Exiting the Self Policing Apparatus AKA Facebook - 30 Days Out

So it's been over 30 days since I've vacated the self policing panopticon known as Facebook and I have to say I feel great! I've been able to enjoy real life. What do I mean by that? When I still had the FB app on my phone, I would constantly be checking it for notifications that in the end, ended up being about stupid stuff anyway -- so and so tagged you in a photo, so and so that you met in the hallway your junior year of high school 15 years ago liked your post. It was getting to the point where I lost chunks of time in the day due to checking the newsfeed or getting into stupid arguments with people I didn't even know. And, they weren't even productive arguments, where I end up learning something or strengthening my own position, because that's what Fascistbook facilitates, a platform for meaningless time draining endless arguments. God forbid you say something that more than a few people are offended by or you will get Zucked!

People said that all traces of my posts including photos and status updates have completely disappeared from their newsfeed and my profile is nowhere to be found. I've already made a backup of all of my data, but most of it is photos, tons of memes, and conversations about nothing. One thing is for sure, is that looking at it 30 days out, Fascistbook was a GIANT waste of time. Towards the end, I tried to use the platform to catch up on news or troll the various groups which I was an admin of.

There have been some interesting reactions to my departure. A few people have even been severely emotional, thinking that something had gone wrong with me. It's like they think it's the end of the world! The one thing I don't miss is that what I willingly posted was being used against me by my friends. For a good example, everyone has one of those weekends where you just want to do nothing or you want to do something else and someone wants you to go out, hang out, or go somewhere so you make up some excuse. Then it's like they sit there an look for photos of you doing something else or a check in, and it's like, "AHHAA! GOTCHA! Why did you say you were going to be doing this when you were really doing that and why did you tell me you couldn't hang out with me?" It's like you have to sneak around your own life.

Good riddance to that.

I can think of a few other reasons why I don't regret deleting my profile. For one, it's just another recordkeeping platform where governments and companies can gather personal info on you. Through the Snowden leaks, we've already learned that NSA and other various agencies have adopted mass data collection over 17 years ago, now all wrapped up in the legitimacy of legality through the USA Freedom Act.

Why would you willingly self disclose private information---for the sake of being social???

Law enforcement have also used social media, including Fascistbook, to further their investigations into criminality including victimless crimes such as drug use, association with certain people, language authorities do not consider appropriate (often labeled "hate speech"). source And, rest assured, if the authorities are not able to scour your profile and collect evidence on you, your own Fascistbook friends will rat you out. Police have even created fake Facebook profiles in order to arrest people. source In the UK, authorities arrest 9 people per day and more than 3,300 are questioned and detained for so called "online hate speech" which can mean whatever the government wants it to mean. source

"Social media is a valuable tool because you are able to see the activities of a target in his comfortable stage. Targets brag and post … information in reference to travel, hobbies, places visited, appointments, circle of friends, family members, relationships, actions, etc."

So yea, 30 days out, I don't have a Fascistbook profile and it feels great! I am happier, less stressed. Sometimes (get this) I can actually go somewhere, take a walk or hike without my checking my phone a million times or feeling the need to post everything, check in and constantly self police myself, which is what I was doing. I watch someone play the guitar, a barista make my coffee without constantly recording video or snapping photos,

all these amazing things happening around me, that's called life; the one I had been missing.