I’ve given Facebook the kick. It happened on 17th November 2012.
Yes – I’ve deactivated my account and downloaded all my posts.
When one attempts to leave FB after some four years, it becomes apparent that there is some strange kind of ‘force’ pulling you back. It is really hard to define. It’s not exactly anxiety. It is some vague sense of loss or isolation. It’s a ‘what will I do next without it?’.
But then I thought to myself, “Who are these people?..They don’t know me as a person nor do I know them as individuals. So what’s the real loss?” I’d given many of them repeated notice that I was departing and how to follow me if they wished to Google plus. Only two of about 25 did so and these were two people who I’ve never met in person – and some who were childhood classmates did not follow or email.
Sure – I’m not popular at all. Perhaps I should be weeping about that, some might think – and those are just the type who are jostling to be part of some ‘herd’ somewhere. They cannot – will not – stray. Their existence is defined by ‘the herd’ and they must obey their herd instincts that control their minds.
All this makes me think. Perhaps, the likes of Facebook are exploiting primitive herd instincts – the need to be part of a group; part of a ‘big picture.. else you’re nobody’; ‘a need to be cool’; a need to spy on other people and compare them to yourself. Is that how stupid our humanity has become? I do think so; cuz there are close to a billion users of Facebook.
So what’s different about Google plus? Well, it’s similar to Facebook, but you don’t get this in-your-face nonsense, with adverts and stupid messages all the bledy time. My group of select folk behave themselves and are not paranoid people. I don’t feel a need to rush on to social media all the time. So while there are similarities to FB, Google plus is so different. It’s strange but true and good.
