Category: Lifestyle

#DeleteFacebook

There was once upon a time (basically most of my 20’s) where I would share just about anything and everything to Facebook. I’m not sure I would have defined myself as someone that “over shares”, but I was certainly a highly active user of the platform, sharing every ridiculous photo and every stupid thought. As time went on, I not only adopted Facebook’s other services like Facebook Messenger and Instagram, but also other platforms like Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter, Foursquare, etc and began actively sharing there as well thanks to the power of the network effect. Over the last few years or so, my use of these platforms gradually declined, primarily in part of gaining a deeper understanding about how the platforms operate and make money, but also due to, what I viewed, as negatively effecting my psyche.

I just want to provide a little bit of context of my personal experiences being on the other side of the screen. I worked at a digital marketing agency which specialized in social media marketing and content creation, which certainly contributed to why I quit social media all together. Due to the nature of my job, I was often on these platforms for 40 hours a week. It was here where I began understanding exactly how social media platforms work and what sort of personal data they collect. I sat in on a couple meetings with Facebook employees who shared in detail about how their advertising platform works, how to narrow our target demographics for paid media promotion, best practices for content, and which elements were needed in our content to drive engagement.

I helped inform Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram ads (of course we wouldn’t call them “ads”) which would then be promoted across social. I would create detailed reports from the data generated from these posts to see which content received the most reach, impressions, and total engagements (engagement rate). I’m oversimplifying here, but my goal here was to determine which creative elements performed the best in terms of what users would actually click on and engage with.

Facebook Needs to Collect as Much Data as it Can About You

Facebook is incentivized to collect every piece of information it can about you so that it can sell the keys to that information to advertisers – this is where the vast majority of where Facebook’s revenue comes from and at this point it’s common knowledge. What I find amusing is that a lot of this information Facebook doesn’t even have to ask for. We share this information with them by happily providing our full name, age, gender, location, political stance, and religious views. On top of that, we share our music tastes, our favorite movies, our favorite actors. We even share status updates of our thoughts – all of this data to be used to compile any even more detail advertising profile about you. This collection of personal data is how it makes it’s money – meaning that Facebook is not the product, you (the user) are the product that they sell to companies – a cliche statement, but nonetheless accurate.

We know how Facebook makes it’s money. This, in turn, motivates the company to get you addicted to spending as much time as possible on their platform so that they can serve you more ads and more clicks. The reasoning is that you are more likely to click on an ad when it’s more relevant to you and thus the need collect as much personal information about you as possible.

Welcome to the world of the attention economy. In our current, highly connected society, human attention is a scarce commodity which is why this business model is effective. What’s the harm in that? Facebook’s algorithms, it’s massive amount of data on you, as well as the advertisements themselves are designed to pull at the strings of your psyche (often at an unconscious level), to manipulate you and drive you to perform an specific action be it a click or purchasing a product or service. Yes this is basic marketing 101, but marketing to this extent has never been possible until the advent of Facebook (and social media in general).

Facebook Watches You Even When You’re Not Using Their Services

Another important fact that most people seem to be unaware of is that Facebook not only tracks everything you’re doing when you use their platforms, but they track you even when you’re not using their services. Say you’re using Facebook on your laptop, you close the tab, and then you decide to cruise the web, reading some news, watching videos, what have you. You’re still be tracked! The embedded Facebook “Like” button you see on most websites are indeed a Facebook tracker that reports back to Facebook that you visited that page. Not only is this level of tracking occurring on their platform, but it occurs even when you’re not using their service.

Furthermore, the most popular smartphone applications also contain embedded Facebook trackers (as well as other ad trackers). The Facebook application itself track you even when you’re not even using the app, and have (at least in the past) what other applications you have installed on your device.

Cesspool of Misinformation & Filter Bubble

The fact that Facebook is a cesspool of toxicity and misinformation might be a point that every single person agrees with, but to be fair Facebook isn’t entirely to blame here. As pretentious as this sounds, a lot of people lack the critical thinking to distinguish between a news article and an article that’s blatantly fake information. I am guilty of falling for misinformation as I’m certain you are – whether you’re aware of it or not. These types of misleading articles get repeatedly shared and oftentimes people will formulate their views and opinions not on the actual article itself, but simply by reading a headline! Seeing information repeatedly, you are more likely to believe it’s true – familiarity breeds trust. Granted, I’ll go out on a limb here and call almost anyone out on reading just a headline and then forming an opinion – again, I am guilty of doing the same thing. As a result, we cannot seem to agree on anything which is causing us to slide into a post-truth era.

Furthermore, Facebook’s algorithm is designed to keep us in a filter bubble. Anyone familiar with the algorithms will know you will only see content Facebook believes you’re likely to engage with. This keeps us engaging with people that oftentimes share our opinion which further exacerbates confirmation bias, but this ties back to keeping us using the platform for as long as possible because having our attention means serving us more advertisements, which means more ad revenue.

Distraction & the Obliteration of Your Attention

The average person spends 144 minutes a day on Facebook. Imagine how you could put that time to more productive and meaningful use, such as learning a new skill or spending time with your family. The notification sound which precedes a pleasant spike in dopamine leaves us in a constant state of distraction. I immediately think of Cal Newport’s books Deep Work and Digital Minimalism – two books I highly recommend.

I’m not claiming to be a productivity guru immediately after deleting my account, but I can confidently say that rather than scrolling mindlessly I’ve consciously made the decision to read more books, start writing again (which resulted in the creation of this website), and meditating frequently. I’ve also picked up old hobbies like tinkering with Linux.

Am I a Hypocrite?

Seeing as how I have been and still occasionally dabble in social media marketing, one might think I’m a hypocrite or experiencing some major cognitive dissonance. On the contrary, I believe you can still market to your target audience without the need of Facebook or having an “All Your Data Are Belong To Us” mentality. From my point of view, collecting an insane amount of personal data on users is not only unethical, it’s also completely unnecessary and disrespectful to users. Hell, I feel pretty confident that the majority of people who work in digital marketing agree with me on this and many companies, to a degree, are forced into playing the game that’s what’s expected. I will concede that as a business, opting out might be easier said than done and is very much a complicated issue. I can’t suggest that businesses get off of social media. For individuals, however, I recommend avoiding social media entirely.

Conclusion

Facebook’s product is not the platform – WE are the product and our DATA and ATTENTION are being sold to advertisers. It is important to ask yourself when using any free online service “how is this organization making money?”. If it’s not obvious, oftentimes you’re the product. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Companies like DuckDuckGo or Protonmail can monetize their service while also respecting their users.

If it’s not obvious at this point, my opinion is that Facebook is garbage and it’s the equivalent of feeding your brain junk food. I’m not telling everyone to go out and delete their Facebook accounts… actually maybe I am, but I know most likely won’t due to “reasons”. Additionally, I know that some people have their business heavily tied into Facebook and it’s simply not viable. I went back and forth with deactivating my account, unfollowed basically everyone, and then said fuck-it and ripped off the band-aid. Psychologically, I was worried and was experiencing fear of missing out, but after I deleted it, I felt so much better. To those wary of doing so, I’ll tell you the water here is just fine. As I said, I’m not sure anyone reading this will immediately go out and delete their account, but I think it’s important for everyone to understand exactly what Facebook is and how they make their money.

For me, deleting Facebook is the best thing I’ve done for my productivity, my privacy, and my mental health.

Some books regarding this topic that I highly recommend are:
– Digital Minimalism & Deep Work by Cal Newport
– Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier
– Opt Out by Rory Price (who published his book free of charge)

Read A Fucking Book (on Your Phone)

“I don’t have time to read” is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard for not reading. It’s almost as bad as “I don’t read books, I read articles”. These excuses come from people who could easily find the time to read if they simply spent less time playing video games, watching Netflix, or doom-scrolling their social media feeds. I am a big advocate of reading books on your phone. I’ve read quite a few books on my phone and just recently finished reading Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novel and currently reading the sequel. It’s my view that it has never been easier to read books than it is now.

They say the best camera is the one you always carry with you (ie your smartphone), but this reasoning can also be applied to reading books as well. As modern humans, we routinely find ourselves in situations where we have to wait on things, whether that’s a doctor’s office visit, our takeout, riding public transit, or waiting for someone to arrive for a meeting. Convenience is a big factor.

The other big advantage is that you can carry your entire library with you and you can read at any time. Currently, I have 158 books on my phone – physically what would take up a bookshelf is conveniently shrunk down to something that fits in my pocket. Any typical smartphone from the last decade could hold tens of thousand of eBooks right on your device.

Of course there are drawbacks. Aside from the fact you need electricity to charge your mobile device, there’s no doubt that smartphones are a huge source of distraction. As someone that has challenges with self control (sugar addiction), the key to reading effectively on your phone is to not have any apps installed that could potentially distract you, either from temptation or a from a pesky notification that breaks concentration. Removing social media apps from your device is a good first step (also think of the mental health benefits!), but also turning off non-essential notifications like email and messages is a good deterrent from distraction.

Many people also say that they can’t read on a bright screen or that reading on their phone hurts their eyes. I think the obvious trick is to tone down the brightness on your phone or turn on night mode which inverts the colors so it’s white text on a black background. There’s also the ability to adjust the font and font size. There’s also actual e-ink eReaders like the Kindle or Nook that simulates physical paper the reduces eye strain, but it kind of defeats the purpose of carrying your library with you everywhere.

Another drawback, albeit a totally egotistical one, is that you can’t show off your library to show the world how well-read you are. How will your friends or colleagues during a Zoom call know that you’re not a total dolt?

In order to actually read books, there are apps for normies™ like Google Play Books and Amazon Kindle, but I prefer to use the app Librera with my own collection of eBooks (although there’s certainly the benefit of syncing between devices so you can pick up where you left off on your Kindle eReader). In terms of how to obtain eBooks, there is a huge library of books available in the public domain and Project Gutenberg is a fantastic resource to obtain them (and they’re free of DRM). There’s also websites you can obtain almost any eBook for free, though legally it’s in a gray area. There’s also legitimate websites that works with the publisher to sell a DRM-free ePub version of the book.

For me, I try to avoid platforms like Google Play or Amazon since you don’t really own the book (or file), you just have rights to access the content which could be revoked at any time and for any reason (I’m reminded of that time when Amazon ironically remotely purged a version of Orwell’s 1984 from their customer’s eReaders). Using these services not only forces you, the end user, into that company’s digital ecosystem (you can’t take your books with you if you leave Amazon), they’re terrible from a privacy perspective as well. Data like every note, every book download/purchased, every time you turn a page, and even how long you’re on a page is recorded and stored to the company’s servers. Most public libraries have eBooks available and have partnered with services such as OverDrive. Not only does this significantly expand the availability of books to read, it’s also free and completely legal. The drawback here is that your have to wait to read the book if another borrower is reading it. That said, check in with your local library.

Ultimately, I think everyone should be reading more books period. So whether it’s on your phone, eReader, or a physical copy, go read a fucking book!

Ride A Fucking Bike

I didn’t get a my drivers license or a car until I was 26. While in college I worked part time at RadioShack and road my bicycle to both (occasionally relying on public transit). It wasn’t necessarily I was against driving, but it didn’t make any sense at the time to waste money I didn’t have when I already had suitable (and superior) forms of transportation at my disposal. For city life, the bicycle is the superior form of transportation. Following the COVID19 pandemic, bicycle sales and usage have surged and that warms my heart.

Most people believe that they absolutely need to own a car to do many modern things. Going to the park? Drive. Need to pick up some groceries? Of course, drive. Need to get to work? Definitely drive – wasting time in traffic is as American as apple pie! Granted, a good case can be made to drive if your destination is more than 10 miles away, but the reality is that the majority of people live in urban areas and most places we need to visit are within reasonable distance.

Maybe the weather isn’t perfect, but most people don’t know how to dress appropriately. For the majority of my life, I’ve lived in Portland where the weather is less than tolerable 75% of the time. I’m currently living in Austin where 95% of the time, the weather is perfect to ride a bike. However, most people underestimate what they should be wearing outside because they go from a temperature controlled home to a temperature controlled car to a temperature controlled office.

There’s another hurdle to ditching or reducing your car habit. Whether you’re conscious of it or not, owning a car is also a status symbol. Going completely car-less might get you funny looks or hurt your chances on a date. But I’m going to assume you’re a strong and independent person who doesn’t care what people think. If that guy or girl loses interest in you because you don’t drive, you’re better off. Find another cyclist to date and marry, then reproduce to having cycling children.

Negative points aside, I’m going to argue that riding a bike should be considered the primary if not the superior method of traveling and that relying on a car should be used as a last resort for such things as driving across town or visiting another town. Here’s a few:

Biking is great for your wallet.
First and foremost, the costs of owning a vehicle is substantial and it’s extremely rare that the value of a car increases over time. You make monthly payments to pay off your auto loan, car insurance, gas, maintenance, and parking. Over the course of a year, this adds up to quite a bit of money. Why didn’t you just ride the bus? “Chuck, I’m too important and my time is too valuable to be wasting it on a bus or a bike ride.” Nonsense! When you calculate the annual costs of owning and maintaining a car vs owning and maintaining a bicycle (and maybe the cost of a bus pass), the difference is staggering. Additionally, think about all the time you’d be saving not having to take your car to get maintenance, gas, and trying to find parking.

Biking is great for your health.
This is probably the most obvious benefit. The majority of Americans live a sedentary lifestyle where their only physical activity is walking from their desk chair to the car seat to their couch (and I am guilty of this as well). There’s even a study done published in the Journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise that shows participants that road a bike were 31 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure.

Biking is great for the environment.
Your bike doesn’t burn fossil fuels (except for maybe the fossil fuels burned to transport your bike to the store you purchased it from). Between riding a bike and driving a car, riding a bicycle is certainly the more ethically sound of the two options and it runs on calories (from you) to work instead of oil.

Biking is less stressful.
Biking can be stressful, don’t get me wrong (I speak from experience). This can be especially true if you have to bike on a busy street. I’ve had a couple instances where I was almost swiped by a car because the driver wasn’t paying attention (ie texting while driving), however nothing terrible has ever happened. Be alert and be cautious and you’ll be fine. I have had countless incidences where I’ve experienced road rage or been frustrated stuck in traffic, but I’ve never once in my life been stuck in a bicycle traffic jam.

I’m someone who values independence. Not necessarily being entirely independent of “the system”, but the less reliant on something like a car to get around the better. Being less dependent on my car means more money, better health, more freedom, and it’s better for the planet.

So, go ride a fucking bike!

Smartphone Minimalism

I like to have total control over my devices. I want the freedom to install and remove whatever apps I wish as well as the ability to install the operating system of my choosing. In addition to that, I want my smartphone to be of little distraction as possible. I use an open source launcher from F-Droid called Unlauncher, which itself is based on Slim Launcher. Unlauncher provides a visually minimalist interface. It allows for 8 custom applications on the home screen and an “Apps” drawer for the rest (which is what primarily differentiates Unlauncher from Slim Launcher).

I make it a point to have as little applications installed on my phone, and exclusively use free and open source apps – the majority being from F-Droid. The only notifications I get are calls, messages, and alarms (no email).

If you’re looking for a clean and simple Android launcher with little distractions, I recommend 1) using Unlauncher, 2) removing and disabling all but the essential apps on your phone, and 3) turning off all but the essential notifications.