Goodbye Instagram

Over the years I have had an on-again-off-again relationship with social media.

I created a Myspace account in 2005 or so, only to delete it a year later because a post in which I criticized Rupert Murdoch was censored (removed with no notice to me).

Then I was on Facebook for a while. As a relative of mine quipped, “It’s a never-ending cocktail party.”

All the while I was aware that my personal information was being mined for marketing purposes, and that “if you're not paying for the product, you ARE the product.”

I liked Instagram because it IS a great place to see art, and also has afforded opportunities to get in touch with wonderful people with whom I might have otherwise lost touch.

BUT the latest news -- Meta’s owner Mark Zuckerberg has let Facebook’s fact checking department go (NYT gift article link) and seems to be “obeying in advance” the corrupt oligarchy that is being put into place in the USA -- tipped the balance for me (link to Robert Hubbell post, “A maddening day confirms our mission”).

I won't be Meta’s product anymore.

I guess that leaves me as Substack’s product.

I will be renewing my attempts to wean myself off of Amazon, another juggernaut seeming to make nice (link to Andy Horowitz post on WAPO cartoonist resignation). with the spreading corruption. I’ve let my Prime subscription lapse, and it’s possible to order online from other vendors.

But as a Quaker friend of mine has said, “We are all compromised.”