Take Control of Your Online Activity

Everybody–well–lots of people are complaining about Facebook. They’re annoyed about the things they see in their feed. They’re annoyed about the things they don’t see. They’re annoyed about fact checking. They’re annoyed about a failure to fact check.

The interesting thing about this is that I read their complaints, almost without exception on, you guessed it, Facebook.

And, still on Facebook, they recommend various controls to protect them from misinformation and at the same time protect them from censorship.

You could replace “Facebook” with a number of other social media platforms. There’s a general perception that these platforms are controlling way too much of our lives. We want to fix that.

There’s a huge problem here, which is that all of this occurs on the same social media problems that have the problem. The algorithm (that’s the computery stuff that decides what you’ll see) is programmed to make the platform money. That means getting users and keeping those readers actively consuming the content on that platform. So while you’re complaining, you’re contributing to their bottom line.

As you go through that news feed, getting angry about what you read, but continuing to read it, you’re feeding the beast. That algorithm, if it’s properly designed, is going to keep sending you more of the stuff you read, and even more of the stuff you respond to. It doesn’t matter whether you are liking or loving or hating. It’s fine with the algorithm. Your eyes are on your screen.

I don’t believe the best way to solve this is with government regulation. I no more want the government determining what  I see than I want various social media corporations. But that’s not my point here.

What is my point?

Simple. If you keep using the service, it’s not going to change behavior. If you are reading and reacting angrily to things you hate, the train goes on. If you are reading and liking things that bring you pleasure, the train moves on.

It’s well past time to take control. We’re complaining bitterly as technology takes over our lives, but in our actions, we’re accepting the changes and allowing the control.

There are many ways to keep in touch with people. Keep a blog. Use email. Use chat apps. Use various independent social media organizations, such as Mastodon. (I’m in at https://amastodon.uk/home). Go there and encourage others to do so. I haven’t tested it, but Meta’s Threads is linked to the Fediverse, and thus connects to independent platforms.

I’m not recommending (or not recommending) a particular service. I’m on these various platforms myself. But my information is not dominated by one single source. If you like Facebook, Instagram, X, or Truth Social, that’s fine. But know what you have chosen and why. Take the time to learn.

My strong suggestion is to have multiple sources of information and multiple ways of contacting the rest of the world. Don’t let any particular social media company, or news source, or government agency determine what information you will consume and the ones with whom you will associate.

Take control of what you feed your mind.