Thank you to the 195 followers of Terra Toby on Facebook! I appreciate you and hope you will all find your way back here to Terra Toby.
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| Follow me :) |
Lately, though, I have been dissatisfied with the level of content on Facebook. More and more I left the computer feeling down and depressed - the strident politics, the environmental news (some of which I shared on Terra Toby's page), and worst of all the mean, nasty tone of comments on almost everything. I hated seeing the rush to judge some victims after the hurricanes last year, or the invective heaped on the students after the latest school shooting. I could go happily the rest of my life without seeing the term "libtard" ever again.
I've been evaluating my time on Facebook, asking myself if it was really where I want to be.
Then the news hit about Facebook selling the data of 50 million users to a propaganda/election influencing company headed by Steve Bannon and the Mercer family. The facts about the tool used to gather the information has been emerging. There's a level of trust that ordinary people have when using and buying apps, like the personal quiz app used to "scrape" the information on every purchaser and every one of their friends. Facebook has violated that trust.
People in the pet blogging community have always left supportive, encouraging, and caring comments. The same is true, in my experience, on Instagram. Upon reflection, I feel more comfortable expressing myself in a forum where I won't be called names and insulted regularly. It's okay if we don't agree on some things - but we should respect each other and give each other the benefit of the doubt.
I hope you understand my decision to leave Facebook. For now, I'm only deactivated. After letting some time go by to see how that goes, I will probably delete my profile entirely. But the plus is: I'm coming back to blogging and the blogging community.
I'll be making the rounds to check on all my favorite blogs and leave comments this week. I'll start working to provide photos and little posts from my - and Toby's - life right here in this space. See you soon here in Blogville!
Love,
Amy and your pal, Toby
Our Mom has never had any interest in Facebook, much to the chagrin of her family, but we do enjoy keeping up our blog and look forward to hearing more from you.
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My husband never got on FB at all either. He's not big on social media (I forced him to get Instagram, he follows about 6 relatives) but then he's the extrovert :) Thank you for your kind words…on my way to visit you today!
DeleteWelcome back to blogging. You are so right about the content on Facebook. I autopost things there but rarely actually go there.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteWelcome back to Blogville. Our mom tries to not spend much time on Facebook. She only visits to see what family and close friends are posting. There are also too many "suggested" posts that she really has no interest in too.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the nice welcome back :)
DeleteWe totally get it! Although we post dog pics and Vacation pics for family on FB, and lots of dog pics on Instagram...I don't get "sucked in" by the other *insert any 4 letter word* .
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!
xoxo,
Jakey, Arty & Rosy
(formerly Dory's Backyard aka Da DB Boyz)
Ha ha "sucked in" is a good description - like a black hole for me! Lucky for me, many of my family are on Instagram so I'll see their photos there.
DeleteHi Amy and Toby,
ReplyDeleteMommy Jenny and I really understand how you feel and fully respect your decision. We avoid the politics, meanness and negativity on Facebook like the plague, and I guess that's a good way of describing what is happening. Mommy used to ONLY log in as my Pixel Blue Eyes page years ago (when you could do that) so she could focus on the sweet dog and cat blog pages and avoid drama. You had a 'Pages Feed'. Now, we are forced to log in only as Mommy, and FB has changed so many times we have no idea how to find the list of pages I have liked, much less my feed, and I haven't seen some dog friends in years!
Furthermore, we haven't been blogging as much as we used to either and we miss it too. Listen to me, BOL, getting on my doggie soapbox Amy. Well, just know that Mommy, Jellie and I love you and Toby and we hope you will be less stressed and happier.
Love your friend,
Pixel
Thank you Jenny and Pixel, I'm hoping the change will be a good one for me - I'm pretty sure it will. Couldn't agree more about the "plague".
Deletewelcome back!!! we noticed all that things too... but we decided to stay with FB, because of the good people who are with us there... and hey, the mama survived her furst sh*tstorm for having her own opinion, think now we are a kind of bullet proof and can stand the next one... because the wind what blows through social medias became a rough one...
ReplyDeleteHaha it was harder than I expected to push that "deactivate" button! Thank you for the welcome back :)
DeleteOur real and true friends are here in Blogville - not on FB. Welcome back, Toby!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteGlad to see you have come to your senses (smile)....I have always been "anti-facebook" and am only there because I have to have some sort of a presence there for the blogs (if I work with brands). Since the election I am there less and less. I find it to be fake, people are obsessed with likes......it's fake and mean spirited. It's like Junior High in many of the groups. I have felt like that for YEARS......actually, I just do my blogs and occasionally post on Instagram but as far as social anything goes........people all like you until you become competition. I learned that years ago. I have no desire to compete for anything, I don't want awards or accolades (that mostly are subjective and political, it is a matter of who kisses ass better)......I just do my thing. I am on social when I choose to be but I have never checked stats etc. on Facebook and never, ever will. Rant over!
ReplyDeleteDakotasDen
It IS like junior high! Great analogy! I tried commenting once on a relative's post about the Confederate statues. I was polite and just offering my unique experience to what I thought was an actual discussion, as someone living in the south with a mixed-race family. The hurtful, horrible comments in return from people who don't know me personally but would have guessed from my surname that I was related to the original post author - ugh! I exited that as gracefully as possible but it demonstrated that you cannot have a genuine discussion of anything at all on Facebook.
DeleteToby!!!!! CAN YOU HEAR US CLAPPINNNNNNGGG We have missed you and are so happy you found your way home. We have never done FB or any other social media
ReplyDeleteMom does good to keep up with my blog.
Seems FB is unfiltered and uncaring people who like to hear themselves rant and rave and as my granny used to say 'stir the pot'! We look forward to seeing more of you!
Hey did you get snow?
Hugs madi your bfff PS I just turned 16 on March 11th?! WOW can you believe it? I can't
Happy Birthday Madi! No I can't, you look like you just left kitten days :) I like your Grannie's phrase about stirring the pot. No we didn't get snow, just rain and cold that is beginning to seem endless. But Spring will get here, better late than never!
DeleteI am so glad that you're coming back to blogging! I feel the same about FB, but I have a few old friends who I only connect with there. I tend to post only links to my blog, so that those friends can check it out. Anyway, I'm glad that you're back here!
ReplyDeleteWe are always happy to see you and we love stopping by your blog for your excellent and always fun posts. Thanks for sharing the good news with us. Have a great rest of your day.
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