Why I hate Facebook

When Facebook landed in Finland in 2007, almost 10 years ago, we had no social media that could be compared to this 360˚ degree platform where you could publish both image and text and also interact with other users previously reserved only for certain sites. So here you had it all in one, so to speak.

In the beginning, people were too excited to notice that the privacy settings were scant, if non-existent. Facebook had its own built-in dating apps and users were already willing to bare everything on their profile which made identity theft a piece of cake for those in the know. You could not even choose the audience of your most private thoughts or hide your profile or block certain users.

Then stuff started happening: identity theft, fake profiles, scams and even murder. There was a case in the US where a jealous ex-boyfriend was prompted to murder after seeing his ex-girlfriend supposedly flirting with other men. Old posts with risqué pictures would be re-published and cyber-bullying got a whole new meaning through Facebook. There have been even incidents of suicide after intense Facebook bullying campaigns against individuals.

Then came the selfies and videos. Now everybody wanted to look like a superstar. This mania even took some people to a professional photographer or Photoshop if you had the skills. Au naturel was definitely out. The selfies then would include also photographing yourself sunbathing, vacationing, eating (later it has changed to only pics of food: “Look, I cooked!”(really, wow). Then of course the various trends that came and went: your childhood picture, recipes, tests, etc. Some of these still circulate or they start all over again since they’re ‘vintage.’

These days it’s hard to find anything spontaneous on Facebook. All pictures are carefully selected, cropped, photoshopped. Nothing compromising can be written. Certain users (like Mom and Dad and Auntie) must be blocked. I thought the idea was to share the moment with your network (the network you’ve accepted and chosen) but it’s become more like an advertisement: this is how I WOULD like my life to look like. I don’t mean we need pictures of people in hospitals, funerals or telling what a shithead their ex is but it would be refreshing to see that instead of ‘Woohoo, I have an amazing life 24/7!’ with paint brushed images of something that maybe never happened. I can’t trust what I see on Facebook. To me, it’s almost LieBook. People branding themselves and their lifestyles.

I’ve left Facebook a couple of times but so many use it for communication (Messenger) and events and finding out when your friend’s birthday is so I always come back, hang in there, hoping one day it will be eradicated or used for more than self-aggrandizing or advertising.