How to use Facebook without losing your soul

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

My attitude to Facebook is like my attitude to most things: when it’s good, it’s good, when it’s bad, it’s bad. Simple really. I’m liking the “Memories” feature at the moment and it still remains a great way to stay in touch with distant friends and family.

The thing is, when it’s bad, it’s evil. Everyone can see what it’s done to the Uncle Bobs of the world, such nice guys in person but who on Facebook spew out vomit storms of fake news and “I’m not racist but…” memes.

And then there’s stuff like the Cambridge Analytica scandal and Zuckerberg’s stubborn refusal to take any responsibility for the havoc Facebook is wreaking on basic concepts such as … I dunno … truth? No wonder people are deleting their accounts.

But wait… there’s no need to hit the nuclear button just yet. There are ways to use Facebook that help keep the good and mitigate some of the bad. Partly, it’s a case of users taking responsibility for what they post but also by tweaking a few settings, you can take away some of Facebook’s power to be evil. Here are six ways to use Facebook without losing your soul.

1. “TYPE, DON’T CLICK”: STOP POSTING OTHER PEOPLE’S STUFF

Facebook makes its money selling your information to advertisers. For Facebook, traffic is everything: the more you use it, the more money it makes. So the most obvious way to use Facebook without being evil is to simply use it less often by going back to its best use: mostly just post personal stuff. Facebook is a place for you to connect with people you care about, not fill their news feed with quotes that Aristotle/Martin Luther King/Audrey Hepburn never actually said. (I got that from John Lennon, by the way.)

So, “type don’t click”: when you post on Facebook, always add something of your own to the conversation rather than just clicking share. We want to hear from you, see your family, hear your news. And if you do feel an urgent need to share something reputable, add a comment as to why you are sharing it and why you agree.

This takes time, so you’ll post less, which is the point. Remember, traffic = cash in Zuckerberg’s pocket. How about a 5/1 rule — 5 original posts to 1 share?

Please, please stop

2. “DON’T SELL ME BRO!” MAKE YOURSELF LESS INTERESTING TO ADVERTISERS

Here are some good ways to make it harder for Facebook to track you. This will make you less profitable to advertisers, which is what the non-soul-losing Facebook user is looking to achieve. If we all were to do this, then for basic economic reasons, Facebook would feel obliged to be less evil. My message to Facebook is simple: you can track me once you get your act together. In principal, I don’t mind targeted advertising but they ain’t getting that from me until Zuckerberg gets a grip.

• On the web (not via the app), go to “ad preferences” > “Your interests” and remove stuff you don’t want them to know. (I periodically remove everything.)
• From there, also go to “Your information” and switch all the options to off.
• Then go to “Ad settings” and make them all “Not allowed.” You’re still going to see ads, they just won’t be targeted to you, which puts a dent in Facebook’s business model.
• Sadly, you can’t stop here as Facebook even tracks you when you’re not on Facebook. Manage this by going to “off-Facebook activity” (you’ll need to re-enter your password) and choosing “clear history”; then go to “Manage Future Activity” and switch everything the hell off.
• Periodically run cookie checks on your browser to opt out of ads by using this tool.
• Finally, you are going to want Facebook to stop tracking your phone. Go to your phone settings then “Apps and notifications” > “Facebook” (Android) or just “Facebook” (on iOS) and switch off anything you don’t want them to track.

Stick it to the Zuckerberg

3. “TEXAS = RUSSIA”: CHECK YOUR SOURCES!

With great power comes great responsibility, Peter. The fact is, Facebook and social media are where most people get their news, so for your friends, you have more power than the BBC or the New York Times. Think about that for a moment … and check your sources!

Let’s say you’re Vladimir Putin and you want to sow chaos in the United States. Your goal is to whip up enough fear so that people flock to the kind of leader they think will protect them, who also happens to be the kind of leader Russia wants. This is how you use Facebook from your internet cave in St. Petersburg:

1. Start a page called “Heart of Texas.”
2. Spend six months posting nice photos of Texas and happy memes about the general awesomeness of the Lone Star State.
3. Get loads of shares and likes.
4. Then start the fake news avalanche with your captive audience of millions. Sit back and smile as your garbage goes viral.

So, if you’re going to share, check who and what you are sharing, even if it looks benign.

Texas = Russia

4. “THANKS FOR GIVING ME YOUR FACE”: BE WARY OF SURVEYS AND GIMMICKY-APPS

Have you seen the posts that send you off to a survey that tells you what your political views are? Well done, you’ve just given away your political profile to some unknown data farm. Expect to be targeted with political ads, most of them manipulative. In 2016, doing this meant that you also gave away all of your friends’ details without them having a clue.

Done one of those “Faceapp” face-aging things? Your photo, linked with all of your Facebook details, are now on a server in Russia.

These men want your faces

5. “PRIVATE. DO NOT ENTER!”: LOCK DOWN YOUR PROFILE

As a general rule, the more private we are on Facebook, the less power Facebook has. So sort out your privacy settings! Consumer Reports has a good guide.

6. “BILBO’S RULE”: YOU DON’T ACTUALLY LIKE THE SACKVILLE-BAGGINSES, SO DON’T INVITE THEM TO YOUR PARTY

Old Bilbo had it about right:

I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Learn from Bilbo’s mistake and, in the nicest possible way, cull your friends. Part of the reason you spend so much time on Facebook is that you have to scroll through 80% of the stuff you don’t care about to arrive at the 20% you do. This is because you have too many “friends.” They need to go. No-one needs more than 100 friends on Facebook.

Think of it this way: if you were organizing a party you really wanted to enjoy, who would you invite? Keep those people and quietly dis-invite the Sackville-Bagginses. If that makes you feel guilty, you can just stop following them rather than unfriending altogether. Facebook is not a place to appease your social obligations. Make it leaner and you’ll waste less time. If you’re sick of political rants and/or photos of my lock-down gardening, please unfollow me. I will not be offended. I won’t even know!

Do it this way:

• Open Facebook and scroll through 10 posts.
• If you see a post and the person, group, or page does not pass Bilbo’s Rule, choose “Unfollow” from the options. (If the person is unknown or abusive, proceed to unfriend.)
• If you still want to follow the person but they are prone to posting stuff that raises your blood pressure, “Hide post” and the FB algorithm should help filter out more of Uncle Bob’s rubbish.

Time to wear the One Ring. Source: New York magazine

So, there are six ways to use Facebook without losing your soul and perhaps helping to save the world along the way. Please share yours! (Ideas that is, not your soul. That’s Zuckerberg’s to give unless you take it back.)

Also, #blacklivesmatter.