I’ve (mostly) stopped using Facebook

I have mostly stopped using Facebook. I’ve only made two posts to my own timeline since the beginning of the year, and one was to update my bio with a message explaining that I’ve stopped using Facebook (which I will probably edit to include a link to this post). I’m not a “Facebook vegan”: I still log in (occasionally) and comment or like others’ posts (even less occasionally). I also occasionally make posts for various organizations with which I’m involved (but I post them to those organizations’ pages). But I don’t log in daily (or even weekly), as I used to do.

At this moment, I’m not going to write a long essay about why I’ve (mostly) stopped using Facebook, and I’m not going to tell everyone else they should, either. It’s true that I have some serious concerns about Facebook and its impact on the world, many of which have been explained by Cory Doctorow better than I could. However, my main reason for (mostly) eschewing Facebook is personal: I became convinced late last year that my use of Facebook was harmful to my mental health, and drastically reducing my participation with Facebook has been a positive change for me.

So, please don’t take it personally if I don’t respond to your friend request, comment, or post in which you tagged me. (It’s likely I didn’t see it) And if you want to communicate with me, you’ll have much better luck if you use email or phone, rather than Facebook.