Like so many people right now, I’m thinking of quitting Facebook. What stops me is that I don’t want to give in to the cynical perspective that says Facebook is only looking out for itself.
It’s no secret why people should feel negative about Facebook:
- its backstabbing origins as retold in The Social Network;
- its questionable business practices when it comes to competition;
- its history of conducting scientific experiments on its users without prior permission;
- its willingness to flout principles when it improves the bottom line;
- its growing monopoly on the dissemination of news;
- its unwillingness to really engage with the concept of hate speech;
- its intentionally designed addictiveness;
- its targeting of minors as a viable market;
- its role in the continued erosion of our expectation for privacy;
- its active role in helping political parties use the platform to stifle opposition;
- etc.
It’s easy to see those realities and say, “Enough is enough,” but part of me still wants to believe that Facebook can be a force for good.
Facebook is now one of the backbones of the Internet. It is not the spine, but it is definitely a backbone, an integral piece of the entity we call “the Internet.” With over 2.1 billion monthly active users, Facebook plays some part in virtually everyone’s experience of the Internet (for comparison, the Internet as a whole has roughly 4 billion active users ). When something becomes as integral to our experience, it ought to become publicly controlled. Similar to the utilities, Facebook should paid for and managed by the people at large.
The problem with Facebook is not that it exists. In theory, we want a “free-to-use” virtual space where individuals can connect with other individuals without having to wade through all the shit between them.
The problem is that Facebook, as it is currently configured, needs to make money. They don’t need to break even; they need to generate profit. They need to produce a resource that someone else will pay for. That resource, that thing they’re selling, is us. It’s our daily Internet activity, our interests, our identities, our lives.
Now, I don’t necessarily mind that Facebook has my information. I don’t even mind that Facebook shares it with other entities if it improves my experience of the Internet. I’m even okay with them selling my information in the aggregate, with no identifying information able to be traced back to me. Running servers, paying employees, providing them with benefits, these things are necessary to the existence of Facebook, and each of them costs money. If Facebook can supplement its income by selling information in the aggregate, it should be welcome to do so.
But it shouldn’t be able to do so to make a profit. As soon as the profit motive is introduced, the organization becomes inclined to act from a place of self-interest. If the existence of Facebook were subsidized by the public taxpayer and its methods were governed by democratic principles, it would be able to become a real force for good.
An organization as powerful and as critical as Facebook is has to take every action — start every task — inspired by and and moving towards an ethical principle.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure I believe that Facebook will ever get there. I can hardly imagine the U.S. government getting strong enough to capture a major multi-national company such as Facebook, and so it will continue to be an organization focused on the growth of its bottom line rather than the transformation of the world for the good.
But…
I have more than just negative feelings towards Facebook. It is a great tool for knowing — at least on a superficial level — what’s going on in the lives of people I know, people I once knew, and people I want to know better.
I like looking at pictures of people’s children; reading their personal, political, and sometime petty thoughts; discovering articles and videos based on their recommendations; having an easily-accessible tool to contact virtually any one I’ve ever known; engaging in funny, emotional, political, whimsical, nostalgic, polite, and diverse text-based conversations with people I may not have ever met; mourning public figures in a way that feels connected and real; sharing my own freely produced and freely distributed products with people who might be interested; and participating in the busy market of democratic ideas.
I like Facebook not only as a soapbox, but as a place to witness other people standing on their own soapboxes and proclaiming their own worldly truths.
There’s not really another place for me to have that experience. Automobiles, suburbanization, television, and (yes) the Internet have erased the physical public commons where we might be able to have a similar experience in the real world. And digitally speaking, other social-media competitors such as Twitter are too loud and too busy with too many people trying to sell you something, or else the people I know (people over the age of 30) don’t belong to those networks.
Of all the social-media networks, Facebook feels the most personal, a corner of the Internet filled with recognizable faces.
But…
Maybe like we all know that we need to get rid of our gas-driven cars and stop eating non-organic foods, we also know that we need to get off of Facebook. As much good as it might be doing us, it also might just cause the end of us.
Unfortunately, in the same way an addict doesn’t actually want to kick, I’m not sure I want to abandon Facebook just yet.
Which is why this is not (yet) a goodbye. But it is a look down at my watch and a look over my shoulder at the exit.
