So, #deleteFacebook or what?!

A few weeks ago I struck a chord with an email I sent to my subscribers on the trending topic of #DeleteFacebook after it was revealed that data mining company Cambridge Analytica had been deep data mining and delivering said data to usurp the Brexit referendum, U.S. election and who knows what else.

It sparked some debate in my inbox. It also sparked a request for me to post my original email for sharing. Here it is! See below. What do you think? I think this is the tip of the iceberg on third-parties using our data. This is the world we live in. But you have more control than you think… you always did. The question is, what do we do about it now? Can we put the genie back in the bottle? Do we need to? Do we want to?

Original email:

Hi,

#DeleteFacebook is trending on Twitter. What are you going to do?

For a quick overview of why and how, I just came across this article on Facebook (ironic) showing people how to delete Facebook on Business Insider magazine online.

If you don’t feel like clicking…  if you follow American politics, you will have suspected that Facebook was complicit, by accident or by turning a blind eye, to Russian meddling in the recent U.S. election. And now, reports are pretty damning that our data was used by political game-players to turn our heads and opinions on topics.

Maddening. Scary. Game-changing. Between the Trump election and the Brexit outcome in Europe, the opinion is WE’VE BEEN PLAYED! (Well, “we” in general… not yet sure of any impacts in Canadian politics).

So what do we do? Do we delete Facebook? Do we delete Twitter? Do we hop off social media?

I say NO WAY. At least, not for this reason. I think the value of social media and social marketing outweighs this epic hurdle. And it’s a hurdle Mark Zuckerberg now has to address. All things considered, the Zuckerberg/Facebook team has seemed very interested in you and I as readers, and less about business and politics. They got caught in their own web. If there is any undoing, it is theirs, not ours.

Imagine a world where the social platforms do more good than bad. Imagine that the conversation online grows in positivity and silences the negativity.

Now, don’t imagine. Be the change! BE THE CHANGE! I feel very passionate that your voice, my voice, and the voice of all reasonable youth and adults are REQUIRED online to help us be the best we can, fix the problems we must, and improve ourselves too, along the way. Do you agree?

There is no doubt that social media is draining. And, taking a hiatus at times, putting the brakes on overuse, connecting IN REAL LIFE is essential for our human existence. So turn it off for those reasons.

But not because of political game-players. Don’t let them win. Why?

#MeToo
#TimesUp
#MarchforourLives
Just to name a few examples of great things happening online.

Don’t delete, turn down the noise. Less casual clicking, more critical thinking.

We are not blameless. We are not victims. We are circumstantially caught up in an algorithm web and it’s our job to get ourselves out of it.

We have our own brains. We have to use them.

Stop absentmindedly clicking on CRAP! (And I’m just as guilty)

Every time you click on something that is negative, questionable, politically doubtful, a lie (out of curiosity, out of a momentary belief that it was truth) you are rewarding the algorithm – the data-engine that decides what to send you next.

Start clicking on GOOD stuff. Share and like the following:

• Businesses you support. The rely on it. Facebook recently changed the algorithm to make it nicer for us as consumers to see ‘content’ and less business-y stuff. And that’s fine as a consumer, but hard as a business. So share and help a small business out, more often than you think.
• Good news. Uplift, inspire, and educate others.
• Social good or social concerns. Through tragedy, trauma, or opportunity, every article or conversation we share that can help humanity should be shared! This, to me, is the entire purpose of social conversations that matter.

Politics and politicking aren’t bad. And we are never going to agree. Thank goodness, we live in a democracy! And critical thinking and respectful conversations where we disagree, are human. We can do it!

But we can make better choices about clicking and sharing “news” that is harmful and rewards evil. We can walk away from the stuff that makes us feel gross. Reward the good. Click the good.

At least for now. Don’t give up yet! Better yet, be the good… start the conversation (check out some tips on Don’t Be a Word Hoarder).

Cheers,
Kim

For more insight into what I think about Facebook’s role for business owners, read Dear Business Owner, Facebook Spoiled You and understand that “pay to play” is also part of the antedote to what ails us in this social media world.

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