. Mark Lemley inspired me to act.]

I’ve had a Facebook account for almost 20 years. It’s been an essential part of my online identity and daily routine ever since. I’ve shared my good and bad news, I’ve deepened friendships and made some new ones, I’ve kept up with people I care about, and I’ve learned a lot. Facebook has made my life materially and demonstrably better over the years.

(Note: I never installed Instagram or Facebook on my phone and don’t plan to. I use WhatsApp very rarely and only for limited purposes).

Facebook’s recent moves–seemingly made principally to please Pres. Trump–have bewildered me. I never assumed Facebook genuinely cared about its users’ interests, and Facebook has repeatedly acquiesced to foreign censorship edicts. Despite my lowered expectations, I’m still disappointed. Facebook’s changes are unlikely to improve the experience for any good-faith user. Further, Facebook proved that it will discard its editorial autonomy for low-probability odds of obtaining political favoritism. Even if my day-to-day experience on Facebook probably won’t change, Facebook’s valorization of low-quality content makes me uncomfortable being here. (I had an identical reaction to Musk’s changes to Twitter).

Faceboo-xiting will not be an overnight thing for me. It will be a multi-step disengagement.

Step 0 was to configure Facebook’s privacy settings, which I did a while ago. EFF provides some guidance.

Step 1: For many years, Facebook has had prominent visibility in my browser. I keep about a half-dozen tabs always open, including my email, calendar, RSS reader (Feedly), and some social media, including Facebook. I engage with each of those tabs multiple times an hour. Later this week, I’ll close Facebook’s tab. I’ll still visit Facebook for now, but more like once a day instead of several times an hour. This may not sound like a big change, but it is a different mindset for me.

In a few months, I’ll evaluate a Step 2 to stop cross-posting my social media content at Facebook. (I usually make identical posts to Mastodon, Bluesky, Facebook, and LinkedIn).

For now, Bluesky is my primary social media home. Find me there.