Anti-Social

I’m pulling the plug on social media. Dramatic but I have been logged in for 21 years (since 2004!), that’s long enough! We all know it takes too much from us anyway, I think with the new administration the stakes just got a whole lot higher. I have deleted (not just stopped using) every account I have except my personal Facebook page as well as the page associated with this blog which auto posts. I don’t anticipate either of those pages existing after February (which I am calling my weaning period).

If you would like to still stay in touch and get updates about our life, I plan on sending out a once a month update email where I will have links to that months’ posts and hopefully a little positivity to share. You can sign up for that here, step two is to make sure you click the confirmation email or it won’t go through!

I realize I sound like a crazy person but, look at what is happening in the US. I will explain more below. In short, the reasons I am deleting all of these apps from my phone are these:

• I believe social media will be how our government starts surveilling you to keep you ‘in line’ (I think it’s already started).
• I believe AI can easily be trained to be you by how your social media is used (or not used!).
• Whether or not you engage with anyone, by having social media on your phone you have given permission to track you. It’s not about your posts (or not posting), it’s about the permissions you give by even having the app on your device.
• I believe social media is just the next wave of brainwashing.
• It takes too much of my time.

The internet is a tool, not a toy.

I use social media more as a pass time than a tool. We have one precious life to live, I want to make a good story! Also, we live in a time when being complacent might very well be our undoing. Social media distracts us into not doing important things, at least it feels that way to me. I regularly get asked to ‘send a product out’ to my channels as to offer my audience for a distraction. I believe we don’t need distractions right now. We need to engage with the world.

While I wish everyone could jump off and do it, I know that’s not realistic. But the good news is that I am not in charge of everyone in the world, I’m just in charge of me and these kids! I am sharing my thoughts here because I feel like I have the responsibility to do my part and shine a light on the immoral practices with a new level of control and a lack of regard for individual safety.

These tools of division, disguised as a tool of connection, can become a tool for detection in the blink of an eye. The billionaires in charge seem to have lost their integrity along their way. The need for ‘warrantless surveillance’ was the third item outlined in that 2025 project (after limiting women’s healthcare and mass deportations). We’re kidding ourselves if we think the new friendships between social media moguls and politicians has to do with anything else. When social media stops being scary, maybe I’ll come back. I do however wish to urge you to consider your involvement on all social medias as well. Even if you don’t engage much, just having the app can or will be accepting a violation of your privacy for much bigger things than just advertising.

It’s flat out scary

If we got to reinvent the internet today, knowing what we know, it would not really resemble what it is at all. All sorts of human rights and privacy standards have been relaxed because ‘that’s the way it’s always been’. If we started anew we would demand accountability, dignity and privacy. Instead some early adopters have capitalized (to the extreme) at the exact expense of these basic rights, even going so far as to make the rules for themselves at the government level. This is what happens when a bunch of old guys (congress) are in the position to decide the rules for something they don’t understand (the internet). They bring in the tech guys to enlighten them and help pave the way. Of course the tech guys exploiting others for income aren’t going to put rules in place that could hinder their profits. That’s how we got here.

The internet isn’t going away but I think, as tech is progressing into AI (yet another giant concern), and with singularity coming into view, I do feel like we have to open our eyes to the risks of not demanding basic human protections while online. And if we don’t get them, maybe we should stop being frivolous with our presence online. Social media is a frivolous exploitation of self.

Unlikely alliances

Until a couple months ago there was a friction between social media moguls and the government. I don’t think the sudden change was because this administration is just that magical. I can’t imagine there is a solitary reason that is wholesome and good for ‘me’ as to why these moguls have turned, seemingly overnight, from enemies to friends. What I do know is there are a whole bunch of people I know and love who pour their political hearts out online. If you really look at the plans of those in power (who are already establishing internment camps), we’re one very small step away from rounding up citizens for disagreeing with any particular president or political figure. And when we need an algorithm made to figure out who stands on whichever side of the line, I bet some tech bros can write one up to make the process really efficient!

When I started kicking around this idea of culling social media in December, my biggest concern was AI, which IS a big concern. It has quickly taken a back seat compared to how this administration is administering. They told us in Project ’25 what they would be doing to dismantle our republic, surveillance of citizens was a part of it. I think a lot of people I know should be taking a serious look at removing these spy platforms from their phones at the very least.

Permissions

You sign permissions when you sign up for social media platforms. They say that they are not permitted to listen to you without your permission. Personally, I didn’t look real close at that initial document in 2004 when I signed up for Facebook or on any of the reinstall moments when I got a new phone over the years. That’s on me, sure. I have tried to track down those agreements without much success. It’s clear at some point I did give them permission to listen to me and track my movements online because they definitely do (I would never knowingly sign that – but again, shame on me for not reading that 40+ page user agreement). I have gone so far as to play games to see which apps they like tracking the most and where/when they listen to me the most. Sometimes I even appreciate how they make it so conveniently find those items I have been talking about by serving me up an advertisement. However, because they have permission to use my phones receivers to hear me, I no longer feel safe with the app even installed in my phone. I am after all one of the genders this administration is targeting. Just know, it is very likely that you also gave permission somewhere along the line and are you comfortable with that?

Brainwashing is a thing, too

It’s fairly likely that war no longer looks like fighting in the hand to hand combat way. I definitely think we are at war with other technologically advanced nations and I absolutely believe there is some brainwashing happening at some pretty high levels. I have expressed this before with news stations. It’s crazy the amount of extremes that normal, smart people are willing to go to because of some, otherwise extremist views. I don’t think they got to that level by themselves, I think they have had some pretty serious conditioning. It is literally the only thing that makes sense in some of these cases of smart, friendly people becoming so hateful.

The only thing I have ever agreed with Trump on is that Tik Tok should not be used in this country. Hate me if you must but, by using it, we are allowing one of our biggest advisories (China) to mine our data and have a direct line to US citizens. I don’t know what it can possibly mean to see them now thanking this administration and to have that man flip flop on his own decision, which was to ban them…. Is this one of the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ things? Now, with how the leaders of all social media platforms have responded to the incoming administration, I think that brainwashing effort is definitely expanding.

Staying on social media feels a lot like condoning that. I am not ok with a few billionaires keeping me in the digital pasture like I am their own personal livestock. I’m just not ok being livestock for anyone and I am worried about how those platforms are going forward. I think, just like livestock we’re going to be divided up put out to pasture based on our own beliefs and alliances. A lot of people I know and love are heading over to BlueSky. Personally will not be heading anywhere. I don’t think jumping around is the right answer for me. They are all privately owned, which means they can be privately sold. I will be here, I will be available at mizacy @ gmail, and I will be outside.

It’s not enough to just stop using the platform.

I feel like I have to reinforce this. Having the app is what gives permissions, not how you use it. I have combed through all of my accounts, deleted sensitive posts and completely removed other accounts from the platform in their entirety. The account that chronicled our giant road trip no longer exists. Nor does our homeschooling account or even our tiny house account. I had also made the kids accounts so they could get a little timeline of their story when they were old enough. Those are all permanently deleted.

Currently I have an account for our homestead on IG which I suspect will be closed after February (or sooner). And my personal account on Facebook in order to have access to a group I created. I have already received an email with a survey that let me know the groups on Facebook will likely be functioning much differently in the near future. If the changes are made that I suspect they are attempting to make, I am pretty certain it is not worth keeping my group in tact and I will be removing my personal account as well. Time will tell on that one. (In the meantime you may have noticed a new ‘forum’ tab at the top of this site. I am using AI as a tool (not a weapon) to bring over the most pertinent content from my FB group to my website so that if/when I have to shut that down, all is not lost.)

I encourage you to also delete what isn’t needed, keep what you must but, in either case, this is the important part, the apps will be completely removed from my portable devices. Any engagement going forward will be from my laptop (which has much different permissions and stays off when not directly in use). I have gone into the settings of each platform and checked all the boxes to stop tracking as much as possible while I am on the platform. I have culled connections, pages and groups which no longer serve me as some targeting happens based on who you follow and who you’re connected to. I’d strongly urge you to take this reminder to look through your own cyber hygiene as well. I don’t think it’s ever mattered as much as it does right now.

Where will I get my news!?

This is something I have already been asked a fair bit. The news stories you see on social media are coordinated for you. They don’t show you what you need to know, they show you what they think you’ll like based on how you follow the rest of the internet (which is fully traceable via cookies – all those ‘do you accept cookies’ messages you get at every website are asking you permission to track you…). If you’re only getting your news from social media you’re living in an echo chamber designed by and for you. That’s why it’s so hard to comprehend how ‘the other side’ feels. Whether or not you continue to use social media, I urge you to diversify your news sources!

My top two recommendations are signing up for 1440 newsletter – it’s unbiased (truly) and comes packaged in a single email every morning with the big stories. Second to that I recommend Ground News. It organizes all the news stories and runs them through a filter of whether they are skewed to the left or the right. I use the free version of the app but may very well be paying for their full service here shortly because I think it is important to support a much needed method to decipher chaos. I like it because, at least you know going in who is trying to be persuasive because no news station reports in a non bias way anymore. It helps give a clearer overview of intentions.

Why still keep my blog?

This content belongs to me alone. I don’t pretend to think I have the best things to share, I know I don’t. But the things I share are personal and true. When you post to social media you give those companies the right to use your data in pretty much any way that is useful to them. They can use it to advertise to you, use it to make a profile about you. They might even have access to use it to help make a complete AI profile of someone meant to act like you. That’s pretty terrifying to me. So for that reason and all the others, I can’t risk it anymore, I know too much. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to keep in touch with people though. Friends, family, people who have dared to call me helpful or inspiring over the years. I still want to reach outward. It feels much safer for me to do that on a platform that I pay for because my voice is my own and my reach belongs to me. Maybe it’s just the off-grid lover in me that sees the value in, once again, rejecting the tools that were once useful, and now are extortionary.

While I expect it to be a torturous process to find new, healthier habits, cutting socials will give me a few hours every day of more focused thought and time to do more important things. I certainly have other things to accomplish with this one precious life. So I’m going to work on those. I am happy to be sharing all about those things right here! (like how our garden is 4 times bigger this year! exciting!)

Again, if you want to stay in touch with me too, you can add yourself to my email list here (make sure you click the confirmation email sent to you after you sign up or those emails won’t go through!). I will send out monthly updates about what’s new in our life, maybe silly stories about the kids or projects or big life events. I’ll include the links to that months blog posts so you can read any that might interest you. But primarily I hope to use that as a way to have real conversations with you and hopefully we can still connect!