We’ll call it, “No Social Media Day” to Celebrate Facebook Inc.’s Outage.
Social Media Giant Facebook Inc. and its child properties of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were unusable for vast populations most of the day. God knows how much actual living went on instead!
Our impulses to check the notifications, scroll the feed and share our captured experiences—finally dulled after the 3rd, 5th or 11th time we checked during the extended outage.
Personally, my eyes feel clearer today. I haven’t looked, “down” so much. There seem to be more chance encounters and smiles from strangers today. I got more text messages than I have in a long time. I felt like writing about it.
Upon arriving home tonight, I chose to take a notebook to a favorite park bench rather than type right away. It feels like many others have chosen to take the walk outside rather than to the couch as well.
Of course, it is a rare and beautiful 80° F sunny October day here in Minnesota, and perhaps it’s just what I noticed today. You’ll have to let me know if this theme of ease spread throughout.
I’ll be the first to say it (if it hasn’t been said) what if we celebrated October 4th as Global, “No Social Media Day” from here on out? We might learn a thing or two from the experiment.
Of course, Instagram is back online as I write, and I’m hard pressed to promise I won’t go back online tonight. In fact, it feels quite necessary to post something. After a major whistleblower appeared on 60 Minutes last night, it’s certainly interesting timing that the service would be cut out for most of todays news cycle.
The whistleblower story reveals Facebook is well aware of the harmful impact of its products in terms of polarization & societal durability—yet it continues to value profit over safety. It was generally admitted that once the 2020 elections were over, it pulled back its toolset to handle misinformation and polarization. Who knows what other financial interests are influencing the way it employs censorship, algorithmic preference, or other tools we don’t even know about?
This story comes just weeks after a major internal research project revealed the significant mental-health issues plaguing its young users. More and more data is pointing to increases in anxiety, depression, and even suicide linked to the socially comparative nature of social media, especially Instagram.
We could scan through thousands of pages of research, surveys, and opinions and come to the same conclusion, but to me it feels pretty instinctual. Our youth are spending endless hours with their heads down, staring into artificially lit screens, comparing themselves to each other and every other, “best” in the world. Polarizing beliefs are further cemented each day we choose these de-humanizing methods of communication. We simply cannot let this continue uninterrupted.
Now this isn’t just another hate piece on Social Media or the way the company operates. Facebook has done a lot for the world in terms of connecting its users, allowing us to share diverse lifestyles and find inspiration for our own creativity. However, we could all use a more intentional look at how we’re using the platforms, how they are using us, and incite a little change from both sides.
After I post this on Medium.com, and my website, this seems like something I should share on the platform everyone uses to find out what’s happening in the world. You know.. in case anyone missed today’s news.
- PS looks like someone beat me to it — https://emptyday.today/ has organized a no social media day for the last few years, though they don’t seem to have one planned for 2021. Either way, I’m putting a reminder in my calendar to take a break a year from today. It felt like something worth celebrating.