A detailed three hour video essay by Tantacrul on the rise, and soon after numerous privacy and foreign influence scandals, within one of the largest tech companies in the world, and how a website where you could talk with old classmates brought about everything from a vast decline in mental health to ethnic cleansing.
They arbitrarily decided which of my friends’ updates to show me, then started showing me more ads and “promoted content” (read: culture war incitement) than what’s going on with my friends. Lame.
Yeah, I definitely remember when they started showing things I didn’t ask for, and I thought “I don’t like that”, but I stuck around because I could ignore posts I didn’t care about.
It took a little while, but I eventually started to play “how far can I scroll before I get something I didn’t ask for?”
Shortly after that, I realized I actually had to start playing “how far until I get something I did ask for?”.
Once I realized that, I cut back significantly. I still go from time to time when I’m stuck waiting in line or something, but it broke my daily habit. I miss what it used to be, but I certainly don’t miss what it is.
I immediately opt out of any platform that aggressively tries to decide what content I consume.
Yeah I just wanna see pictures of my friends’ pets, kids and art. Not posts trying to bait me in to arguing about whether or not She-Hulk should be twerking (She should btw) or if rice is woke. 🙄