A Change in Facebook Affects Me

I read an article where Mark Zuckerberg (the owner of Facebook) said the algorithm of Facebook changed to show popular posts in the news feed according to how many comments they have. (To break it down, the more comments a post has the more likely it is to be in the news feed and the higher it will be.) He said if the comments contain "congratulations" it will be at the top.

I believe that several people read my blog, even though hardly anyone ever comments or likes my posts. When I post something it will be in the News feed, but it might not be there the next day if it's not popular. I started posting every day because I hope that what I say will help someone, but if they don't read it that day they might not see it.

Social media is used differently by people my age versus young people. Social media evolves and right now it's toward what's popular. Bottom line: if my post isn't read the day it's posted it probably won't be seen.

Using Facebook Again

I'm torn as to how to stay connected with my friends and family. On the one hand, people talk to each other on Facebook, but I don't want Facebook to determine what I do, therefore I'm willing to not use it. On the other hand, if I don't use Facebook, I won't know what's happening. People are most important to me and the thought of not talking to them is torture; therefore, I've decided to use Facebook again.

The scenario of not using Facebook reminds me of when I stopped using my iPhone for a year and started using my older phone because I didn't want to pay the data fee the phone company required me to have. At the time, I stopped using my iPhone and felt out of the loop for twelve months. (Eventually, my friends stopped texting me because I didn't text them back...because texting on that phone was hard. Also, I stopped texting my family for the same reason.)

I stopped using the current technology (my iPhone) because I didn't like something, and it made things worse. I felt so happy when I returned to my iPhone because, once again, I could communicate. (In thinking about my Facebook dilemma I realize that I may not like how things are, but I need to consider what's most important to me and not stop using it when I don't like something.)

Not Using Facebook

I think I'll stop using Facebook and give people their privacy. I don't want to know who's doing what. I realize that having an account with Facebook is keeping up with the times, but it is also taking up my time when I look at it. I'll still have a Facebook account so people will know how to reach me; but they'll have to send me an email if they want to say something. I'll also still post my blog to Facebook, I just won't go onto Facebook.

I like email. I like that if someone wants to email me...they can, and if I want to read their email...I can. In some cases, email has been replaced by Facebook messages. Facebook has also replaced sending many photos and videos through email. Facebook keeps changing and is telling more and more of peoples activities. I don't want to know what article a person looked at or what picture they're tagged in, and I don't want people to know what I do. (Since I'm going to quit using Facebook, I probably won't get a lot of news about my friends, unless they send me an email.)

I wish people used email as much as Facebook but society progresses and doesn't go backward. I'm going backward for my own sanity. I just want to be myself; not so public.