Digital unravelling - losing Facebook and the transience of social media

Photo by Kelli McClintock on Unsplash

When I signed off here in 2024 (see previous post) I didn't think I would return. But today I suddenly feel like writing again. Not about education but on the transience of social media in an age where AI controls what we do and who can participate.

Last week I was suddenly and without explanation thrown out of Facebook and Messenger. I was scolling through posts, as we all do, when a message appeared telling me that my account was suspended because activity on it didn't follow their Community standards on account integrity. They included a link to appeal against the decision and that lead me to a video selfie facility. I don't like the idea of recording a video of myself, especially for a company like Facebook, but I had no alternative in this case. So I did that and it was accepted. Then came a captcha to prove I'm not a robot and finally a confirmation of my e-mail. An hour later came the final bombshell as you see below.

I have been a user for almost 20 years and have always been a responsible user, never making offensive comments or promoting disinformation or hatred. I had absolutely no idea why I had been targetted like this except that the algorithms had made a mistake. Since Facebook, like most social media, is basically a machine there is no contact information or customer service and my attempts to find out more about my banishment simply hit a brick wall of FAQs.

I was deeply hurt by this. Despite the enshittification of the platform, ie all the ads and "suggested links", I still got a lot of joy from it all. I posted photos from my hikes and travels and was active in several enthusiast hobby groups mostly on topics like football, cricket, railways and nature. Nothing very controversial there!  I also had a lot of contacts: relatives, friends and work colleagues from around the world. They were now all gone and I had no back-up contact channels for most of them. Suddenly my digital world shrunk even further. I started searching for as many as possible on other platforms - after several years of neglect I finally found Linkedin very useful! 

Then came the next blow. My computer crashed and I began to think that the digital gods were really out to get me. I took the ailing machine into an IT repair company in town and awaited the verdict on whether they could salvage at least some of the contents on my hard drive. It turned out that Windows was corrupted and the hard drive was virtually finished. But the main discovery was that the computer was full of virus including trojans. The repair guy said that that could have triggered alarms in Meta's algorithms leading to my sudden expulsion. I hadn't noticed my account being hacked but the trojans and their friends were certainly doing some strange things with my accounts. At the same time I have been well aware of the dangers of viruses and have run anti-virus scans every couple of weeks and always got the all clear sign. I also used VPNs and anti-tracking software so I thought I was well protected. However they told me that my protection, Macafee, was very unreliable and I have now bought another solution. But how are ordinary mortals like me supposed to know all the details of which solution is best? Some people really enjoy comparing products and reading reviews but I don't and I suspect I am far from alone. I just chose a well-known brand and trusted that. The computer was cleaned out and I have now started from scratch with all the bright and shiny updated apps and programs and am now checking my virus scans daily! I had backed up my data on two external hard drives so I didn't lose my photos and documents but it's still a dull chore getting everything working again.

So what have I learned from all this? Don't trust anything digital and always have multiple backups. Platforms can delete you whenever they feel like it or if they the company goes bust. If it is free you are not a customer and we have usually forfeited our rights by accepting the terms and conditions. I have found a lot of my contacts on other platforms and am beginning to adapt to having fewer things to scroll through (probably a good thing even if I get withdrawal symptoms now and then). There is really no alternative to Facebook - the nearest I've seen is MeWe. I created an account there but can't find anyone I know. If you have lots of digital contacts I strongly advise you to copy them in multiple places including on paper. I went out and bought an old-fashioned paper address book and am writing down all the contacts with e-mail addresses, phone numbers and any other information I have on them. If you are one of my old contacts please conatct me through this blog or search on other social media.

Be careful out there!