Member-only story
Facebook is Becoming a Sad and Lonely Place
From too big to fail to too big to go on.
Lately, I haven’t been using Facebook anymore. Over the past two or three years, I kept convincing myself that I needed it for my photography business or to stay connected with people. It was like a giant interactive phone book. So, despite hating it, I kept my account.
Admittedly, a lot of it was based on nostalgia. There were times when Facebook was fun, particularly from 2010 to 2015. It served as a good platform to share life experiences with friends, enjoy memes, and engage in harmless poking around.
Then, something changed. It was imperceptible at first, but in retrospect, the shift is glaringly obvious. There were more and more ads, increased aggression, and even the presence of AI bots — the triple A effect, if you will.
While a big part of it has to do with the company’s grabby policies, I don’t believe they are solely to blame. The turning point was around 2013–2015 when older people discovered social media, particularly boomers and older generations. I vividly remember noticing retirees on the platform, such as my former school teachers and parents of friends. As a millennial, I was already an adult, but I began self-censoring my posts out of fear that my parents’ generation wouldn’t understand internet humor.
