Facebook is So 2016

By ROB PATTERSON

Let’s face it: As a form of entertainment, Facebook, which hit two billion monthly users last year, has become a titan that is hard to avoid, much less escape. Even when, as I sometimes do, we may really wish to get away from it, even stop using it.

Especially after the recent revelations of data gleaning by Cambridge Analytica. And growing evidence that the online social network did have its effect on the election of Trump. That’s more than enough reason alone to feel compelled to get off Facebook, and hardly all the good reasons one might want to.

I only came across a few of my 2,200 or so Facebook friends announcing that they were deleting their accounts in protest. And at least as many saying that people who were leaving might better just go quietly than making some big to-do over their departure. I found a point in that, as one of the ongoing irritants on the social network is how it fosters a narcissism in some of its users.

I hope I’m not guilty of that failing. And one indication that I might not be is that I find myself posting less and less on Facebook. And when I do, it’s usually a news story I come across in the morning with a brief comment, most often sarcastic, sardonic or ironic.

And it matters far less to me than it did in the past if anyone comments or not on what I post. As well, it matters less to me what’s happening among my friends on the site than it used to a few years back. Used to be a daily thing to check in on FB; there were times I spent hours posting and commenting. Now I maybe do so a couple times a week at most, not saying much.

The type and nature of posts people I know make has changed over the years. There used to be near-endless posts of people’s meals, something I found a bit irksome. Now I rarely see any.

Among my FB friends, there continues to be lots of reposts of news stories, many of which I’ve already seen, but at times ones I haven’t that I am glad to come across. And sometimes editorial/opinion pieces on the current gruesome state of the nation and its politics that delight me with cogent and sometimes funny observations.

I still fall prey to my mischievous side and bait obnoxious right-wingers who comment on friends’ pages (few if any people I know lean conservative, and those who may seem to keep mum about it). It is amusing how, when challenged, they never respond with facts about a topic. Instead they invariably start making lame attempts at insults, usually ones at a juvenile schoolyard level (like – who else? – Trump), which I find mildly amusing. But that’s grown predictable and boring.

And I cannot even recall when the last time was that I became involved in a substantive discussion there.

In a way I’m kind of over Facebook. By now I’ve largely caught up with the basics of what the people I knew or had professional contacts with before it – which is the vast majority of those 2200 or so FB friends – are now doing in their lives. And I’ll stick around to at least keep those contacts active.

To me it’s just another part of life. And as it plays a lesser role in mine, there’s enough in real time and other entertainment to keep me occupied.

Populist Picks

Movie: The Young Victoria – A delightful tale of a young woman becoming Queen, developing a true love, and coming into her own. It first struck me as possibly and idealization, but seems after checking to be rather accurate historically.

CD: Ferry Boat by The Chapin Sisters – The two daughters of veteran folkie Tom Chapin – and nieces of late pop-folkie Harry Chapin of hit single “Taxi” fame – weave their voices together wonderfully and write soulful and alluring songs. Full disclosure: I wrote a press release announcing the release of this EP, and was quickly charmed by their music.

Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email orca@prismnet.com.

From The Progressive Populist, August 15, 2018

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