Could you wave goodbye to Facebook?

It’s hard to believe that the social media giant could have a fall from grace, but with #deletefacebook trending over recent weeks, I began to ask myself, could I, or would I, ever be able to truly say goodbye to Facebook?

In case you missed it, or in case you couldn’t get your head around the mess that is the Facebook data scandal – here’s what’s been occuring.

• It was revealed that a company called Cambridge Analytica had managed to get hold of the personal data from 50 million Facebook profiles.
• An app by a professor called Aleksandr Kogan was created as a ‘fun personality assessment’, but the data and answers to questions provided were sold on to Cambridge Analytica, and used to map out voter behaviour in 2016, both on opinions towards Brexit, and on the US presidential campaign.
• The app was voluntarily downloaded by around 270,000 people, but the app also gained access to the details of the user’s friends, none of whom had given consent for their data to be captured.
• The data scandal was exposed via a whistleblower who sold their story to the Guardian.
• Facebook are denying that this is a data breach, stating that the app picked up information in a legitimate way, however they admit that their rules were violated when the data was sold on.
• Facebook is now known to have been aware of the problem since 2015, but done nothing to protect users other than asking the recipients to delete it.
• People are now questioning what if anything they should put on Facebook and whether their data is safe.

Light night Mark Zuckerberg faced a host of tough questions, with many answers left unclear, and an apology, that Facebook, in effect, has let us down.

First things first, I should say here, that as a blogger, and an avid user of Facebook and Instagram (owned by Facebook), a lot of my data is pretty public, and I have been on Facebook for over 10 years.

Whilst I use it as a medium for my blog, my personal use has definitely declined over recent years.

Facebook has been with me through a lot – everything from my first ever Facebook status – “What’s all this about then?” to break ups, make ups, meet ups, pregnancies, births and deaths. Some of the happiest and most painful moments of my life have been shared with friends on this medium. 1000s of happy memories, photos that make me beam with joy, and days that I will look back on with nothing but smiles.

The idea of keeping in touch with friends who would otherwise drift out of my life was too much of a pull. I love seeing their photos, their updates, their holidays and weddings.

Except Facebook tried to get clever, and now? … I don’t see any of that at all.

For me, Facebook is no longer fit for purpose. 

Last week someone I went to school with gave birth. I didn’t even know she was pregnant. She had put updates on Facebook, but I hadn’t seen them, despite following her and being ‘friends’ with her on FB since 2011. Facebook for some reason assumed they knew better than me about the kind of content I would find interesting, and prioritised a viral video of a puppies on a slide, or an article informing me that smelling my partners farts is healthy (yes really) over my school friends pregnancy announcement. Because YES facebook – this is more important than someone bringing another human being into the world.

I rarely update my Facebook status these days, with the exception of some photos of the girls for my family who live far away.

If it wasn’t for the blog, I ask myself, would I even want to use Facebook at all??

With these latest revelations and more and more people wondering whether their data is safe, more and more people will be deleting Facebook, meaning more and more of my posts went get read via this source. Facebook has gone from being one of my biggest referrers to one of my smallest.

However, I like to think that some of my posts help some of you – whether it be knowing youre not the only sleep deprived soul, whether it’s someone who had a difficult c-section recovery, someone who’s child doesn’t eat, or someone who’s just starting a fitness journey, I hope the posts that I share on Facebook do have some interest and reach those who will actually enjoy them.

But as for being a social Media channel for the future??? Who knows.

What are your thoughts on Facebook?