Greetings everyone!
If you're reading this, it means that you've made a tiny leap to meet me in greener pastures. This was not an easy decision to make, and required a fair amount of research to pick what right platform to use to continue speaking out. I understand that this will almost certainly reduce my reach in the short term, especially since Facebook's algorithm will likely punish my posts in preference to "original" writing that can then be used to train their generative AI models, violate people's privacy, and continue to line the pockets of the oligarchy.
Until now, I've chosen to play that game because I believed that reaching as many people with my messages was the priority. And, to be fair, I don't regret my posting on Facebook. At a time when my friends and I needed both an outlet and a way to connect, it served its purpose.
But as the reality has set in about what the danger looks like, it's becoming harder and harder for me to justify continuing to feed Meta. It's an open secret that Meta uses your writing, your photos, your data to train its models. As much as I've become staunchly opposed to the direction of AI as another tool of exploitation, I understand that there are people who do not necessarily mind their data being used.
What bothered me immensely was that Facebook doesn't even allow you to opt out of this use of our data. The reason this is so infuriating is because they are fully capable of doing so. Just a few months ago, the option was available to us, provided we simply told them that we deserved our privacy.
That right has been taken away, and the fact that it has been taken away has been hidden behind layers of a purposely obscure help and support interface. This means that, no matter what, by continuing to use Facebook we must continue to feed this monster, even as we use it to rail against its dangers to people and society.
It would be one thing if all it did was simply help train some models. It may even be an arguably defensible transaction between user and platform. However, this is not merely that. Generative AI has a substantially higher environmental impact than most technologies, and is emerging as the weapon to be wielded against labor markets deemed "inefficient" (an accusation that serves a political purpose more than any actual meaningful metrics of what "inefficient" means). To illustrate the trend and danger, at this moment, Musk and his DOGE-stooges are replacing hundreds, if not thousands, of professionals, placing the operations of our government in the hands of tools that Musk can control and manipulate.
This suggests the looming danger to our society. By now, I hope that you have had a chance to read or watch the videos that outlines the plan tech-bro billionaire oligarchs have for America. You can watch an excellent video describing the danger here (loathe as I am to post a link to yet another big tech platform...).
Every action we take to empower these people by lining their pockets, the more they can sink their hooks into our lives and our democracy.
There is a perfectly reasonable debate to be had about whether we can view these platforms as places where crucial messaging, networking, community-building, and organizing can occur, particularly to resist the rise of the tech-bro oligarchy. I hear you, and I likewise still have to play this game to a degree. I intend to still use Facebook as a way to link to these posts, which does offer them a bit of shelter from being exploited for training data and still reach an audience. Ideally I could shed the platform entirely, but then my messages, however useful or useless they may be, would almost certainly be lost.
There are Facebook-like alternatives out there (check me out on Friendica!), but they do not yet have the critical mass of participants to suggest they are viable alternatives to Facebook as tools of broader communication.
Not yet anyhow. It does look a lot like Facebook though!
But hard as it is, the time is now to think with greater criticality about whose pockets are lined with our digital behaviors. This is a step I need to take to actually abide by what I've spoken about. I won't judge you for not following suit, but I do hope you will keep on reading! You'll just have to click a link to visit me on WhiteWind.
I hope to see you around!
