You might have noticed a little more activity around the ol’ Burger of late. Partly that’s because I’ve been shaking out my workflows and I discovered some regular time I could devote to my blog.
Partly it’s because I really, really, really want to ditch facebook.
I happily quit it a couple of years ago, but had to go back to deliver traffic to my Fairfax content. I have a whole essay, a whole book of essays, about Zuck’s role in the accelerating collapse of Western Civilisation, and every minute I’m on that hell site feels like I’m adding my own boot leather to the gas pedal.
But… traffic.
For a lot of people the Zuckbook is the internet. So many old blog buddies and online friends migrated there over the years that it feels… indispensable. But its not. I’m convinced it’s not.
What it is, is a massive fucking criminal organisation that, like the fossil fuel industry, is destroying everything pure and good in the world for the sake of untaxed profits.
So yeah, more blogging. That’ll show the fuckers.
Less facebook.
And soon, soon my friends Imma put a bullet in that account. The moment of clarity came for me when I realised that traffic wasn’t everything. In fact it wasn’t much of anything. I neither want nor need a flood of internet randoes passing through here every day.
I want a club where people I like feel welcome, where conversations don’t devolve to shit flinging, where politics, religion and whatever that other great profanity is, are nowhere to be found.
The big social platforms are just awful, even Twitter which I have curated with aggressive blocking into something better than the toxic waste dump it felt like a couple of years ago. It’s still mostly people bitching and moaning about stuff, though, with the occasional nugget of gold to draw me back in.
And in the end all the kittehs in the world might not be enough to save the bird site either. This essay in The Atlantic by Caitlin Flanagan makes a pretty strong case for ditching it too.
I know I’m an addict because Twitter hacked itself so deep into my circuitry that it interrupted the very formation of my thoughts. Twenty years of journalism taught me to hit a word count almost without checking the numbers at the bottom of the screen. But now a corporation that operates against my best interests has me thinking in 280 characters. Every thought, every experience, seems to be reducible to this haiku, and my mind is instantly engaged by the challenge of concision. Once the line is formed, why not put it out there? Twitter is a red light, blinking, blinking, blinking, destroying my ability for private thought, sucking up all my talent and wit.
So yeah, more blogging. More book writing. Less facebook. And maybe, just maybe less Twitter too.
It seems Matthew Inman at The Oatmeal is about a day ahead of you. I'm really only on FB for the Aunties/Cousins etc. I feel they would fade out of existence without FB.
I wonder what the downside of not knowing which Auntie is feeling poorly this week would be?
I probably need to switch it all over to substack, if it had video I definitely would since I seem to be constantly hit by demonetisation and bans by the google monolith every other day. Facebook is just endless mother in law meme postings, which are the same bloody memes posted by 30 year olds in the days of yore. Don't get me started on the idiotic spruikers of crystals, positive vibe merchants and get rich schemes. Like if there was a scheme, then 1) it wouldn't be advertised 2) it wouldn't cost anything. And lame ass sociology grads, sorry kids you're wrong.
I never joined facebook. I've been called a luddite by friends, colleagues, passing acquaintances and even my own daughters. I've managed to not give a fuck and have somehow muddled along none the less.
I deactivated FB for months and the only thing I missed was updates from a couple of people as it was my only way of communicating with them. In the end I decided if that was my only form of communicating with them then that was indicative of a bigger failing on my part.
The issue is I have started running with a group I really enjoy, but unfortunately all their events are listed on FB and you need to use that to opt in. So now i am reactivated just to do that and I largely ignore it otherwise.
Twitter is great for following sporting events live as a supplement or replacement for following the broadcast. Other than that i don't really use it.
I have thought about it, shutting down FB but I find two things keep me on there. Trolling Kiwis about rugby and the funny stuff a copper mate of mine posts. Otherwise I ignore it completely.
Go you! Self-powered internet for the win! You can still get the "is there new stuff?" dopamine hit from your hand-curated RSS-feed reader. No need to rely on the twitterz to guess it for you.
I'm afraid FB is a bit indispensable for me for contacting various friends (real life ones!), being in contact with such things as swimming and surf lifesaving clubs of which I am an active member, and occasional BS. I tend to avoid anything overly political etc., and long ago gave up arguing with the ne'er-do-wells that inhabit the darker pits of FB. I do like some funny vids and of course cat videos...which is what the Interwebz was invented for anyway.
Facebook is bit like nicotine. Lures you in with the promise of another hit but leaves a shit taste in the mouth afterwards. I don't like eating turds...
It seems Matthew Inman at The Oatmeal is about a day ahead of you. I'm really only on FB for the Aunties/Cousins etc. I feel they would fade out of existence without FB.
I wonder what the downside of not knowing which Auntie is feeling poorly this week would be?
We should all sign up to Gettr. It’s bound to be a bastion of truth, justice and the American way.
Yeah Truth, Justice and the American way. Now I understand why the they are listed as three independent virtues.
You leave the fbk I'll be right behind you. I've never seen any real benefit to being there, and a lot of downside.
Yes, as usual Trofliditie!
I probably need to switch it all over to substack, if it had video I definitely would since I seem to be constantly hit by demonetisation and bans by the google monolith every other day. Facebook is just endless mother in law meme postings, which are the same bloody memes posted by 30 year olds in the days of yore. Don't get me started on the idiotic spruikers of crystals, positive vibe merchants and get rich schemes. Like if there was a scheme, then 1) it wouldn't be advertised 2) it wouldn't cost anything. And lame ass sociology grads, sorry kids you're wrong.
Putting your private life out in public had always seemed stupid to me. Putting your kid's private life out there is beyond stupid.
I said no to FB long ago.
I never joined facebook. I've been called a luddite by friends, colleagues, passing acquaintances and even my own daughters. I've managed to not give a fuck and have somehow muddled along none the less.
I deactivated FB for months and the only thing I missed was updates from a couple of people as it was my only way of communicating with them. In the end I decided if that was my only form of communicating with them then that was indicative of a bigger failing on my part.
The issue is I have started running with a group I really enjoy, but unfortunately all their events are listed on FB and you need to use that to opt in. So now i am reactivated just to do that and I largely ignore it otherwise.
Twitter is great for following sporting events live as a supplement or replacement for following the broadcast. Other than that i don't really use it.
Instagram has pretty pictures.
I have thought about it, shutting down FB but I find two things keep me on there. Trolling Kiwis about rugby and the funny stuff a copper mate of mine posts. Otherwise I ignore it completely.
Go you! Self-powered internet for the win! You can still get the "is there new stuff?" dopamine hit from your hand-curated RSS-feed reader. No need to rely on the twitterz to guess it for you.
I'm afraid FB is a bit indispensable for me for contacting various friends (real life ones!), being in contact with such things as swimming and surf lifesaving clubs of which I am an active member, and occasional BS. I tend to avoid anything overly political etc., and long ago gave up arguing with the ne'er-do-wells that inhabit the darker pits of FB. I do like some funny vids and of course cat videos...which is what the Interwebz was invented for anyway.
Facebook is bit like nicotine. Lures you in with the promise of another hit but leaves a shit taste in the mouth afterwards. I don't like eating turds...