Great article. I can't change Facebook, but I can change myself and quiting, doesn't really work as there are people who I only connect with on Facebook. Also I have used Facebook to raise money for friends who were in need, which would have been impossible otherwise. I found that I had a need for more focus and attention. So the first thing I did was remove Facebook from my phone. The 2nd thing I did was add a browser extension so I only spend 10 minutes a day on Facebook and then I am blocked. Next I tend post things I feel contributes to my community of people. If I post something negative, I like to write context to make that information more digestible. Finally I remove toxic people, even if they are my friends. If I browse the main feed, the goal is finding positive/inspiring posts and personal posts by friends. Anything else is trying to snag my attention and I assume the post is false or just reposting news which I can read somewhere else.
Thus Facebook has become a tool. Knowing how to use a tool and how to train yourself to categorize and discard information is very valuable. I understand that any post that grabs my attention requires me to ask a question: "Am I being manipulated?". If the post isn't an original post by the user, then the answer is most likely Yes. I either ignore the post or I do research to see if the post is fake news. Finally I ask myself the question "Do I have anything to contribute to the conversation"? If not, I just ignore the post.
Great article. I can't change Facebook, but I can change myself and quiting, doesn't really work as there are people who I only connect with on Facebook. Also I have used Facebook to raise money for friends who were in need, which would have been impossible otherwise. I found that I had a need for more focus and attention. So the first thing I did was remove Facebook from my phone. The 2nd thing I did was add a browser extension so I only spend 10 minutes a day on Facebook and then I am blocked. Next I tend post things I feel contributes to my community of people. If I post something negative, I like to write context to make that information more digestible. Finally I remove toxic people, even if they are my friends. If I browse the main feed, the goal is finding positive/inspiring posts and personal posts by friends. Anything else is trying to snag my attention and I assume the post is false or just reposting news which I can read somewhere else.
Thus Facebook has become a tool. Knowing how to use a tool and how to train yourself to categorize and discard information is very valuable. I understand that any post that grabs my attention requires me to ask a question: "Am I being manipulated?". If the post isn't an original post by the user, then the answer is most likely Yes. I either ignore the post or I do research to see if the post is fake news. Finally I ask myself the question "Do I have anything to contribute to the conversation"? If not, I just ignore the post.