Facebook is Finally Dead To Me

Sometime in the last week or so Facebook has killed the one feature I rely on to use it. As I've documented here previously, I unfollowed everybody on Facebook a couple of years ago. It renders my Facebook wall useless. Many days the only updates on my wall are a couple of updates from local bands or small businesses that I follow. The way I use FB to keep up with friends is the "Friends With New Posts" filter on your friends list. Or it was the way I kept up. It's gone. They've also removed the indicator on each account that indicated that friend has unseen posts by you.

So basically I have no way of knowing if a friend has updated FB recently. I don't get any updates on my wall, and they've removed the manual methods. Facebook only wants me to see what they decide I should see. I've already noticed a difference. I'm less interested in Facebook. I'm simply not letting the algorithm decide what I see on the site. If they insist on making it difficult for me to use the site the way I want to use it, I'll just stop using it.

So this isn't a complaint. Or it is a complaint, but with a silver lining. The only reason I have to visit Facebook now is a couple of private groups, and events listings. Cal Newport's Facebook in 30 minutes a week idea in Digital Minimalism seems just about perfect now. His ideas about being way more intentional about how we use social media just got easier too. The only reason for me to go to Facebook is to catch up on a couple of private groups, or look for interesting things to do in Richmond.

Speaking of Digital Minimalism, I completed it last week. I need to write up my thoughts. It's a really interesting book.