Closing the Barn Door

I'm having trouble getting motivated to write this week, so I'm going to be lazy and jump on the anti-Facebook bandwagon.  I know that I said it was being over covered last week, but the new stories about The Zuck potentially doing some insider trading and how they have been scraping Android data from phones for years has got some creative juices stirring.

And now there's the newspaper ads that Zuckerberg took out.  You can read what you want into the ads as words like 'limit' and 'stopped apps like this from getting so much information' leave wiggle room for FB to provide some information to 'apps like this' and maybe more to other apps that aren't quite so like that.

All this begs the question of whether you should #deletefacebook.  The surface answer is easy: yes.  But there are consequences to everything, so lets look a bit closer.

First of All...

One of the first reasons not to bother with the whole thing is that it is already too late.  Facebook has your data and is not going to let it go.  Even deleting your account does not get rid of what they know about you.  Remember those pages of legal boiler plate that you signed when you up?  That End User License Agreement or Terms and Conditions or Contract with the Devil has a few loop holes.  While it does say that you have control over your data as it pertains to Facebook, it also says that third party apps may have their own set of rules.  Also, it does not help you with what other people choose to share about you.  That picture of you puking in the bar toilet that your friend posted?  Not your data.

So they already have it and you like cat pictures and seeing what your friends and family are up to.  Why bother?  Because they only know about the past you.  Future you may (will) change and those changes should be protected.  Because, even though the barn door has been left open (default to 'Public' on all posts) and the horses (your data) has escaped, you will have more horses in the future and should start changing your door closing habits now.

Second of All...

It's not just about you.  It's about all of the people that you connect with as well.  You are commenting on them.  They are commenting on you.  Who owns those comments?  The person commenting or the owner of the original post that prompted the comment?  Things get murky really quickly.

Instead, take a good hard look at why you actually use social media.  For me, this is easy.  I use it very sparingly.  I deactivated my FB account years ago, reactivated it to promote these blog posts that no one reads and have now deactivated it again.  Aside from that, I post links to these posts on Twitter, Google Plus, LinkedIn and Instagram.  I do not post much else on any of these with the exception of Instagram.  There, I post interesting photos I've taken, but try not to get too deep into who and what and why.  Look at the photos.  If they are interesting to you, then great.  If they aren't, then I do not feel any need to explain myself.

I am not arguing with friends and family.  I am not sharing location data.  I am not 'liking' local businesses or movements.  Those are the things that trigger key words and sell-able data.  Things that tell companies if you are pro this or anti that or likely to vote one way or another.  (Full disclosure: I have done all of those things in the past.  I stopped because I did not understand why I was doing it.  There was absolutely nothing in it for me.)

Third of All...

There is the whole 'login with Facebook' thing.  This is maybe the most dangerous part of this whole thing.  Using your FB account to manage all of your other accounts gives them access.  Maybe not to everything that you do in that other account (whatever it is), but it does let FB know that you use that account.  That you are a customer of that service.  Link that with all of the other things that you do put up on their service and they have a profile on what types of people use those types of accounts.

But really?  Delete it?

If you are asking me, you should absolutely delete your Facebook account.  And stop sharing on other accounts as much as you dare.  Granted, I'm an anti-social curmudgeon so I may not be the best for this kind of advice.  But I will say that I'm happier not worrying about how well my post is doing and which of my friends have liked it or commented on it.  And anti-social curmudgeons are not the only ones.  There are lots of reasons that not using social media will make you happier.

If you must share, do as little as possible.  Do not share location data.  Do not share vacation photos until AFTER you return.  Think about who else is being impacted by what you share.  Will your child thank you five/ten/twenty years from now when they are impacted by what you said about them as a minor?  Probably not.  Some countries even have laws.

So, go ahead and at least deactivate your account.  Try it for a month.  Really, a whole month.  You gave something up for Lent (maybe).  Now try something else for April.  Let's make it #nosocialapril.  Which will be spread by social media.  Yeah, that'll work.