Bye Bye, Zuck
There is absolutely no chance my leaving Facebook will make one whit of difference to that certain billionaire mentioned above. He will continue to do whatever is necessary to increase the value of his property because at the end of the day, that is really all that matters. Sure — he might turn up the crank .000001% on the Facebook Truth meter, but it isn’t going to happen because it’s the right thing to do; no, it will happen because he has to make people believe he actually cares about Truth and is doing something to honor it.
One thing I do know about Truth is that I have no way to know what the Truth is for anyone but myself. I dare say that none of us knows another person’s Truth. It was former New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moyhihan who said “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” If the FB Truth meter was working in a way that reflected the good Senator’s words, I might have stuck around a little longer. “Alternate facts” is straight out of Arthur C. Clarke or Rod Serling.
But my Truth is quite simple: There’s nothing going out there. I’ve spent too much time on FB that can now be better used. I so appreciated the many friends who wished me well as I conveyed my departure, and chuckled at a few who told me to reconsider, stick around and “navigate the rough seas” or meditate to make that “Soul” connection. But I didn’t come to FB for those purposes, and I am not heading to Instagram (owned by Facebook, too) out of protest to Mr. Zuckerberg. I am leaving because I am a sap for music videos, clips of “Whose Line” or “Family Feud”, the occasional banal saying that I heard 30 years ago that a friend posted, that I find myself appreciating yet again. I am just tired of the endless discussions by old friends as to whether we should all stop eating meat, get vaccinated or work to save our country by (filling in the blanks.) By now, I’ve made up my mind and am guessing a lot of other people have, too, but somehow the words keep coming ….
For those who give a hoot about what matters to me, you can still find me here. I will post links on Instagram to the most recent blog offering and at least you can choose to ignore it, comment on it, write to me, or ignore it altogether. While I will miss the infrequent interactions I have enjoyed with new and old friends, there remains snail mail, email and the telephone if any form of genuine contact is of interest. There is only one of us here.
I look forward to more free time to finish a book I have been writing for far too long, studying and practicing, playing and trying to make a tiny difference in the world of those whose lives I might touch.
Be well friends, and have fun. Slow and steady wins the race. I am not far away if you’re lookin’ …..
W