On the afternoon of October 7, 2018, I made the decision to delete my Facebook account.
I made the decision after realizing that I was tired of the user tracking, the targeted advertising, the prioritization of acquiring political campaign dollars, and the spreading of outright lies that helped to disrupt the 2016 United States presidential election and beyond.
If you are like me and can not fathom the outright lies that are already being peddled as truth on Facebook this coming election year, I urge you to do two things.
First delete your Facebook account. A support article titled, “How do I permanently delete my Facebook account?” on the Facebook website walks you through the process.
I promise you it will not the end of the world. I deleted my account and I have not looked back. Not once have I regretted my decision. I still keep in touch with family and friends by iMessage and – gasp! – calling them on the phone. I also share photos using the shared photos album feature found in the Photos app on my iPhone. Seriously, you don’t need Facebook.
Secondly, I encourage you to read multiple news sources. I’m not talking about the “content” that is shoveled into social media feeds. I am referring to “journalism.” In today’s toxic environment, it is more important than ever, in my opinion, to get local and national journalism from reputable news outlets. Read articles written by people you do not agree with to gain perspective and insight into stories. And then, after taking in good information, be an informed citizen.
I choose to subscribe and read The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine. There are plenty of other places to get great journalism, including CNN, National Public Radio, The Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune among others. My preferences may not align with yours, and that is ok. Pick the newspapers and news outlets that you prefer, subscribe, and start reading.
