Fucked off with Facebook!

Everyone gets there at some point I suspect. I have never been one for the "I've stubbed my toe" posts or to share my dinner choices with the world. I've almost always used it to inspire debate. The extent to which real debate happens is limited in several ways but the fact that I actually know 98% of the people listed as "friends" in 'real life' does mean that it can be a bit of an echo chamber. Whenever I've had unpleasant interactions with people they've rarely been people I actually know. I began to avoid certain sites- anything branded by 'Yahoo' usually attracted a particular kind of bold bigot with much to say and no time to listen. I shared stuff about 'Racism in UK', 'LGBTQ Voices', environmental and community development, and general UK news.

I've fallen foul of Facebook rules several times. I discovered that of the last ten alleged infractions only one was upheld after 'appeal'. Engaging with Facebook operatives is like slipping into an alternate reality where they are omnipotent arbiters devoid of humility or common sense. Last Sunday I found that my account had been restricted for (I forget the exact wording) something like "Being abusive" or "Abusive content" or something but "abuse" was the key. What was most frustrating was that they offered no information about who had made the accusation- I can understand that, but not to tell me which topic or post was allegedly abusive AND for them to ignore more than a dozen requests for information REALLY PISSED ME OFF!

Other people mentioned a similar experience but seemed much less bothered about it than me. I am bothered because it appears that all you need to do to silence someone on Facebook is to accuse them of being abusive. If there is a process to explore such accusations Facebook seems reluctant to share it which further fuels my annoyance. I realise that pulling out of Facebook is a win for whichever troll made the accusation against me but any cowardly troll willing to stoop that low is beneath my contempt. I've not posted anything for a week and find that I am OK with that. I am still reading the news sources etc- I may write here about things that move me instead, I am less motivated by audience engagement than I am by the writing itself. I might make this blog more public if I feel the need.

I'm not going to leave Facebook completely as there are friends with whom I only communicate through that medium, but I am thinking about the media I have amassed there and I will begin to delete it leaving the bare minimum on the profile.

It is SUCH A SHAME that Faenet is failing! -The most successful group in the site is "Artistic Nudes" where members flash their bits in public. I've been waiting for a "Faeries of Colour" group to get off the ground. I didn't start the group, the person who did believes in "Co-production" which, in this case means: its everybody's responsibility to make the group work. "When something is everybody's responsibility, nobody does it!"- and that is what is happening now. I gave in and tried to get some discussions started with simple ice-breaking intros, but even that witnessed tumbleweeds. I wonder why the members joined the group. There is a tendency for people to join things like that group for them to spectate whilst people like me charge about providing entertainment for those too refined to get involved. I'm being cynical, yes. Alternative explanations exist of course including shyness.

I'm not going to 'do a Trump' and try to launch yet another social media group but I really need to find LBGTQ people of colour who want to explore and discuss what it means to be us and how to ensure our wellbeing and positive development. I have found some in the past that were based in America, I left them because the American experience is so different to UK. I've not yet found anything in UK worth the effort, but I will revisit UK Black Pride and The Voice to see if they have any leads.