Would you like to protect yourself and avoid being controlled by those who may not have your best interest at heart? With clearer information on how we have been (and continue to be)  manipulated, it’s time to make some needed changes in how you interact with Facebook (FB).

I remember some years ago, FB asked me if I agreed with the statement, ‘Facebook cares about me’. I responded with ‘Strongly Disagree’ because of the policy to sell my information, to change my settings – often to a more public option – without my permission and the lack of care on how that information might be used against me. Since then I occasionally get a message from FB saying “Because we care about you, here is a memory you posted last year.” or  a prompt to check my privacy settings. These ‘memory’  posts are randomly selected so the relevance is hit or miss. I have had FB select a friend and the pictures in the little video don’t match. It’s a mess and it’s too little too late.

Contrary to these attestations of caring about me, FB is a business that cares about profits and stock prices. It can’t be about you and your life. I don’t think there is a malevolent intent but there is a malevolent result. Mark Zuckerberg is managing a behemoth that has a mind of its own and he runs it under his own belief system that is likely insulated from and out of touch with the average American life.

As you already realize, when you get something for ‘free’, you are paying in one way or another. On FB you are paying by handing over your personal data. Every click, like and share tells them about you. Every survey you complete, every test you take, any and all actions give them more and more data. Many of the “I bet no one will share this” or “I know which of my friends will respond” is just a manipulation to get you to click. Don’t fall for it. This data doesn’t stay with FB, it is sold and used by countless organizations some with your best interest in mind, some with intentions to engineer what you believe about the world to their advantage.

In the beginning, this was used for advertising by FB, Google and all other internet providers. It was creepy to have an ad come up from something you sent in an email, but, we got use to that. It is utterly wrong that now this information is spread around the world unscrupulously and into the hands of some very disturbed people who use it to manipulate our thinking, feelings and how we see each other. Time to make a change.

1. Go through your ‘Likes’ to weed out any person or site you are not sure is legitimate. This will be many or most of your likes. If someone wants to know what you like, get together, have a cup of tea or go for a walk and chat in person. Remember that? If they are far away, talk on the phone, write a snail mail letter or go for a visit. You deserve the vacation.
2. Go through your friend list and do likewise. Unless you are a band, or a writer, or a something that you want to promote, there is no reason to have friends you don’t know. It was a cool thing to say I have 634 or 1015 friends, as if that said something about how likable you are. We are all over that now, right? Let them go.
3. Do not get your news from FB ‘Unlike’ all or most of your news preferences. If you get your news from FB, it is skewed to what you want to hear. It is very important to pay for a subscription to an international, national, city and local newspaper, to visit their website to see all the news they believe is fit to print. Visit legitimate news organizations with differing viewpoints. You need to see all the happenings, not just what FB deems you need to know. Realize this is a manipulation to keep you coming back and clicking, outraged, interested, learning, some of it is good, but it is incomplete to say the least. Don’t allow yourself to be controlled. If you can’t afford to pay for subscriptions, do your best to visit a wide variety of news websites and ensure they are legitimate with real, live journalists.
4. Facebook functions like a casino where time stands still, likes of your posts are affirming and the lure of dopamine lurks in the stories you love to read. The whole idea is to keep you on FB, scrolling, clicking and possibly purchasing. The longer you are on, the more they will get to know you, what you want and sell you something whether it be that bicycle built for two you were checking out or the next president of the United States. There are no clocks, no changes as time flies. Set aside a time of day or day of the week for FB. You don’t need more than 15 minutes if you have reduced your feed to just your friends. Break the addiction, move on to something useful such as going for a walk, talking to a friend in person or reading a book. Turn off all notifications on your devices to keep from being drawn back in.
5. Facebook is for connecting and seeing what your friends are thinking. It can be about posting a news article you believe will be beneficial for your friends. It is about seeing what your friends are up to but remember FB tends to get just the good parts of our lives. Few people post the bad and the ugly and I appreciate it when they do, but remember, FB is tallying your thoughts, feelings, likes and dislikes to make a profile to keep you logged in and scrolling. Think about that when you post.

Ignore the hype, the sensationalism, the lure of fake news that is so prevalent on FB. Hone in on your friends. Think about every click. Better yet, head outdoors, talk to your neighbors. There’s a whole big world out there waiting for you.