Slow Ghosting the Metaverse

Oh, Meta, why are you the way you are?
Leave. Stay. Leave. Stay.
Like so many, these past years and recent months have forced me to reflect upon the nature of my relationship with all things Meta.

I understand that I dwell in a particular public-facing space. I certainly find meaning in personal interaction, but I also strive to cultivate a level of trust to be a reliable source for other people's content — all while simultaneously trying to make a living by offering subscriber-worthy reflections and takes on culture, faith, and other things.

With recent developments around community accountability modeled after X and how Meta is pirating books (even mine) to train their AI, I find myself in a constant international negotiation about how much energy and time I should devote to the Meta platforms. Like most aspects of living in the world, how we spend our money, how we use our time, or how we engage in social media, we negotiate our ideological convictions, our internal ethical guides, and the particularities of our social contexts.

At the end of the day, there is no one right answer when it comes to social media. Social platforms will come and go; some folks stay longer than others, some people exit early, and others never engage. There is no pure social space, there is no space where everyone is present, and no space will be the savior for all that ails us as a society. While some are undoubtedly dangerous, social platforms are, at their core, an infinite number of third spaces where people find belonging and community.

Over the years, I have hung out in most spaces until the mutually exploitative nature of the relationship was no longer worth it. I didn't leave X when everyone else did, but I finally did. When it comes to Meta platforms, I have pretty much stepped away from any interaction on Threads or my Facebook Page. I occasionally post and story on Instagram, give sporadic updates on my Facebook Page, and use WhatsApp because that is one of the organizing and international texting platforms that many still use.

Are there better options? Undoubtedly.
Do I wish I could leave them all? Yes.
Do I still find meaning in some of the spaces? Of course.

As I think about my future on social platforms, I generally don't plan for how I will be in the future; rather, I look back and reflect upon the meaningful ways I have been engaging, sharing, etc. and then commit to continuing those practices.

In order of Meta engagement, from least to most:

• Threads: I haven't logged into Threads for months, and since all notifications are turned off, some people could be talking all kinds of trash over there, and I am blissfully unaware. I still push stuff out using Buffer.app (I do the same with Mastadon) but I'm not sure how much longer I will invest $60 year with buffer to do so. The interaction and link backs are minimal at best.e
• Facebook Page: Like Threads, I don't have any notifications activated, so my organic interaction is minimal to nonexistent. The reality is that the Algorithm Army is strong, and I do not have the energy or juice to take it on, so like threads, I will push out content, mine and others, but any interactions generally occur because I happen to be on FB updating my Facebook Profile.
• Facebook Profile: I love keeping up with folks' life developments so that's about all I will do there, probably in thee form of an occasional photo dump. Even content sharing on my profile is repressed by the platform, so sharing my content there has little ROI. Shaking my fist in the air
• Instagram: Truth be told, I am torn, so let me begin with my expectations for IG. I no longer expect Instagram to be a huge "reach" vehicle for me; rather, it is a notch about my Facebook Profile where I can stay connected to people through what they share politically and personally. This is also where I stay tuned into what is happening around Palestine, both about the genocide in Gaza and updates about my friends in other parts of Palestine. I will primarily use the story function to share and sporadically post photos and reels on my grid.
• WhatsApp: While I would love for everyone to head over to Signal (okay, get the war planning jokes out now) far too many partners in the US and globally are using it, so I will. I suspect that if/when signal develops subgroups, there will be a great exodos, but until such time, I'll still be here.

Okay, that's it. The slow-ghost of Meta. Hopefully, I will see you where the sky is blue and the trolls and bots are few.

Peace,

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