Photo by Tracy Le Blanc from Pexels
Facebook and its other platforms, WhatsApp and Instagram, were down all together, globally, for about six hours last week. The outage happened, coincidentally, hours after American network CBS aired its interview with Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, and a day before Haugen testified before the US Senate.
“Facebook has realized that if they change the algorithm to be safer, people will spend less time on the site, they'll click on less ads, they'll [Facebook will] make less money.”
- Frances Haugen to CBS
Many of us know the harm Facebook and it’s various platforms cause. Then why do we continue to hold accounts with them?
Why do Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram thrive if people experience the effects of what these platforms perpetuate and don’t agree with the way they conduct their business? It’s the same reason climate change has remained on the back burner for years and it’s the same reason we aren’t making a quicker exit from the pandemic. We, the consumers, choose not to make choices we believe will inconvenience us. Most people say they “can’t” leave WhatsApp because everyone they know is there. There are similar excuses about reducing our use of plastic, for example. It’s just inconvenient for us.
In this world of instant-everything at the press of a button, we don’t acknowledge the impact that is seeping in slowly, because it doesn’t instantly slap us in the face. We choose to be blissfully ignorant of how what we consume and spend our time on affects us. Have we ever considered that the anxiety and fear we feel in our everyday lives is because of platforms which do more harm than good?
Unfortunately, we live in a world where corporations profit because we stick with them for convenience even if our association with them is to our own detriment. Yes, companies are supposed to make money. But that money is based on consumer choices.
The Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, which is available free on YouTube till October 31, reveals that Facebook is not the only one we should be concerned about. This series of infographics from The Center for Humane Technology explains why. None of these platforms are inherently harmful, but the way they conduct their business may be. That’s why Haugen’s revelations are so crucial. Please read as much as you can on her testimony to help you make an informed decision.
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."
- M.K. Gandhi
It’s time for us to make conscious choices. With a conscience. Let’s start weaning ourselves off whatever is responsible for the disharmony within us and around us. Let’s block, unfollow and delete consciously if our values don’t resonate with platforms we use. There are simpler, calmer places to be online and offline. Let’s go there. Let a peaceful life be something we can take for granted and not a wish.
Whatever pressure we may face from family, friends, colleagues and business associates to rejoin platforms we have left will dissipate. We will find better alternatives if we look. On Seth Godin’s podcast, Akimbo, in the episode titled The practical ethics of the jet ski, he throws light on similar issues and makes this thought-provoking statement:
“I wonder if we're doing a good enough job of making decisions about what all of us are going to do on behalf of all of us.”
- Seth Godin
Let’s move somewhere online where our conscience is clear. And take our family and friends and our business there.
Until next time,
Michelle