April 2: A friend recently started an on-line course for creative photography using his Apple iPhone. It has been fun watching his skill improve and see the results of his effort. As he got better, he started posting batches of pictures to Facebook, and actually developed a devoted following. I realized that, if I was to continue to see his work, I would need to consider joining as well.
To say the least: I was reluctant, but after some thought, I decided to take the plunge. On entering the site I was asked for a bunch of personal information which would presumably be used to “make my experience more enjoyable”. Data related to age and sex, schools I attended, where I worked and a personal photo were all sought, and ignored. Once I became a member, I was asked to download Messenger and started to receive news items and advertising that looked suspiciously like some things I had already seen on my own searches. I got a long list of “friends” already on the site – some that I had not seen for many years and for good reason – and asked to “like” them so that we could chat on Facebook.
After a couple of days on the site, the story of the Cambridge Analytica data hack broke in the news. A small avalanche of stories appeared in the papers about the subtle effects of electronic devices on our daily lives, and more specifically, the loss of privacy on-line. They pointed out that people now use their cell phones to capture an image of a place or an event, rather than taking the time to experience the place or event first-hand, and to then take an image as a reminder. On-line groups of friends have replaced actual live friends, and their “like” provides an endorphin hit that becomes mildly addictive. Like-minded communities become insular and inward-looking, receiving a stream of information tailored to their viewpoint. More extreme views were often reinforced with feeds from dubious sources.
Much of this was not news to me; it mirrored my view of many of the sites most of my friends used. My photographer friend often said that he spent several hours a day on electronic media including Facebook and Instagram. While I sometimes felt like a bit of a Luddite for not being more active on-line, I had no desire to follow his example and shortly thereafter, I uninstalled Facebook.
In reaching that decision I needed to balance the convenience of having access to my friend’s pictures against the obvious incursions into my privacy and personal data sought by on-line sources. I am already very aware of being tracked, and the potential for loss of privacy or worse, and being on sites like Facebook only seemed to magnify those threats. While I will continue to use this site to share my miscellaneous ramblings (with the security ratcheted down as tight as I can get it), I’m off Facebook. I’ll need to find another way to enjoy my friend’s photography.