I first signed up for Facebook back in 2007. Aside from my Gmail and Millsberry accounts (RIP), Facebook was my step into the world of digital social media and sharing my life online. I’d publicly rant about missing a party or rave about the dreamy Jeremy Sumpter. Then, Facebook was my world to create, live in, and share with friends. Facebook was about community, MY community. At least, that’s what I had always thought it was.
As of late, Facebook is getting flack for “ruining democracy,” but from my experience, it was never about that. It was always about… me, or catching up with friends and consuming content from people I knew. Reading ridiculous debates about the government was the most political Facebook got for me, and although those are still abundant…
Every month or so:
*opens Facebook for the first time in weeks*
*Immediately sees a wall of uneducated, controversial political opinions*
*Uninstalls Facebook*— Jamie Smith (@Teawithatrex) January 29, 2018
… there has since been developments. Facebook introduced ads from companies I didn’t follow and news stories directly put together by the company. Facebook was no longer about information from friends, but information from the world.
But in this era of “fake news,” branded content, trolling Google ads, and pushed information from companies with money, no one knows what to believe anymore. More people are skeptical about Facebook information, and they should be.
Facebook was supposed to be a platform for free speech in countries like Cambodia. Instead, it's enabling propaganda and repression as the country's hopes for democracy collapse. My story from Phnom Penh https://t.co/OfCeNuiMtp
— Megha Rajagopalan (@meghara) January 21, 2018
If Facebook truly wants to stay away from democracy, then I suggest going back to the original model. Lose the idea that you have to share information from publishers or companies. Find other ways to be lucrative, but not at the expense of my online experiences. I was fine with living in my bubble of friends on my personal account and getting my political information directly from news outlets and outside of Facebook.
Darriea, I totally agree with you! I truly enjoyed Facebook when it was solely about you own personal network. I think Facebook has definitely conformed to the big giants and prioritized other corporate stakeholders over its end users. I think Twitter is a much more appropriate platform to be used for controversial debate and thought sharing, whereas Facebook I still see it championing the sharing of personal information.
I could not agree more with your belief that Facebook has taken another route. The old Facebook was made for the greater good of the public and did not have much to do with revenue. Facebook should stop ruining our online experience with all the political drama and just allow us to freely use their site to publish information about ourselves as well as discover information about our friends. The trust in Facebook has been lost. I do not rely on Facebook to find out anything relating to politics, I choose to look on other media platforms. Facebook should just stick to what they know and go back to the original model.