Dialing Down Facebook

I wish I could just delete my Facebook account and be done with it, but I can’t. Or at least I’ve been unable to convince myself that everything would be fine if I didn’t have a Facebook account. Deleting the account entirely would prevent me from seeing things that I really want to see. As disappointing as it is, Facebook is where my family communicates and no sane person would suggest I try getting them all to move elsewhere.

So, while I’d love to be one of those people who just deletes Facebook and then writes a smug blog post about it, for now I’ll be trying to at least limit my usage and exposure.

The goal is to use Facebook for keeping up with friends, browsing groups about specific topics, and occasionally posting stuff my family may find interesting. This way they can also keep up with me without me having to constantly remind them that “I still have a blog, you know!”. And let’s be honest, I’m not always worth the extra effort.

As a side effect, this should drastically reduce my exposure to the usual noise and nonsense.

First, I’ve downloaded all of my content, just in case I decide to take more permanent measures later.

Second, I’ve updated privacy settings so that only “friends” can see my stuff.

Third, I’ve unfriended everyone who is not a coworker, collaborator, or family member. (Please don’t take it personally.)

Fourth, I’ve unfollowed all pages and groups. I’m still a member of the groups but they don’t appear in my timeline. I can just visit them directly whenever I want to catch up.

My timeline is now filled only with posts from those I’m interested in seeing updates from. Well, that, and ads…so many ads. Still it’s a huge improvement.

I look forward to the day I can delete Facebook entirely, but for now I’ll just dial it down to a manageable level.