About two weeks ago I posted on a private social media page how Facebook was toxic for individuals with anxiety, PTSD, and other mental health conditions. In comparison, I urged those seeking professional and serious business connections in the cannabis and crypto industries to use LinkedIn. The social media platform has a high number of business owners and content creators who publish valuable and worthwhile posts. People conduct themselves more seriously on LinkedIn is what I have noticed, and it’s been this way consistently for years.
It wasn’t until this past summer when a tragic event occurred in my life that I transitioned to using LinkedIn again. I actually turned off the notifications of invite requests only at the start of this year. I would let them pile up in my inbox knowing one day I’d sign on again. But as Facebook showed me memories that I didn’t want to view instead of searching their settings to see if there was an option to turn it off, I decided it was time for our virtual relationship to end.
About a year ago I had a pair of earrings that I designed to go viral on Facebook and it was the largest amount of orders that I had ever received. As an artist and designer, it felt great to receive recognition for my work. My inbox started to get flooded with women asking for my website. As I responded as quickly as I could, Facebook started to block any messages that I sent with a link. They notified me of 48 hours when I could send a link in my messages again. I know, I know spam prevention control. But I was not initiating these messages, I was only replying.
After this magnificent event occurred in my art life, I was encouraged (motivated) to share more. Despite the message situation. I mean, that is what the platform encourages to make the algorithm work for you, right? Share! Share Share! The more I shared, the fewer views it said I had. I tried scheduling posts, posting organically, and I even tried ads. Facebook would offer $10-$50 credit for creating an ad but I would never see the credits after I paid.
I posted in “professional” art and business groups but over the last year “follow for follow train” posts would take over, some groups would not allow you to share your business link (which made no sense to me), some groups let scammers comment on everyone’s post, and in others, the admins would demand you follow them on Instagram before approving your post. The biggest hustle I witnessed was attractive women group admins charging $10-$50 for you to post in their group.
At this point, I was only using Facebook to promote my art, and the free and paid methods weren’t working on my behalf.
Facebook made saying goodbye easy.
Over the years I, like many others, questioned the violent viral videos, the completely off recommendations for suggested friends, how you could select not to see content but it was still appearing, the spike in irrelevant ads, and the disappearance of posts from those on your friendslist.
Facebook outgrew itself.
Too many new (ideas) services, options, and constant updates. Not enough focus on bettering society with such a powerful and accessible platform. The scariest thing about the recent outage was the thought of the millions of people refreshing their app for hours who didn’t even have a business but just wanted to have access to their feed. Pointless feed checking. An unhealthy social media addictive habit that started because of Facebook.
On October 28th Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will continue the conversation of the company rebrand, new name, and his focus on building the metaverse at the annual Connect conference.
There will be fake outrage by the Facebook social media world that has in my opinion dumbed down the smartest of individuals. Mark has stated that he wants to focus on the younger generation. I don’t know if this is his way of trying to give back to the global social media community after the damage Facebook has done but as the once viral saying goes: Hide Your Kids.
Article By K. Crystal Carter
– K. Crystal Carter is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast who is originally from Oakland, California. She has 7.5 years of experience in the financial industry, and 6 years of being a cannabis hydroponics grow director and cannabis advocate at local City Hall meetings. She currently resides in Las Vegas as one of the lead Earthy Realist team members.
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