I have quit FB for good. - Part III of the Trilogy of Renouncing Digital Social Media - A Personal Journey

This post was originally published in "Heaven On earth" in July 2023 and moved to "Journeys of Other Kinds" in June 2026.

I have quit Facebook again. This time I deleted my account permanently. Five years ago, when I wanted to quit Facebook, the website managed to persuade me to only deactivate my account temporarily. I had to reactivate it when I needed travel information on West Africa a few months later. I needed to join a FB group. I was hoping someone would develop a social media website similar to FB. But it did not happen. This time I sought after substitutes before I deleted my FB account. For messenger, I would rely on WhatsApp. For marketplace, I would use Craigslist again. For updating my friends with travelogues and photos, I continue to use email. For photo backup, I would use Google Photos, which also offer a Memories function. As for travel information on unpopular destinations, I have decided not to visit places that are either too dangerous or not ready to receive visitors. 

Another factor that pushed me away from Facebook was the increasing amount of questionable content appearing in my news feed. With the introduction of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, there are way more outrageous images floating around online. Lately FB created a special class of users called Digital Creators that is equivalent to the Influencers on Instagram. These digital creators frequently use photoshopped and/or A.I. generated images to spread false information. FB news feeds are flooded with customized ads and suggestions for groups to join and Digital Creators to follow. I would hardly see updates from my friends. With FB's refusal to pay Canadian news organizations for linked content, it would be increasingly difficult to find real news or info on this social media platform. My dependence on FB for news and connection with my friends became very minimal as a result of these recent developments. 

After I have announced that I would quit FB, only four of my 472 FB friends expressed their wish to stay in touch with me. I suppose I wasted too much time on FB, thinking that people actually cared about what was on my mind. I might as well be commenting in unfamiliar territories such as Reddit or Quora. At least there I would not have the illusion that I was speaking among close friends. Well, it's time to hit the road and experience humanity face-to-face again. LOL