The Facebook Goodbye

Note: for the one person who follows my blog, and those who are incoming from BlueSky, I know you’ve noticed the dates on my posts, and are probably wondering where I have been. I PROMISE, I will be writing about that soon. But, for the sake of essentially updating my contact info, online presence, and digital footprint--I need to write this post first. I promise, we will go back to having fun here (or maybe me being self indulgent with my special interests and dragging you along with me). Either way, it will get entertaining again, just bear with me. Now…onto the serious blog. 

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If you’re seeing this, it’s happened. 

I’ve left Facebook for good, and closed down my other social media accounts. And honestly: I think this is one of the best decisions for my mental health I’ve ever made. Unless you don’t have Facebook, or aren’t watching the news regularly, Facebook decided to repeal any sort of anti-hate speech guidelines, implement community notes, and get rid of its (already shoddy) fact checking team. 

Admittedly, the site was already going downhill, but as a queer person--this was the final nail in the coffin for me. As much as I would like to be noble and stay on the platform “to continue to be representation”--I have to ask, to whom am I providing such representation for? The younger generation isn’t on Facebook, and my fellow millennials are jumping ship left and right. The platform is going the way of The Site Formerly Known as Twitter, and quite frankly, I want no part in the alt-right dumpster fire. 

The only thing I can really thank Elon Muskrat for, is that we can see this all coming. We already watched the downfall of a social media titan occur with his acquisition of Twitter, and the blunders that popped up along the way. Oh, how times were simpler then, when Elon was just a bumbling fool on his own--and not the puppet master of a Fascist, Felon President. But again, I digress. 

Twitter became a hot bed for alt-right rhetoric and activity, and people who are more eloquent than myself have already written excellent articles on it and papers, so I won’t go into that history. But it’s happening again with Facebook more transparently, with even developers fearing this will cause more real-life violence and further prejudice that marginalized people are already facing on a grand scale. 

In less wordy terms: it’s going to get real ugly, real fast. And I think everyone here has an individual choice to make. If you want to stay on and be representation, and take up the online crusade against bigoted internet trolls, power to you. I truly mean that without sarcasm. You have a fortitude and mental resilience that, quite frankly, I no longer have. Go forth, and break the brains of incels and anyone who feels that others should be subjugated, based on how they were born and who they are. I also know not everyone has the privilege to leave Facebook, for business or family reasons, so you just might be a beacon of community for someone who needs it. 

But on my end, I cannot give my engagement, time to a website, and further ad revenue to an owner that is actively participating in false information, the rise of hate speech, and a possible precursor to online talk that will have tragic, horrifying, real-life consequences. Mark Zuckerberg  knows what repercussions this will have. He has been warned. Years ago, he was forced to defend himself at a congressional hearing, concerning how FB purposely spread misinformation, exploited minors, and did not protect user’s data. But the truth is this: he doesn’t care. And as long as he’s making more money than God, he can’t be forced to care. 

Collective action and boycotts work. Twitter is also proof of that. It’s a dying website with an echo chamber that is rapidly becoming bored with itself. And with people leaving Facebook in droves, I can only hope the same happens there too. Because, honestly, I do think Twitter and Facebook will cease to exist within the next ten years. Building a platform that purposely spreads false information and bigotry will only get you so far. People get sick of it. 

Being on Facebook, especially the past three months, has definitely affected my mental health more. I feel more isolated being on there. I am seeing nothing but ads, AI slop, and bots. I don’t even see my friends’ posts as much. It’s all just nonpersonal stuff Facebook is pushing me to see, and I’m quite frankly tired of it. In the past week, I decided to get off of Facebook and hop on BlueSky, and honestly it’s been SO MUCH BETTER. 

For full discretion: this blog IS NOT sponsored by BlueSky (all though, I totally wish I was, I’ll take BlueSky money). But being on another social media platform, that’s not Facebook, has been eye opening. I have only used Facebook since I was 13. I never even really used Instagram. But being on Bluesky, and seeing actual people sharing their art and content on there, has been a breath of fresh air. I have enjoyed seeing cordial interactions with strangers, fans connecting over a common book or band, and artists sharing their drawings, writing, ect. And when I have seen AI content, it’s been…let’s just say, not received well by the user base and rejected. The developers are actively on the website, making update posts, and trying to combat issues like bots and other glitches. They interact with users, and respond to comments. They also have great moderation tools (including a blocking feature that ACTUALLY WORKS) and they have ways content can be labelled, without infringing upon free speech. I also applaud their alt text feature, which allows more accessibility for blind or low vision users. 

I remember being on Facebook in 2007, and it was just friends and family posting updates. Sharing pictures. Sharing art, and other creations. And BlueSky feels like what Facebook used to be, combined with “the good parts of old school Twitter” according to my friends that were users. Quite frankly, I want that online community back. I want a space where people are actually nice to each other, and it’s not a rarity to see such decency. 

It’s also thrilling to be on a site that artists can get traction on. I have naturally discovered music and visual content I really like, because established creators aren’t being pushed constantly, and sponsored posts. I am gaining followers that are interacting with me, and it’s only been a week. I think once I start posting my blog more regularly, and sharing my fictional written work, that reach will grow. I’m excited to share my writing again. I’m excited to be online. And that hasn’t happened in a long, long time. 

Thus, after being on Facebook for almost twenty years with two accounts (one got hacked and never recovered), I’m out. It’s just not worth it. My only two pages moving forward will be this Callixta/Calix King website, and my BlueSky account. Which, by the way, I totally encourage you to check out: 

https://bsky.app/profile/ckingwrites.bsky.social 

That’s where I will be posting my day-to-day stuff, and blog updates. 

So, goodbye Facebook. I wish I could say it’s been great, but to be real, it really hasn’t been since 2015.