Leave Facebook, or Use it for Good?
Only a few months removed from last fall’s mass cancellation of X accounts following the US election results (see James Turk’s piece on that here), it looks like we may be in for a similar exodus from META’s Facebook, Threads, and Instagram. On January 7, 2025, META CEO Mark Zuckerberg donned a very expensive watch and made a video announcement about the removal of third-party fact-checking and a general loosening of rules around what might be considered unwelcome content on his company’s various social media platforms. As US publication Slate puts it, the changes herald “a significant vibe shift on those very platforms.”
The new vibe, it would seem, is informed by the election of a US President infamous for his use of “alternative facts” and an aggressive, “masculine-energy” approach to free speech that apparently involves saying anything at anytime to/about anyone regardless of its accuracy or basis in scientific fact (changing the predicted path of a hurricane, for instance, or insisting on vote counts that do not exist). New standards also seem to allow for everyday racism, transphobia, and other speech that certainly in the recent past might be considered akin to hate speech and therefore out of bounds on a curated platform.
And let’s be clear about that important point… algorithmic manipulation of content on a site is a form of curation. For many, me included, the presence of an algorithm means the site is, in fact, publishing content rather than just hosting it, and so should carry the same responsibilities to content that any traditional publisher does. You know, like paying the professional writers and respecting their intellectual property rights.
META’s move is not being well-received by many users of social media; and much like the X defections, the latest social media trend seems to be announcing one’s imminent departure from META platforms.
There is so much to unpack in this development. One of Zuckerberg’s stated aims here seems to be a reintroduction of political and news content onto Facebook et al, after several years of deprioritizing that content through the algorithms, in an attempt to steer clear of controversy. Of course, the problem was never the mere presence of political discourse or news, but that so much of it was being manipulated, often with complete fictions presented as facts. Recall early Covid-era Facebook, and the spread of conspiracies and inaccurate medical “information.”
Complicating matters in Canada is META’s childish temper tantrum against government regulation that has it blocking news content from its platforms in order to avoid having to pay a miniscule fraction of a fraction of its profits in support to the media platforms it uses as advertising bait. Not sure Zuckerberg thought his new policy through completely. If his play is to increase engagement by rage-farming, folks need to be able to link to the stories inspiring their rage. Either he starts paying for professional content in Canada, or he loses a key function of his product.
As a professional writer myself, I lean toward allowing as much speech as possible without crossing into hate and instigation, and I respect the ultimate fuzziness and blurriness of those lines. I do think it’s important to interrogate the blur carefully and respectfully. For myself, I appreciate being given the opportunity to see opinions and positions I despise revealed through confident assertion online. I’d much rather it was out in the open than hidden on private, encrypted channels. Better to see the rot in your foundation, and do something about it, than pretend it’s not there. And while I appreciate the impulse of others to fight every ugly opinion online, I mostly use them to better curate my own feed. I block and mute with abandon. Life is too short to be troll-mobbed.
What’s more, I don’t mind making mistakes with my own opinions, and having others differently informed educate me. That to me is a feature of healthy discourse and healthier society. One rarely displayed these days. Even in the age of so-called cancel culture, good faith goes an awfully long way. As does reserving one’s opinion, and learning from others before hitting “post.”
Social media has never been problem-free, and it’s not my job to tell someone whether or not to leave the Meta platforms. I was off Facebook for five or so years before pandemic lockdowns prompted me to rejoin for the simple connection with friends and family I was missing in the physical world. On the other hand, I very quickly deleted my X account after the last US election. An early Twitter adopter, I’d contemplated leaving many times AE (after Elon), because for me the platform had lost so much of its value as a dependable news source. Bluesky fills a lot of the Twitter current events void for me. So, goodbye X.
I have yet to make a firm decision about Meta, however. I think Zuckerberg is a clown, and I don’t trust a thing that comes out of his mouth. But he’s easy to ignore, for the time being. I can keep him and his, IMO, uninformed, toxic immaturity, out of my feeds. And the communities I’ve built for myself on Facebook and Instagram continue to prove worthwhile. I’m just not sure my Aunt Helen or my old fourth grade teacher from the 70s are going to follow me to Bluesky, and I really value their presence.
Does that make me complicit in someone else’s misinformation and potential hate speech? I don’t believe so. One of the things for which I use Facebook is spreading the word about a Substack I write called Shore Report. I live much of the time in Northern Ontario, and have seen firsthand how misinformation and intolerance spread wildly in news deserts like my own rural, remote community. I decided to address that problem head on, and now I publish a monthly newsletter focused on hyper-local governance on Lake Huron’s north shore.
I attend town and city council meetings online, rake through agendas and minutes, and let my neighbours know what’s actually, verifiably, going on around them. Launched through various local Facebook groups, Shore Report very quickly gathered a strong readership. That’s the power of social media used responsibly and with the best intentions. And until Meta blocks blog content from its platforms as it has mainstream media, I’ll happily fill in the gaps as best I can.
