Why I’m Not Using Facebook
- Bradley Melton
- Jan 27
- 9 min read
Updated: Jan 31
Do you ever wonder how much time you spend on social media?
Daily social media use reached a peak of 151 minutes a day in 2023 but dropped to 143 minutes a day in 2024. That's a lot of time for everyday use, over 2 hours on average. If you get you recommended 8 hours of sleep that's already 1/8th of your time for the day, out of 16 hours. After all, you're using social media right now to read this. In this post I will be going over why I have decided to not use my Facebook profile. I will leave it up as an olive branch for anyone that wants to see what I have been doing but I won't be checking it or anything. I think the future looks a little bleak for social media and maybe a little brighter for true communication. At the end of this post I will be going over what I see happening to the use of social media.
The most prevalent concern is that Facebook seems determined to follow in the footsteps of Twitter. This is concerning given the antisemitic, and vitriolic response to anyone not right leaning on the platform especially since Elon Musk bought the company. Given this transaction was stated to be for "free speech" it seems apt that what is meant is that they would like to be free of consequences. This has resulted in the use of slurs on the platform, including against LGBTQ+ individuals, which is the primary concern with the shift in Facebook.
Yes, I am deadnaming these companies because if they don't have enough respect for their non-heteronormative users. Why should I respect their disastrous attempt at rebranding.
This is the reason some have decided to boycott Facebook on January 20th to coincide with Trumps Inauguration. They are capitulating to the right in an effort to stay relevant. I have seen some reasoning that Zuckerberg is worried about European Union, EU, regulations against the company and hopeful Trump will help him. It is reasonable to point out they need a new audience pretty soon. The younger generation does not view the platform as favorably and so they may be trying to build a conservative audience to maintain their user base. Due to this potential motivation I don't see this trend reversing with the platform. Giving into the loud minority of individuals who want to make life harder for queer individuals seems to be the easy thing to do right now. I tried to get this out before the election but lost track of time due to school and life commitments.
Some people are concerned that this is a sign of growing intolerance against queer people. This position isn't entirely unfounded, however generational trends show a different picture. The LGBTQ+ community is not a monolith; we don't all feel the same about everything. Since the Silent Generation where the percentage of LGBTQ+ started at 1.1% of the adult US population there has been a consistent doubling of the percentage with each generation. This has reached 22.3% for Gen Z who are reaching adulthood in 2024. Given this trend the expected outcome is almost 50% of Gen Alpha will be LGBTQ+ by the time Gen Alpha is where Gen Z is now. That's 1 out of every 2 people. By that point we won't be a minority anymore but catastrophizing until then won't help you.
I can't tell you what you should do. What I am doing is I'm putting my perspective out there just trying to bridge the gap between heteronormative and queer individuals. I'm putting all my energy into any information that effects myself or my loved ones like LGBTQ+ Rights and Healthcare. Occasionally I will do stuff that I enjoy. One of my past times is analyzing media, so I started a YouTube channel to go over supernatural shows. I'll be discussing what the shows did well, what could have been done differently to help them succeed, and how more queer representation could have improved on what they did. But that's enough about me for now.
The point is that everyone needs to come up with a way to deal with the shifting landscape over the next 4 years. Maybe I am out of touch and I can't see through the clouds, but I don't think the answer is to move to a new platform. I might be presumptuous in saying this but given the change in daily social media use society seems to agree with me. In the next few sections I will be going over my problems with social media and what should be done about it.
I think the biggest problems with the current internet and social media can be broken into 3 spheres that all contribute to the problematic result. These are information oversaturation, excessive parasocial relationships, and lack of media literacy. each of these aspects individually and synergistically affect the individual and society.
Information Oversaturation
Did the internet have a purpose? I think it did the greatest contribution the internet has made can be seen in advancing communication and spreading helpful information. While this may allow for the establishment of new, niche communities and heightened social awareness. The pendulum seems to have swung too far in that direction resulting in Information Overload. This means there is too much information everywhere and too little time to go through followed by verification.
New pieces of media are created and put out constantly. Information is currently too accessible, not to say it should be restricted but something needs to be done. Having people police their own content does not seem to be working. Answering how to do this is the likely path the internet will follow going forward. Unfortunately, the problem is likely to get far worse before it gets better though.
AI-generated content is becoming evermore present this is concerning because the general population has limited ability to determine if something as made by AI. Even the Current President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, was convinced that Taylor Swift was endorsing him during his campaign. This situation got so big that she had to officially come out in support of his opponent, Kamala Harris. The AI used Swifts likeness to fool one of the most powerful men in the world. I find this concerning.
I don't have all of the answers concern this topic. However, I think a disinformation or misinformation labeling mechanism would solve a large portion of my concerns. Other than the US most of the world takes the health of their population seriously especially with respect to food. While the US has food labels others take it step further by placing 'grades' on how healthy there food is. While that statement is subjective to an extent and nuance is needed to effectively use the system. The individual is better able to utilize the information they are given to make healthful choices. I might write about this labeling mechanism at some point.
However, an interesting take I have seen be proposed on the internet is for use in concerns to bad actors. These are people with a vested interest to mislead others. Anyone can make alt accounts or profiles where there identity is not known to those around them. It may get to the point where identity verification is tied to ID or SSN to allow for a more viable social sphere. This is said in response to how far disinformation in social media has progressed. We would still have anonymity through usernames but verification would limit the potential for bad actors in the system. Disinformation is not the same as information, it is false information given to manipulate those being informed.
The Parasocial Element
Given the prevalence of hustle culture there is much less time to focus on building an individuals worldview. Generally due to lacking personal time to grow their knowledge people are becoming more reliant on parasocial relationships to build their perspective. There is nothing inherently wrong with watching other people to gain knowledge but it is important for individuals to be able to have their own opinions. If they have a strong stance about something they need to investigate it themselves.
The problem as I see it is when the people take the parasocial element to far. This can result in the person placing the creator on a pedestal granting them higher regard than potentially they give themselves. When the creator can be perceived as infallible some intervention is needed. Any person can be wrong, no one is perfect, the one thing that can be summed up as completely human is our capacity for change and growth
Clearly something needs to be done to better make people aware of the dangers of fostering a parasocial relationship. People clearly have autonomy and can make decisions for themselves but a potential disclaimer on sites whose purpose is streaming. Could be the most beneficial solution without hindering the business or infantilizing the user. This could allow for the right information to be given to prevent excessive investment. Especially because most people don't know how obsessive or all-consuming these interactions can become.
The general recommendation for children using screens is set at two hours maximum. This is a result of a few things that have been noticed in relation to children and media use. Excessive use can unnecessarily limit their attention span but it can go further to limit their personal development. Most children learn speech and foster independence through observation of their authority figures. If their is excessive focus on the screen that valuable experience of observation is going to be limited. However, another aspect that may get both too little and too much attention is how the youth is highly impressionable. This is one reason why they tend to be more easily radicalized. This is a reason for prioritizing both critical thinking and media literacy.
Media Literacy
People use media for many things but its use in understanding current events can result in the promotion of misinformation or even disinformation. Information oversaturation can lead to the promotion of this unfortunate situation. Many news groups have prominent biases that one can determine with time and repeated use. Unfortunately, not everypne has the time to thoroughly vet their sources. Conveying this effectively is something that can typically only be acquired through time but that is why I think this should be focused on. If you can verify the source, you're using for accuracy of what they are saying much of the guesswork for substance is taken out of the equation. I will be putting a source that shows the political leanings of various groups at the end of this article. These are the primary problems I have with social media apps.
What's Next
I feel that I just don't need Facebook anymore. While I may not be as worried about growing intolerance against the community it is a valid concern. Just not something I would take notes on from Facebooks platform policy's. The initial point of getting Facebook was to keep up with family and friends. However, Facebook is spiraling and seems to have moved into an artificial subpar experience to what it was meant to be. What happened over time is I would get too busy to check consistently and Facebook at the same time was implementing policy's to keep people hooked. I don't have a problem with anyone using the platform but I just won't be.
Any life updates people are interested in can be accomplished by officially reaching out to other people. The result might be better than what we currently have. People seem a little too invested in the lives of everyone around them to a superficial extent. I don't mind reaching out to people but there is too much to learn and understand for me to be 100% involved in what other people are doing. If people want to tell me their passions or what they are doing that is great. But that works much better in person on a less consistent basis.
Creativity to me is about unrealized potential. If I know what someone is doing all the time there is no potential. In my opinion this would make it harder to assist someone with what they are trying to do. Connections are important and life is fleeting but being too integrated in your social network can be just as bad as not involved at all. Don't get me wrong this isn't just a Facebook problem. I am planning to cut down on social media use all together. There is a possibility that I won't be successful and my get absorbed into another platform. I do know that writing is something is one of the things that I am trying to invest more time into rather than doomscrolling all the time.
One of the things I used Facebook for was finding articles that had my interest. However, this was before I realized how wrong the posters were about what they were posting. Like there would be an article that I would remember seeing it some time in the past. There were even times when there would be an interesting topic but it was fake. Information verification is important given the current landscape of the internet. I now have other places I can find accurate information about my topics of choice.
Anybody who wants to keep up with me can find my number on my profile or use my legal name to find my website or even locate any of the social profiles that I still have. Facebook at this point is just good for seeing right wing sentiments and if I want that I find that in Fox News articles. There will be new social media companies that may not have these problems, but I will be taking a step back from the sphere all together. It seems like it might be time for the pendulum to swing back in the other direction back to real social interactions. I may not get rid of Facebook. I will be leaving my profile up with links to my stuff in case anyone wants to know what I am up to.
Links
Source for Media Bias in New Sources
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