Why You Shouldn’t Use Facebook

We all have varying understandings and concerns about society. This often evolves around different ecologies. Economy, equality, privacy, discrimination, and freedom of speech, are just a few examples.

Along with these issues there is sometimes a concern for the direction things are going in and how far that will go over time. This is tied in with the quarter degree concept, where things happen slowly and no point is reached where there is sufficient concern to object to, or reject, the status quo. It is a difficult problem because as humans it is not easy to get an understanding of the history of all the things that we are involved with. Thus we sometimes cannot get a sense of whether something is getting better or worse, or if it is even changing at all. A particularly human aspect of this is that we often have a general optimistic feeling because we feel good now. However this can give a sense of things getting better, despite any actual data or real information being taken into account.

In such an environment it is difficult to explain why you shouldn’t use Facebook or similar services. These services are part of an ecology which few have much knowledge about, and therefore not everybody is able to grasp the relevance to their own fundamental social concerns.

Download printable (or e-mailable) pdf version here.

Ten Points About Facebook

It is common knowledge that I don’t use Facebook. Some people are with me on that, and others don’t understand. I’m not sure either group understands why one shouldn’t use Facebook.

There are two basic Facebook aspects to consider. One is the impact on the freedom of the internet, particularly long term, by being a user of the service. The other is the appropriateness of public organizations using Facebook as a way to reach the public. In either case, the choice to use Facebook carries a big responsibility toward other internet users and the future of everybody’s internet freedom.

It is difficult to explain in a simple and plain way how this all works. Even a basic rundown of the importance of open standards and tcp/ip to freedom of speech makes people’s eyes glaze over, regardless of how important it is. In this society we can sometimes discuss the implications of legal contracts and politics, but rarely when they pertain to internet technology because, well, one would need to understand the technology. So, how does one explain the responsibility that the user has towards preserving such freedoms?

A common solution would be to use sloganism and FUD, but since I don’t indorse those I have taken the approach of explaining the things which I think many people will understand without needing to get a grasp on internet protocols and licence agreements. Please take the time to read my article, “Why you shouldn’t use Facebook”. Despite only covering some of the social aspects, (but they are, after all, the most important) I feel that this will provide enough insight for internet users to understand their responsibilities and make up their own minds. I will have this article posted here in a couple of days. Stay tuned.

For the impatient, I have compiled a short list of Facebook facts. I sincerely hope you will not trivialize them, but rather take the time to think about the implications.

 

Ten Points About Facebook

1. Facebook is not accessible to everyone on the internet.
2. What is put on Facebook is not really public. Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo! do not index Facebook.
3. Facebook is a walled garden available through the internet. It is a gatekeeper of your communication.
4. To join Facebook you are required to sign a legal agreement with a foreign corporation. This is a serious contract which is legally binding.
5. When you involve someone in Facebook, you are involving them to the same extent you are involved.
6. Facebook is a multi-national corporation, but it is not possible to use it without personal danger in many countries. This is because of the design of the Facebook technology.
7. Facebook tracks internet activity of both members and non-members. It takes special skills to avoid this.
8. Facebook censors content and membership. It acts like a “man in the middle”. This is a discrepancy with a Canadian concept of public space.
9. To join Facebook, you must agree to have your information transferred to, and processed in, the United States. You also agree to not provide any false personal information. Again, this is legally binding.
10. In light of the previous points, we can see that asking someone to join Facebook in order to communicate with them can potentially be asking them to compromise their ethics and personal integrity.

 

Anthropogenic? Hey, that’s me!

I am a big believer in taking responsibility for the way civilization is evolving. What we have is the result of what we have done, and what we get will be the result of what we do.

 

Not everybody believes that they have any control over the future. I think that is because of lack of empowerment. There is a cure for that. Every time a new communications technology comes around, don’t let go of it. That means that we all need to take ownership, and responsibility. Don’t let the “we” turn into “them”. The analogue media is getting old and “the people” have lost control of much of that, but the brave new digital world isn’t lost yet. I urge all people to learn about it, and take ownership.