My Decision To Abandon Facebook To Try To Save Facebook

I'm stepping away from Facebook. That may seem like a personal decision that isn't appropriate for sharing on LinkedIn, but I used to be a social media professional. I covered social media at a research firm. I led the social media team at USAA. I attended Facebook press events hosted by Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook headquarters. I even briefly consulted with Facebook, presenting to a group of its sales executives. I was a relatively early adopter and an eager engager on the Facebook platform--until two weeks ago.

I have decided the best thing I can do--for me and perhaps for Facebook itself--is to abandon the platform for a while. I am not refusing to engage on Facebook because I hate the social network but because I love it--or at least love what I think Facebook can and should be. I feel it necessary to act because continued engagement only helps Facebook sell ads, and that sends the message I don't care what Facebook does. I do care, and I want Facebook to change, so I'm taking a break, at least temporarily. 

Perhaps, after seeing my reasons, you might consider joining me. If so, post on Facebook why you're hitting the "pause" button and tag Facebook. You and I individually may not be able to catch the attention of Facebook's leaders, but if enough of us do this, we can influence the company's actions, improve open and honest dialog during the 2020 election cycle, and strengthen Facebook's future.

I think Facebook would be wise to pay attention. There's already a trickle away from Facebook. Cambridge Analytica, data breaches, and social pressures have led disenchanted users to disconnect in tiny numbers. Will that turn into a broader stream? Probably not, but Facebook's leaders seem unfazed by the risk. Facebook has always struggled with issues of trust, and I fear it is now crossing lines it cannot later erase.

Recent decisions seem indefensible, and not just me. For example, including Breitbart as a trusted news source in Facebook's news tab is absurd. I respect the company's desire to provide a range of views, and I support the fact that they are including other conservative news outlets such as the National Review and FOX News. But, Breitbart, the promoter of birther and other conspiracy theories?

Then there's the decision to avoid fact-checking political ads. This action, in the wake of the platform's manipulation during the 2016 election, is incomprehensible. Facebook need not follow Twitter's lead by banning all political ads, but it should reconsider its policy. The world's largest and most powerful communications platform has too much influence over people's information and opinions to ignore its role in free and fair elections.

After a decade of data breaches, misuse of our personal information, foreign manipulation, and other trust-destroying problems, it's long past time for Facebook to change. But it will not change--in fact, it need not change--unless people start voting with their time, attention, and engagement.

Many Facebook users have been outraged at the idea they are the product, not the customer. I've never shared that outrage; after all, media business models have always generated user attention to sell to advertisers. Facebook's revenue model is not fundamentally different from TV networks, newspapers, and magazines. But while the business model is not new, what is new is Facebook's scale, its real-time urgency, its place at the center of so many people's closest relationships, its power to influence opinion, and the way advertising and algorithms designed to accentuate outrage and division are altering the way our nations and communities function. You are the product, and you have power--but only if you use it.

But, again, this isn't just about Facebook doing the right thing for me, for voters or democracy; it's about Facebook doing what's right for Facebook. The drumbeat for Facebook to be regulated as a form of utility or even broken apart is growing. Facebook's leaders are betting they can do whatever they want without repercussions. They may very well be right, but history is littered with corporate giants who thought they were too big to fail and found otherwise.

I'm as addicted as anyone to Facebook, but I'm disconnecting, at least temporarily. I'm not alone. I know of a small agency that has decided it will no longer execute paid or organic programs on Facebook. I know other early social media adopters who are going dark. One young relative has left Facebook because she felt it was diminishing rather than improving her life. Another friend, a data scientist who works at a major consulting firm, abandoned Facebook to protest the company's failure to protect and appropriately use personal data.

Facebook must focus on trust and demonstrate that customers, the dissemination of accurate and objective information and news, and the health of our various communities (from families to neighborhoods to nations) come before ad revenue. Facebook is no longer a scrappy startup fighting for survival but one of the largest and most valuable corporations in the world. We have a right to expect it to consider the health of all stakeholders in its decisions--not just shareholders but every one of the 1.6 billion people who are active every day on the platform. Over 20% of the world's population turn their attention to Facebook every day, and it's time we demand the company take that responsibility much, much more seriously.

Facebook can ignore me. It cannot ignore all of us. It cannot even ignore a small share of us. If enough of us act and reduce the content we post, the engagement we create, and the revenue we generate for Facebook, its leaders will notice. Consider going dark on Facebook, and if you do, tag Facebook in your post.

Please help me help Facebook improve. Or, if you disagree or have other ideas, feel free to share in comments.