I signed up for Facebook on August 6, 2007. Over 16 years ago! At the time, we had no idea what data was being collected or how it was used. And frankly, I didn’t care. Facebook was a platform to connect with your “loved” ones, do Which Friends Character Are You? quizzes, and ask for more lives in Candy Crush. What a time to be alive!
In 2010, we had a Facebook page (or was it a group?) and later an Instagram profile for my company. From 2013, I consulted on and managed Facebook and social media advertising campaigns, content creation, and publishing. Tuesdays at lunchtime were the best time to post business content, and Sunday nights for social posts. If anyone still needed to know.
I had a very loose relationship with what data Facebook, and later Meta, collected about me. I had an “I don’t have anything to hide, so why care” attitude. This changed in 2018 when the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal broke, and later in 2019, when the Norwegian television program Folkeopplysningen tried to manipulate a school election through fake news, candidate polls, and user profiles.
My mentality changed; I became more skeptical about how Facebook used my data and what it collected. I also started to see the beginning of a massive decline in the ROI of Facebook advertising for my current clients. Skepticism aside, I continued to use Facebook (and Instagram); everybody I knew was there, attendance at every event was siloed through the platform, and so on.
At the end of 2023, Meta put the final nail in the coffin for my relationship with my social profiles on their platforms. Forcing you to choose between a “free” plan, allowing Meta to use and share your data in whatever way they like, or getting on a paid plan where they won’t use your data for targeted advertising.
I don’t wince at the paid plan (though highly inaccurately named, Meta will still show you ads). The need, or obsession, for harvesting, sharing, and using my personal data so aggressively that they can’t play by the rules gets me.
Ultimately, I don’t believe Meta will get away with this “workaround”. But until they can demonstrate that they care about their user’s privacy, I’m out.
Oh, and by the way, I downloaded all the data from my Meta accounts. If you have it, I have it!